After our career

Creating this research project has been eye opening to me. I have had the chance to read a lot and understand more about my professional practice. To me that is amazing because now I have a better understanding of where I am with it. One of the most recent things I have been looking into is Dancers' Career Development (DCD). My inquiry is about the end of a dancer's career and DCD aid performers in their transition to the next vocation (DCD, n.d.). When I was in school and also working in the UK as a professional ballet dancer, we had many workshops and lectures with this organisation. They would talk to us about the options and opportunities we had after our careers as ballet dancers. A career as a ballet dancer is relatively short. Most people retire at the age of 35-40. After that we need to find another job. This organization helps us to understand that there are no limitations. That the world has a lot to offer and just because our lives have been taken over by ballet since we were 4 years old, that doesn't mean that we are less qualified to do something else. They mention on their website that:

'No two dancers' journeys are the same, and there's no 'one size fits all' approach to career transition. DCD offers bespoke support which keeps the individual dancer at the heart of all that we do.' 
(DCD, n.d.)

This comment shows the level of support that this organisation is willing to offer and that nobody should feel alone in this process. Many dancers may feel overwhelmed by change but with support, nothing is impossible and the world is filled with all kinds of help. I know this may seem a bit random to you but during school I never would think much of it but now experiencing this all and reading more about, I understand the impact they have and other people have on our lives.



References:

Dancers' Career Development (n.d.) Our Impact, Available at: https://thedcd.org.uk/why-work-with-dcd/our-impact/ (Accessed: 2020).

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