A Dancer's Life

Sparkler breannamariee is a dancer who wants to clear up some misconceptions about her future profession. She also sent us the gorgeous photo that appears after the jump! Enjoy! —SparkNotes Editors

There are two unfortunate responses I get whenever I tell people I'm going to school to become a professional dancer/dance teacher:

A) You’re going to school to become a stripper?

or

B) That’s nice. What's your minor again? English literature? Good, at least something you’re studying will make you some sort of money.

Ouch.

First, let’s deal with the stripper comment. Generally, when people can think of dance students, they think of the movie/TV series "Fame," and trust me, that's way more risque than my dance education. No matter what any exotic dancer may say, being a dancer is not even close to being a stripper. Look at the amazing dance shows out today (like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars) and you will begin to see the difference between stripping and actual technical dancing. In my major (contemporary dance), we always keep our clothes on.

As for the second comment, here's a typical scenario: I was at an allergist's office, and the doctor was getting my background information. When the topic rolled around to school, I mentioned contemporary dance, and he gave me a ??!?!!#$% look, then conveniently mentioned how much he loved medical school.

So I began to scramble.

“Yes, but... uh, I’m minoring in English literature. Then I’m going to teacher’s college, probably in Australia. I want to be a high school teacher...”

And how his tune changed.

“Oh! Really, that's so interesting! What kind of literature are you interested in BLAH BLAH BLAH!”

Why is it that I cannot mention my major without having to explain my entire academic plan to people? What about "contemporary dance” makes people squirm uncomfortably and speak nonsense? Are these swear words I wasn’t taught as a child?

I have come to the conclusion that people are undereducated when it comes to the field of dance, which is why they can't possibly fathom it as a career. If everyone realized that it's possible to earn a living as a dancer, maybe my career plans wouldn't be met with such skepticism.

Wanna contribute to SparkLife? Send your submission and nickname to contribute@sparknotes.com for consideration!