Dancers and Choreographer

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human and Cultural Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society

Overview:  Dancers and choreographers use dance performances to express ideas and stories through different types of dance, such as ballet, tango, modern dance, tap, and jazz. They typically audition, learn dance moves, practice, study new types of dances, and work with instructors for their work. They put in hundreds of hours to learn and perfect their dance moves and styles. Usually performing as part of a group, they know a variety of dance styles, including ballet, tap, and modern dance. They also perform in front of an audience, TV, on the internet and music videos. While many dancers are part of a company or a group, they can also be self-employed.

Choreographers are the professionals who come up with moves and interpretations that can be performed as a routine to fit different types of music. They audition for different dancing jobs and shows in a dance company as well as assist in different artistic aspects of the performance. Apart from the artistic side of the work, they also play an important part in the administrative and financial duties of the company.

Dancers and Choreographers need geographic skills for different reasons. Geographic location affects what kind of dance the dancers and choreographers perform. Different regions of the world perform different dance. Different renowned dance companies and schools that provide dance education and opportunities to dancers are from a specific geographic location and have a long standing heritage rooted to that place. Dancers and choreographers also are travelers by profession. They perform their dance routines in front of crowds from different places in the world. Different people have different cultural background and hence dancers and choreographers must be aware of not offending anyone with their performance. Dancer and Choreographers hence could use cultural geographical knowledge to understand these elements. Other than navigation to different cultural and tourist hubs, they can also use geographic information system (GIS), modelling software, and other computer programs to analyze and predict locational patterns of social behavior that directly correlates to the audience behavior, record sales, ticket sales, cultural relevance and audience reaction to their performances.

Geographers at work:  Cultural geographers, human geographers, social geographers, music geographers, geographic information scientists

Recommended College Courses:  Human geography, social geography, social theories, environmental geography, geographic information science

Skills:  Socio-cultural analysis, Mapping and modelling, geographic information systems, computer and database systems, spatial analysis, map reading and interpretation

Occupation Group: Entertainment and Sports

Learn more about Dancers and Choreographers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/dancers-and-choreographers.htm#tab-2