Musical dancer

Musical dancers work as dancers in musicals and have dancing as their core competency. Compare this to the musical performer, who often has singing or acting as a core competency. Musical dancers must be jack-of-all-trades in many different dance techniques, but mainly jazz ballet, ballet, and acrobatics. Many musical dancers prefer to call themselves show or jazz dancers, it's basically just a matter of definition. At StagePool, we have separated these professions at the request of many of our artists.

What do musical dancers need to know?

Musical dancers are expected to have a higher level of dance ability than musical performers, although musical performers can of course be good dancers. You should be able to dance many different styles of dance. You'll probably have a solid classical education and then specialize in jazz dance and, for example, street dance, tap dance, and acrobatics, which are in high demand in the musical world. You have to be willing to work evenings and weekends and go where the jobs are. Musical dancers must also be able to sing and act.

As with most stage professions, you don't usually get jobs through merit and training; hiring for musicals is almost entirely through auditions. Make sure you are prepared for an audition as well, because not only do you have to be able to dance well, but you also have to be able to sing well.

Source: StagePool