Dancers
Perform dances. May perform on stage, for broadcasting, or for video recording.
- Median pay
- Not reported
- Doing it now
- 13,800
- By 2035
- Up 2.2%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
across the country
1,600 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Train, exercise, and attend dance classes to maintain high levels of technical proficiency, physical ability, and physical fitness.
- Study and practice dance moves required in roles.
- Harmonize body movements to rhythm of musical accompaniment.
- Perform classical, modern, or acrobatic dances in productions, expressing stories, rhythm, and sound with their bodies.
- Collaborate with choreographers to refine or modify dance steps.
- Coordinate dancing with that of partners or dance ensembles.
- Attend costume fittings, photography sessions, and makeup calls associated with dance performances.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Drama/Theatre Arts and StagecraftSee 880 colleges that teach it
- DanceSee 283 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Creative and expressive
Hands-on and practical
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Pay is not reported for this occupation, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.