Adapting to Differing Company Practices

I'm currently in Alaska running my annual summer intensive for pre-professional track students. The sun sets a few minutes before midnight and rises around 4 am, but it never gets fully dark. I started this intensive to help enhance these Alaskan student's local training after my tenure as Interim Artistic Director of Alaska Dance Theatre. One of my favorite things about getting to run this program is that I am in complete control of what happens in the studio. If I feel that a student needs to be pushed, I can push them to their limit. If the time has come to pull a student back for their own safety, I do that because I answer to myself. Working like this was a rarity when I held a full-time schedule of performances with multiple companies as a freelance dancer. I was often a slave to company practices, which could mean that I was adjusting to 8-10 different ways of running rehearsals each year. So, getting to make strategic decisions in the studio is a luxury that I really appreciate.

AK-BK Students in Contemporary Technique Class

It can become quite easy to get stuck in one's ways when you have been dancing with a company for any time greater than a year. You wake up in the morning with a general idea of what to expect throughout your day. There may only be cause for concern if a new choreographer or stager is creating/teaching a new work. And, even in these situations, you usually have the protections of an extensively negotiated contract to make sure that there are at least a handful of regular studio practices in place. Some of these luxuries can include a 5-minute break during each hour that you rehearse, an hour for lunch in the middle of the day, a non-mandatory hour-and-a-half warm up class, major issues taken up in private meetings, and more. No matter how functional or dysfunctional a company may be, one often finds a certain level of comfort and expectation in working for one organization. You know what you are getting into from day to day and week to week.

Unfortunately, for freelancers, the above case of comfort and expectation just doesn't exist. I learned this the hard way after dancing with Pacific Northwest Ballet for 7 seasons. After experiencing this company's very functional way of running, I found myself struggling to adjust (and sometimes handle) to the multitude of environments in which I was dancing. For instance, the first time I was brought in to dance with Festival Ballet Providence for their production of Swan Lake, I was at a loss for words when I walked into my first rehearsal. I was standing in the middle of the studio preparing to learn the waltz in the first act of the ballet. Due to circumstances, I was only able to enter the studio after most of the company had already learned this piece of the ballet. My assumption, based off of previous experience, was that teaching me the choreography and filling in the gaps would be the priority of this rehearsal. Instead, I was partnered up with another dancer who already knew the choreography. Before I knew it, the music started. I stood staring at my partner, following her around for about 16 counts before I walked off the floor and raised my hand. Instead of the, "Oh, we forgot that we had to teach it to you," response I was expecting, the director told me that he would teach it to me another day and to just stand beside my partner and follow her around for the next hour. If I remember correctly, I left rehearsal and texted my husband, "I'm really concerned about what I have signed up for." This may be an extreme example of the point I am trying to make, but after asking around the studio if this was a common practice, none of the dancers were even slightly phased by what happened to me. This was not an uncommon practice for them.

Throughout most of my freelance career, I have had a different experience with each company I danced for. Fort Wayne Ballet left my Juliet and myself in the studio with a DVD to learn all of a full-length Romeo and Juliet without a ballet master. We had the freedom to make decisions and they trusted that we would make the right ones. Company C Contemporary Ballet wanted to rehearse a 20-minute one-act ballet that I had learned in a flash almost immediately. Other companies I worked with rehearsed 3 hours a day (instead of the 6 hours I was accustomed to at PNB), docked your pay if you missed company class, and even requested dancers perform on public transportation. Instead of experiencing the restricted choices of a unionized company contract, I found myself panicking that these practices were going to injure me or take away from the integrity of my work that I felt I had built during my years dancing in Seattle.

Performing Romeo & Juliet w/ Fort Wayne Ballet - Dancer: Lucia Rogers (Photo: Jeffrey Crane)

I'm not sure if I ever fully adjusted to the malleability that is necessary to function in the freelance world. But I can tell you that I have many friends and colleagues who have learned to just go with the flow and hold no company to any expectations. While some of these dancers have come from major companies, what I have found is that most of these more fluid dancers have never danced in a union company. In this situation, I feel that it can be very beneficial to lack the experience of working for an organization that is structured by a strong contract. It is kind of like eating candy. If you have never eaten candy, you are a lot less likely to crave it. But if you have ever tasted the sweetness of chocolate (or for me gummy bears), and it is kept from you, you will be much more likely to crave that chocolate. In the case of a dancer, if you have ever rehearsed in a more efficient way, it can become stressful to lower your standards to a less efficient approach. Even, if in some cases, that approach is more efficient, but you only want to rehearse the way you are used to.

My greatest suggestion to any dancer that finds themselves struggling with working in differing company cultures is to remember that there is no perfect way to run a rehearsal, treat a dancer, or lead an organization. Of course, there are things that should not be done; like treating dancers poorly, changing rehearsal hours without care or additional pay, etc. But keep in mind that all directors and ballet masters/mistresses have come from a different background and a have had different experiences in and out of the studio. If you were put in the same position to lead the dancers standing beside you, you may find that they dislike how you approach running rehearsals. Yes, there are more and less efficient approaches to teaching. But until you are in a position of leadership, it is actually your job to remain mostly submissive.

Now, if there is a point where you feel that you or your peers are being put in legitimate danger, it is your responsibility to speak up. But, in order to maintain a professional relationship, you may want to wait to speak to whomever is leading rehearsal until after that rehearsal has ended. If you feel that you are being put in immediate danger, of course, you must speak up. But it isn't extremely common to find yourself in a situation where something needs to be addressed at that exact moment in the studio.

One of the most beautiful parts of our dance world is that no company is alike. There are differing reps, a plethora of dance artists, and a range of styles. In the same way, there are many ways that a company can choose to function. Do your best to remain submissive and lead through example. If you become a leader in this way, you may actually be asked to help influence a clearer rehearsal process. Stay true to yourself and speak up if absolutely necessary, but keep in mind that it is leaderships choice how to run a company and its rehearsals. Think of it this way. The first time you learn a role in a ballet, dancers often feel that this is the correct way to perform this piece. If someone comes in a few years later and asks for steps to be executed on different counts or in a different style, the dancers who have already performed the work will say that what is being taught is wrong. But in reality, it is only a different viewpoint of what the work was before. There is no right or wrong, unless it is endangering one's safety or health.

The Replacement Dancer

San Francisco Ballet's home - War Memorial Opera House

I'm sitting in the War Memorial Opera House waiting to watch the dress rehearsal of, my friend, Val Caniparoli's world premiere of his new ballet, Tears, which will debut tonight in San Francisco Ballet's Program 2 of their Winter Season. After a stressful, but rewarding two weeks filling in for two dancers that went out with Company C Contemporary Ballet, this seems to be the most fitting end to my trip to the City by the Bay. While my experience in this amazing city wasn't a smooth ride, it was a challengingly rewarding one. Kind of like a dress rehearsal; not without a few bumps, but also garnering a handful of unanticipated surprises (of the good sort).

Street advertisement in Walnut Creek

A few weeks ago, I received a frantic phone call from Walnut Creek, a suburb of San Francisco, asking what, for most, would be a shocking question. As I was preparing my teaching plans for the next week, Company C Artistic Director, Charles Anderson, wanted to know if I could fly 3,000 miles cross-country the next day. Yes, tomorrow! Disaster had struck the company. After one of their dancers fell extremely ill, another sprained his foot while jumping in class. The company had two productions coming up, one in Walnut Creek and another in San Francisco, and they were on the verge of cancelling both productions.

After a desperate search for two local male dancers that could handle a Principal workload, they came up short by one dancer. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside when the company told me that four people (dancers and choreographers, local and distant) had offered my name to help salvage their production. While I couldn't pick up and fly west the next day due to previous commitments, I was able to leave a week later. And while I just escaped another winter storm in Philly, I was about to enter a storm of a different kind.

Being a professional pinch-hitter is not an easy task. Freelance dancers are often put in this position, as they are the only dancers that are not tied into a contract during most weeks. The moment I entered the studio, I could feel stress and panic vibrating intensely throughout the studio air. "Is this guy who everybody says he is? And, if not, we are really screwed!" Not only does a replacement dancer have to deal with the stress of entering a new environment, learning a large sum of choreography immediately, and adjust to a new partner; they have to bring a sense of calm to an already stressed organization. For me, I had to learn 20 minutes of choreography, cope with extreme soreness after only taking class and going to the gym for weeks prior, and remain healthy throughout this short process. While no dancer wants to get injured, knowing that you have been brought in to replace the injured is more stressful than imaginable. There really is no option to get hurt or go out.

As a replacement dancer, you must step far out of your comfort zone. I find that I must be more vocal about my needs when timing is tight. When filling in with little notice, one doesn't really get a chance to test out an atmosphere or to establish a tone within a work relationship. Things need to get done, and they need to get done fast. If a company's approach is slowing down your process of learning choreography or causing discomfort, the dancer needs to speak up immediately, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to do so.

Our performance venue - Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

I encountered this during my first and only rehearsal week with Company C. The company had been rehearsing months in advance and recently had their Walnut Creek performances. Besides me, every dancer already knew all of the choreography. While a company should rehearse their dancers as they wish, it may not be practical to do so if it doesn't benefit the replacement dancer most. With Company C, once I had learned all of the material, they wanted to jump straight into run-throughs of the ballet. This left out the very important step of repetition and rehearsing. I understood the company's need to run the ballets for their other dancers. And with our impending arrival at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts a few days later, this seemed the obvious next step. But while I had consumed the choreography, I hadn't digested it. I still had to think about what steps were next and my body was extremely sore due to the lack of build into the rehearsal process. While I understood their reasoning for skipping the repetition phase, I had to let the company know that I wasn't prepared to move into full-out run-throughs.

This is quite against the norm in the dance world. A dancer should rarely dictate the way a director chooses to run a company. But this is one occasion where the process needed to be streamlined to the individual dancer. For the first time, I could say, "This is all about me," and not sound like a self-centered, selfish dancer. Not only was I trying to tell the artistic staff the fastest way to get me prepared for their shows, I was the only dancer who didn't really know all of the choreography. It was all about helping them out the best I could.

I was also trying to protect many other aspects of this engagement. The company paid a great deal to fly me out last second, find me housing, provide a rental car, and pay my fee. If they injured me, they would be losing that investment and, again, threatening cancellation of their performances. At the same time, having a lack of preparation and jumping straight into full-out runs of the ballets could lead to me injuring my partner. It also wastes time if I have to constantly stop during the run because the material was too fresh. Beyond all of this, I had to look out for my own well-being. If I were to get injured, the company would have no commitment to me. While their dancers have the luxury of worker's compensation, as an independent contractor, I have no access to those benefits. And if I get injured, I don't get paid. And if I get badly injured, I may not be able to move on to my next gig and continue earning a salary. For all of these reasons, it is important for a replacement dancer to have the ability and tact to respectfully speak up and maintain a vocal part of this expedited process.

With all of the stress of filling in aside, a handful of items can really be enjoyable when helping save the day/show. The treatment that a last-minute replacement dancer typically receives is great. Companies tend to be much more generous when caught in a pinch. Pay can be higher, benefits may be greater, and the overall attitude towards a dancer is much more gracious than normal. It is not common to receive such praise and positive feedback when dancing for a company regularly. You show up, do your job, and go home. In this situation, I received multiple compliments and constant shows of gratitude. In fact, I wish that there was this sense of camaraderie between dancers and artistic staff all the time. It was rather refreshing.

An artsy shot I took of Jackie McConnell & Michael Galloway in Zhukov's Railroad Joint

Showing up at a moment's notice can be dauntingly stressful. But it is part of the job of a freelance dancer. Be sure to show up as prepared as you can to lower your stress intake. Ask for a video to study prior to arriving and after rehearsing, think about your exact needs to expedite the process, and don't be afraid to express those needs. While being brought in last minute can be stressful, it can also be greatly rewarding. Just prepare yourself properly for the unexpected and do your best to go with the flow. Think of the process as an extended dress rehearsal. I always enter these engagements with this motto; "I have come to bring the calm."

Contract Talk - Important Items to Have In Writing

My current contract with Company C Contemporary Ballet

I don't quite understand why, but most dance contracts that don't fall under the union umbrella are often pitifully executed when it comes to protections for dancers and, even, the employer themselves. Perhaps, low funding prevents companies from hiring lawyers to construct appropriate language. Or maybe there aren't enough people on staff to find the time to craft a proper contract. Whatever the reasoning may be, it is important to know what you really need to have written into an agreement as an independent contractor.

Sometimes, it can be an uphill battle getting a potential employer to put everything you need into writing. No matter what, it is important that you remain patient and get everything written in that you require. Without having all of your needs recorded, an organization is not bound to follow through with any requests beyond the provisions stated in the signed contract.

Most dancers haven't had much experience in contract negotiation and don't even realize what is important to them until they find themselves in a predicament. Since I have experience in both negotiating an AGMA contract and many of my own personal contracts, I would like to share specific items that I have found important to maintaining my comfort, a positive attitude, and protecting my body and pocketbook.


- Dancer fee:

You should always have your fee (salary) and the expectations of the roles you will be paid for written into a contract. If a company is performing a triple bill and a dancer is hired to perform in one piece, that needs to be written. If the dancer is being paid a flat-rate for whatever the needs of the company are, that needs to be in writing. I have seen multiple instances where a dancer is brought in to perform one role, then asked to learn another part. More often than not, the fee should be re-negotiated. If the employer says, "Don't worry...I will take care of you," your idea of being taken care of may differ from theirs. To avoid souring the relationship and maintaining respect, get the new rate in a new contract.

- Accommodations, Transportation, and Per Diem:

These items are an absolute necessity. Are you staying in a hotel or with a host family? If you are staying with a host, will you have your own room and bathroom? Are you being flown in? Will you be given a rental car to get around? Will you be responsible for gas? What about meal money? All of these items are pertinent to have in an agreement. Most of the time these things are taken care of without question. But if something goes wrong, you need to know that the company will find a reasonable fix. (Keep in mind that a dancer's culture and idea of appropriate may be different from the one they are being brought into.)

If you were supposed to stay with a host family and that falls through, a motel down the street from a strip joint isn't a reasonable replacement. I know a dancer that had to sleep on an air mattress in a common area of a house after the company lost their hotel sponsorship. Most companies forget that part of transporting an artist on-site is paying for their luggage. A dancer could bring only a carry-on if they didn't have to pack all of their dance clothes. It is the company's responsibility to pay for baggage (within reason). To ensure this is covered, put it in writing. If a dancer is housed far from the studios and given a rental car, should they have to pay for the gas to and from work? Again, know what you are getting yourself into.

- Rehearsal Schedules:

I have danced with many, many companies. And let me tell you, every company has a different idea of what constitutes a rehearsal week. Some companies only have one day off per week. Other companies change the schedule at the drop of a hat. At times, I have had 3 hours of rehearsal a day. While some organizations have had 8 hours of work daily. If you feel it is unreasonable to work 9 days in a row, make sure you have the work schedule written into the contract. Generally, I think that 2 days off a week (during rehearsal weeks) and 6 hours a day (not including warmup) is reasonable. Just make sure that a lunch break is afforded and that there is limited flexibility.

For some reason, directors tend to think that their stress and panic is more important than a dancer's ability to rest their hard-working bodies. I have experienced a panicked director adding an extra day of rehearsal or skipping lunch with little notice. If a schedule is put in the contract, the dancer has more control to say yes or no if asked to go beyond a reasonable work schedule.

- Non-dance expectations:

A few years ago, I was dancing at a Nutcracker gig in the middle of my season and performing an exhaustive 6 shows as Cavalier in one weekend. I was approached during the intermission of the first show by the director with a request. "We usually have the leads do a meet-and-greet after each show." I was already exhausted from performing the week before, traveled on my only day off, and performed in 2 dress rehearsals. The director was essentially asking me to add six more tasks to my workload. The next day I was, again, approached during intermission to come to a gala dinner event that same night. While it was their expectation of me to complete these job tasks, I wasn't made aware of these items.

Be sure to ask if there are any events, non-theatre performances, open rehearsals, etc. that will be expected of you. I always say that a dancer is much less likely to be a happy dancer if they are caught off guard with situations that they don't have any say in.

Also, if you are given a rental car, be sure that you you understand your responsibilities. I have been expected to transport other dancers during my time on-site.

- Footage and Photographs:

One of my favorite thing about being a freelance dancer is the access I have to performance footage and photographs. Few jobs that I have taken maintain copyrights on choreography and most have somebody taking photographs. During my 7 years at Pacific Northwest Ballet, I was rarely captured in any stunning photographs and had specific limitations to the footage I could access. In my nearly 3 years of freelancing, I have received an exponentially greater record of my dance career. To ensure that you receive copies of performances, get it in writing.

- Injury:

I struggle with getting this one into a contract. Being a dancer, I will knock-on-wood the moment the word is spoken. Nonetheless, it is important to have a backup plan in writing. While this is more important to the employer than the dancer, it can still benefit the dancer greatly. Different ideas are how a replacement will be found and how much a dancer will be compensated for the work already completed.

- Partner:

If you will be dancing with a partner, especially if you are male, it is important to know that you will be dancing with a partner that is a reasonable size for you (height and weight). A man that is 5' 8'' should not be expected to partner a woman that is 5' 9''. This is unlikely to be written directly into a contract (though it can be), but a conversation should definitely be had about this subject (in writing via email for your records).

While I love dancing w/Lindsi Dec (freshly minted PNB Principal), we're the same height

- Extras:

Additional items you may want to have written into a contract may include comp tickets, teaching company class or in the school, expectations of taking company warm up, company logo wear, gym memberships, yoga classes, physical therapy, and anything else that may be a reasonable request. 

Working alongside Nora Heiber, AGMA National Dance Executive, negotiating Pacific Northwest Ballet's contract

While most dancers hope that each of their gigs go off without a hitch, that is not always the case. More often than not, everybody leaves after a performance feeling pleased with the end result. But even in the best situations, small details can derail a very positive experience. Be sure to protect yourself, whether you are a dancer or an employer. The first job an employer has is to put a production onstage. In our world of art, where financial struggle is common, unfortunately, dancers are often the first to suffer when money gets tight. When putting on a production gets stressful, a director's first thoughts may not be about a dancer's needs and health. Lastly, while you may make a request that you would like to have in writing, it doesn't always show up in the final document. Be sure to read your contract completely to ensure that everything you discussed is in writing.

Is there anything that I missed that you feel is important to get in writing?