There’s more than one path to ballet success. We got the scoop from four indie ballerinas, who shared their journeys to freelancing, their daily must-dos and the rich opportunities of a solo career.

When Kaitlyn Gilliland was an apprentice with New York City Ballet in 2006, choreographer Eliot Feld created Étoile Polaire for her, a 12-minute solo that predicted the person and artist Gilliland would eventually become—a force transitioning gracefully through different realms with a powerful sense of self. After leaving NYCB, Gilliland went on to have a […]

As Broadway goes dark and performances are canceled across the country, the financial repercussions of a global pandemic have gone from hypothetical to very real. This is especially true in the dance community, where many institutions are nonprofits or small businesses operating on thin margins, and performers rely on gigs that are being canceled. It’s […]

Freelancing is more common than ever. So why is it that, as the market shifts to favor freelance dancers, we do not pay them enough to subsist on their art? In Dance Magazine‘s August interview with four successful freelance dancers, not one reported making enough from the industry to cover their expenses. Most freelancers get […]

Building a freelance career takes guts, no matter where you’re based. Most dancers assume you need to live in major dance hubs like New York or Los Angeles to find enough work. But as these four dancers who are thriving in unique and burgeoning scenes prove, freelance opportunities abound. Emily Tarallo: Miami, Florida C Michael […]