Part 1 of a 2-part comprehensive survey of professional Irish dancers, this article reports results from an online survey of current and retired professional Irish dancers, specifically focusing on attitudes toward careers in dance. Ninety-four percent of those surveyed would recommend a career in Irish dance, praising the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures and the ability to be paid while doing something they love. These findings are encouraging in light of other studies that have found job satisfaction of orchestral musicians to be lower than that of federal prison guards. While touring schedules offer little respite from fellow dancers away from performances and interpersonal problems can arise, the dancers surveyed here reported developing close and long-lasting friendships with their fellow company members. The negative sides of pursuing a career in Irish dance, as identified by the dancers surveyed in this study, included a lack of job security and the risk of pain and injury related to dancing.
Cahalan R, O’Sullivan K. Job satisfaction of professional Irish dancers: Implications for performer health and well-being. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(4):139-49
No comments:
Post a Comment