- What should your professional dancer resume include?
- Why use this professional dancer resume example?
- Which key skills are relevant to a professional dancer resume?
If you’re seeking work as a professional dancer, you’ll need a resume that’s informative yet concise—a document that recruiters can quickly read to learn about your strengths as a performer. Read the templates and guidelines below to learn all about creating professional dancer resumes you can bring to almost any audition!
What should your professional dancer resume include?
Professional dancers can be employed by theater companies, musical theater productions, and even music videos or commercials; your resume should show recruiters that you’re experienced with and comfortable working in these environments. Your resume should also demonstrate your ability to work with choreographers, set/costume designers, and directors to put on performances that entertain and inspire.
Why use this professional dancer resume example?
The resume template below is a good fit for professional dancers and other performing arts experts for several reasons. First, it’s designed to be compact. By listing details such as contact info and key skills on a sidebar, this resume gives you extra page space to describe your employment history in great detail (specifically, by discussing your day-to-day responsibilities in a single paragraph and your special accomplishments in bullet-point). This lets you fit your whole resume onto a single, easily-read page.
Technically, you don’t need any college degrees to pursue a career in professional dancing (though BAs in fields like performing arts or dance are always a bonus). Most performing arts groups do want to hire dancers who’ve been training in the craft for years. For that reason, this resume’s education section template is designed to be both simple and flexible, letting you describe the degrees you received from universities and the certificates you received from private dance schools.
A third strength of this resume is the sample text, which describes the general responsibilities of a professional dancer using sentences that can easily be tweaked to describe your own specific experiences. Said text also contains useful keywords such as “dynamic” and “repertoire” that will grab the attention of recruiters and applicant tracking systems. By studying the language in these examples, you can build a unique resume that highlights your fitness, flexibility, passion for learning new styles/routines, and enthusiasm for working with your fellow dancers.
Which key skills are relevant to a professional dancer resume?
Make sure your professional resume describes the styles of dance you specialize in, whether it’s traditional styles like ballet, ballroom dance styles like tango, or modern styles such as break-dancing. Recruiters for theaters, dance companies, and/or dance studios also love to see professional dancer resumes with the following skills:
Modern Dance Techniques
History of Dance
Ballet
Dance Instruction
Dance Studio Operations
Team-Building & Coordination
Recordkeeping & Reporting
Set Building & Maintenance
Choreography
Backstage Production
Basic Music/Vocal Performance Proficiency
Summary example
Dynamic, energetic, and engaging dance professional and instructor. Professionally-trained and well-versed in a variety of dance forms and techniques. Experience touring and developing choreography. Expert in expressive movement across a variety of dance mediums.
Employment history example
Dance Instructor at London Dance Academy, London, UK 2018 - Present
Deliver informed instruction in a variety of dance techniques to various age groups and skill levels. Demonstrate dance form and patterns to students from diverse backgrounds. Maintain student records and evaluate / report student performance. Conduct research on dance styles to build repertoire.
Choreograph monthly and annual recitals.
Coordinated fundraiser to support dance in the local community.
Dance Performance Artist at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, UK 2014 - 2018
Performed in numerous dance programs for leading globally recognized dance organization. Adhered to rigorous rehearsal schedule outside of performances.
Served as rehearsal monitor, supporting the overall development of the performance quality.
Worked closely with performing and non-performing colleagues to ensure seamless planning and delivery of performances.
Theatre Technician at Perform in the Park, London, UK 2011 -2014
Assisted in building performance sets and stages within a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment. Setup and ensured proper functionality of lighting, communication and audio systems. Utilized basic construction skills to assemble and maintain sets. Ensured ongoing commitment to Health and Safety practices and compliance with all applicable regulations.
Contributed to the planning and development of overall visual elements of the 2012 Season performances.
Education example
Commercial Dance Certificate at Dance College London, London, UK BA (Hons) Performing Arts at the University of East London, London, UK
Skills example
Performing Arts
Modern Dance Techniques
Ballet
Physical Fitness
Coordination & Stamina
Dance Instruction
Dance Studio Operations
Teamwork & Collaboration
Recordkeeping & Reporting
Set Building & Maintenance
