Changing career streams has never been easy for anyone, especially, when you have been in the same profession for decades. Dancing is a profession that demands a lot from the artists, this sometimes leaves the artists lacking in other skills they need to pursue a career after dancing.
“As a dancer, you’re so focused on yourself as an individual; every day I’d go into work and I’d worry about what I’d have to do with my body, how to prepare for a show, I’d only have to focus on myself. However, over the last few years, I’ve gotten to see new perspectives—there’s so much more to these organisations and this art form than just an individual experience.” says Breen Combes, a professional ballet dancer, studying under Northeastern University’s graduate certificate programme. She has a bachelor’s degree in organisational communication and a graduate certificate in non-profit management from Northeastern University.
“I want to make the arts more a part of our culture,” she says.
Arts and culture have always gone side by side in our history and this initiative will help a lot of artists. An artist taking on an executive role is not something unusual, but doing so with a degree is what just might make a difference. Having professional experience as well as an educational degree to back it up might play the tide turning role in any career.
Being a professional ballet dancer is a demanding profession, one that requires hours upon hours of practice and immense discipline. Immersed in this world, it is sometimes difficult for the artists to see beyond their own ballet experience. Being a part of that something bigger is what matters in the end. Attaching a purpose to your experience and using it to help guide others is a noble and fulfilling cause.
Anushka Singh