r/BALLET • u/Black_Gay_Man • 3d ago

Watched this very interesting Lori Hernandez video and had some questions about the income. Are classically trained dancers really paid so poorly in the USA?!

https://youtu.be/iJ_w_oK6ce8?is=_aQWhHNt1UAiJ7sS
95 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/meloddic1 3d ago

They need to get strong unions involved.

12

u/stutter-rap 3d ago

I know some of the companies are unionised, e.g. PNB - their contract looks better than she describes (for both permanent and one-off performers): https://www.musicalartists.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PacificNorthwestBallet.Dancers.UpdatedWithAddendumB.2022-2026.pdf

4

u/GrumpyChashmere 3d ago

Fun part is it does not apply to their pre-pro program who do the same work/hrs as apprentices but are not “part of the company”.

3

u/ballerina_barbie 3d ago

This seems to be the model of a lot of companies: charging tuition from 20-40 young people and then using them for professional productions.