How much do ballroom dancers make

Ballroom Dancer Salary

Last updated: November 15, 2022

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$45,651 (USD)

Average Salary

$22/hr

Average Hourly

$1,255

Average Bonus

Last updated: November 15, 2022

The average pay for a Ballroom Dancer is $45,651 a year and $22 an hour in the United States. The average salary range for a Ballroom Dancer is between $32,595 and $55,101. On average, a Bachelor's Degree is the highest level of education for a Ballroom Dancer. This compensation analysis is based on salary survey data collected directly from employers and anonymous employees in the United States.

ERI's compensation data are based on salary surveys conducted and researched by ERI. Cost of labor data in the Assessor Series are based on actual housing sales data from commercially available sources, plus rental rates, gasoline prices, consumables, medical care premium costs, property taxes, effective income tax rates, etc.

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Salaries By Location

Ballroom Dancer

Anderson, South CarolinaUSD 42k Forsyth, GeorgiaUSD 41k Faust, AlbertaCAD 54k Douglas, WyomingUSD 43k Conneaut, OhioUSD 42k

Salaries By Location

Ballroom Dancer

Anderson, South CarolinaUSD 42k Forsyth, GeorgiaUSD 41k Faust, AlbertaCAD 54k Douglas, WyomingUSD 43k Conneaut, OhioUSD 42k

Salaries By Country

Ballroom Dancer

SpainEUR 27k United Arab EmiratesAED 133k TaiwanTWD 750k ColombiaCOP 28,307k IcelandISK 5,097k

Salaries By Country

Ballroom Dancer

SpainEUR 27k United Arab EmiratesAED 133k TaiwanTWD 750k ColombiaCOP 28,307k IcelandISK 5,097k

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Ballroom Dancer

DancerUSD 46k Dance Studio ManagerUSD 48k Acrobatic DancerUSD 46k

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United States Cost of Living Score:

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Description: The United States of America (U. S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. It is the third-largest country by both land and total area. The United States shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south. It has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 331 million, it is the third most populous country in the world. The national...

White Papers

View More White Papers

Blogs

California Requires Job Postings to Include Salary Ranges

North American Minimum Wage Updates - November 2022

Salary Projections for 2022 and Considerations for Mid-Year Pay Increases

View More Blogs

Annual Salary for Professional Ballroom Dancers

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The television show "Dancing With The Stars" has helped to feed the burgeoning interest in ballroom dancing, a November 2009 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. But whereas some professional ballroom dancers do compete for large cash prizes in competitions, many earn the bulk of their income -- which can be far more modest -- by teaching the esteemed dance style to novices.

Salary and Qualifications

Professional dancers on "Dancing With The Stars" earn $5,000 per week for eight weeks, according to The Ballroom Dance Company; however, the average annual salary for these artistes was reported by the jobsite Simply Hired to be $30,000, as of 2013. The minimum educational requirements vary for ballroom dancers. Dancers with many years of training may only require a high school diploma, while those who become choreographers or university instructors usually need a bachelor's or master's degrees in dance. These university degrees provide ballroom dance instructors better credentials, attracting more students to their schools. Other essential qualifications for professional ballroom dancers are persistence, stamina, creativity, flexibility, and excellent balance, as well people skills that include communication, team-working and leadership skills.

Salary by Region

In 2013, salaries for professional ballroom dancers varied considerably in only one U.S. region -- the South. In this region, they earned the highest salaries of $47,000 in Washington, D.C., and the lowest of $23,000 in Mississippi, according to Simply Hired. Those in the West made $24,000 and $34,000 in Montana and California, respectively. If you worked as a professional ballroom dancer in the Northeast, you earned the most in Massachusetts and the least in Maine -- $36,000 and $27,000, respectively. In the Midwest, your salary would be the highest in Minnesota and lowest in South Dakota at $32,000 and $23,000, respectively.

Contributing Factors

A professional ballroom dancer may earn more in certain industries. In 2012, dancers earned the highest hourly wage of $20.48 working for performing arts companies, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or $42,598 annually, based on 40-hour workweeks. Professional ballroom dancers may also earn more working for performing arts companies. These dancers also earn more in Massachusetts and New York because living costs are higher in those two states. For example, a ballroom dancer earning $30,000 in Cleveland, Ohio, would need to make $40,621 in Boston to enjoy the same standard of living, according to CNN Money's Cost of Living calculator. That same person would need to make $64,733 in New York City.

Job Outlook

The BLS projects an 11 percent increase in jobs for dancers, including ballroom dancing professionals, between 2010 and 2020, which is statistically about average compared to the 14 percent rate for all occupations. Aspiring dancers in all dance styles will face stiff competition in the industry, reports the BLS, as pop culture is showing an increased overall interest in the field, with new opportunities arising in segments other than dance companies, including television, movies and casinos.

How much do dancers earn and how to become a professional - November 1, 2018

Ivan Slavinsky

Comments

It is never easy, but wildly interesting.

Members of the FAM Factory dance team told Sport24 about the difference between a professional team and an amateur one, how much coaches earn and how long it takes to become a good dancer from scratch.

Our team is called FAM Factory and has been around for a very long time. We regularly perform at the largest dance championships throughout Russia, we work at major events. Our choreographer, Yevgeny Kevler, is one of the top choreographers in Russia, staged dances for "Dances" on TNT, "Dance" on Channel One, and has brought up more than one generation of dancers. Our team is diverse - students, office workers, teachers and coaches, but they all have one thing in common - an unimaginable love for dancing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Evgeny Kevler (@kevbrave) on Aug 21, 2018 at 10:31am PDT you recharge and start plowing, as if not in yourself, but in reality everything is a little different. Classes in schools last an hour and a half twice a week if you are in the same group with the same teacher. As people living this, let's be honest, two hours a week is very little. Yes, and you should not be limited to one style. To start getting real pleasure from dancing, at least a month of regular classes must pass. And at first it will definitely not be easy, especially if you didn’t do anything like that in childhood: in the first classes, it generally seems that the body, which, it would seem, has been yours all your life, has abruptly stopped obeying. And the legs cannot work with the hands at the same time. The main thing is to survive this moment, in reality it passes quite quickly.

At first, technique is not so important, it comes with experience. It is worth paying attention to physical form, especially if you prefer styles that are characterized by frequent level changes or powerful energy: you may simply not have enough strength. The breather also needs to be developed: fast choreography cannot be danced to the end if the volume of the lungs is not enough. Many dancers take up running to develop their lungs. And for the development of physical strength, functional training or crossfit are suitable - of all training, these will probably be the most useful in our business. If there is no time for this, then you need to at least minimally pump the press, do push-ups, squat. We sometimes conduct physical training classes at team training.

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A post shared by Nadia Gera 🐾 (@gerandosina) on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:04pm PDT

and year, everything is very individual here. Many schools have their own reporting concerts and parties. As a rule, at such events, students go on stage for the first time.

If we talk about more complex numbers, then it takes a month and a half to set them up with 3-4 workouts a week for 2-3 hours. The mode of training in a serious team changes, especially if the number is complex and many dancers participate in it. A fairly common occurrence is night workouts. As you might guess, they take place at night, and, as a rule, last 5-6 hours. It's not easy, especially at first and if you have to go to work in the morning, but it's also more efficient in terms of the speed of staging the show, and the result is definitely worth it.

Championships

In the dance world, the year can be conditionally divided into two seasons - spring and autumn. All this time, championships of various levels go one after another, the most "fruitful" in this regard are April and May, as well as November and December. As a rule, all groups put on a performance a month or two in advance, but it all depends on the level of training and available time for the dancers themselves.

In general, championships are a separate and very entertaining cuisine. Dancers are constantly preparing for some kind of competition, it rarely happens that you just come and hang out aimlessly. Everything is almost like in the movie "Step Up": the whole season is the process of preparing for the competition, and in the off-season, everyone either rests, or pumps, or shoots a video.

At dance championships there is always a division according to the level of training and age: children are separated from adults, beginners are separated from professionals. And within these categories, there is also style: hip-hop, ladies, contemporary.

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A post shared by F.A.M. FACTORY DANCE CREW (@fam_factory) on Dec 30, 2017 at 4:49am PST

Our favorite nomination is best dance show. The name speaks for itself: there are no style bindings here, the main thing is the idea and combination of styles. At some major competitions, the styles used in the show must be declared in advance, at some there are no restrictions, only creativity. Now even in some championships there is a separate Show nomination, and a separate Performance nomination. In the first case, the show should have a story and plot, in the second case, it is important who dances stronger, more powerful and cooler. And there are also solos with duets, which are not limited by styles at all, only by timing. In general, there are a lot of nominations. Beginners or people unfamiliar with dancing can get confused. But as soon as you immerse yourself in this world, everything becomes clear pretty quickly.

Refereeing at championships is always represented by top dancers: sometimes Russian, sometimes foreign, but always super authoritative. The evaluation criteria, like the judges, are also different, but they look primarily at choreography, technique, synchronism and creativity. You can earn money at good status tournaments. On average, you can get about 30 thousand per team for winning such a tournament. But it is not at all necessary that there will be prize money for winning any championship: somewhere the organizers limit themselves to cups and gifts from sponsors.

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A post shared by F.A.M. FACTORY DANCE CREW (@fam_factory) on Aug 30, 2018 at 1:50pm PDT

Nutrition

Nutrition is a matter of personal preference. Most dancers are ordinary people, so until their legs start to fall off, few people even think about nutrition and injury prevention. Many are killed in training, and few people know how to recover, they do not take care. If you don’t eat normally, you may not have enough strength for the whole season. Protein and BCAAs often help out, but in reality, for some reason, few people use them.

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A post shared by Nadia Gera 🐾 (@gerandosina) on Sep 6, 2018 at 3:42am PDT

A: Regular exercise is usually enough to stay in shape. Although, of course, you need to take care of yourself, but adults who have survived a couple of injuries or dancers who work in commerce are already thinking about this.

"Sneakers kill instantly"

As for clothes, this is a separate topic of conversation, which will take more than one hour. Firstly, the style of dance and what you dance in are very closely related. No one will go dancing popping in leggings or short shorts, twerk in sweatpants, too, you know, I don’t rub, like a strip in a baseball cap. Things are, of course, very important. You can't really train in Chinese sneakers. Not even because they are uncomfortable, they just fall apart in a moment. In general, if you danced at least once in shoes, then you can say goodbye to it - it only kills if you train often and for a long time. Especially for us, jazzfunkers, because a lot of techniques are combined, the foot is actively working. And it’s good for contemporary people in general: they dance barefoot in socks, and with simpler things - they put on something very wide and similar to oversized pajamas - and you are the most fashionable in the class.

Income and expenses

As for the payment for training for teams, it is similar to amateur sports sections: in many teams, participants pay a monthly fee, which includes the rent of the hall and the work of the choreographer.

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A post shared by F.A.M. FACTORY DANCE CREW (@fam_factory) on Dec 31, 2017 at 1:51am PST

Is it possible to make money from dancing? Of course, there is plenty of work. First, dance schools. There are now ten of them at each metro station, a novice teacher, if desired, will quickly find a job. But if you want to get into a top school as a teacher, then you need to work hard, have a name, constantly upgrade, be socially active, shoot videos and shine at the same championships. The main thing is not to be lazy.

There is also such a great thing as commerce - these are corporate parties, working with stars, large events and the like. Such projects are well paid, and it is always interesting to participate in them. We somehow opened with our show a major event of stylists - Wella Trend Vision. There was so much creativity and creativity behind the scenes that we ourselves were inspired by the most do not indulge. It was very interesting to watch all this behind-the-scenes turmoil and the process of creating images.

On March 22, 2022, by a court decision, Meta, the social networks Instagram and Facebook were recognized as an extremist organization, their activities on the territory of the Russian Federation are prohibited.

How to make half a million tenge a month dancing in Kazakhstan - News

The head of the studio and teacher Anton Monastyrev spoke about this and many other things in an interview with Caravan.kz.

- Is dance more of a hobby or profession? Or can it be combined?

- M can be combined. Dance is life.

- How much can a young man or a girl who devotes his life to dancing earn? In Almaty?

- W depends on the level. If you have experience and connections, then approximately 500 thousand tenge, but more is possible.

- How much does a promoted teacher earn?

- About the same. Maybe a little more.

- Do you have any Kazakh dancers in mind - who do you consider the most talented, brilliant?

- If you are an adult, then Ayan Zhumataev.

- Are there championships in Kazakhstan? Are there any limits in ballroom dancing: academician, master of sports, master of dance, or, say, the second category in waltz?

- D a, championships in ballroom dancing are held in Kazakhstan. We have levels. If you take places, there are classes. Just like in any sport there is: a candidate for a master of sports, a master of sports, a champion of Kazakhstan, a world champion. Our program includes 10 dances: 5 Latin American and 5 European.

- Do Latin American dances also belong to ballrooms, like lambada?

- H no, the lambada is a Brazilian folk dance. Latin American dances: these are samba, cha-cha, rumba, paso doble, jive. Ballroom dancing includes: Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Foxtrot, Slow Waltz. Ballroom dancing and Latin American dancing are completely different things.

- Does Kazakhstan have its own separate classes, or a worldwide gradation?

- Global. They want to bring dancing into the Olympic sports, and now we are introducing masters of sports, candidates for masters of sports.

- Compared to other countries, how does Kazakhstan feel? Is this sport developed in our country or vice versa?

- False to say with . One of the strongest powers in this sport is Russia. We have such a mentality that not everyone sends children to dance.

- Do you mean boys or girls?

- Both. But boys are always less than half. We talked with colleagues from Astana, on the contrary, there is a very strong increase.

- Boys are two times less than girls. What is it connected with?

- In our country they think that boys should be given to boxing, all kinds of wrestling. Do not consider it a male pastime.

- Is there a similar ratio in all countries? Partnersh always more? Such a prejudiced attitude.

- In all. Well, somewhere a little less, a little more. I don't know exactly how it is in Europe, they have the opposite there. The same is true in China, for example.

- How do teachers struggle with this, come up with some tricks? To get the boys.

- This year there is a promotion offering a 50% discount for young people on ballroom dancing. It doesn't matter if they dance or not. There are contests where girls can perform solo.

- Maria Pavlenko, a dancer from Moscow who moved to Almaty to teach dance, she also estimated the attitude towards men's dances. Including she uttered such a phrase that it is considered feminine, and parents are afraid that the boys will become gay. How are you with Anton's orientation?

- I'm fine. I love girls.

- And, for example, among colleagues? Do you meet gay guys a lot?

- I am not interested in their sexual orientation. But I didn't see any obvious deviations.

- Anton, do your parents approve of your work?

- Mom took me to the dance, of course. Dad was strongly against it - he believed that this was not entirely a man's business. I also resisted for a year, as soon as I did not persuade my mother so that she would not take me. But a year later he got involved, and then he himself. Now, of course, they have a positive attitude. My father is proud of my success.

- Are they happy that you found yourself in this profession?

- They are generally glad that I found myself.

- How do you feel about the prospect of introducing dance into the Olympic disciplines?

- I don't think it's even a matter of five years. We have no framework yet, no criteria for judging. I myself took part in the jury more than once, I know the situation. There are no clear rules.

- Do you only evaluate artistry, costumes?

- No. Technique must be assessed. It is very important that dancing people, going out on the floor, be confident in themselves. Technique is also evaluated, but this is very subjective. Some people like technology, some don't. We had such a case: my partner and I came to dance in Baikonur, we had no rivals, we were in first place. And I look at the printout - only one judge puts us in 5-6th place, and all the rest in first place. In the evening, a banquet, I go up to this judge and say: what is the problem, what did you not like. She says I don't like the way you pull your hands, fingers. I approach the other judges, ask about her, who she is. They say she taught folk dances. This is how someone might not like the hairstyle or the way you are dressed.

- Are your suits priced separately?

- Separate - no. But this is also considered a criterion. In general, there is no division, there is one common assessment.

- Dancing is also an art form. There is such a stereotype that people of art are bohemia. They are unusual. Some parties, drugs are common among them, they drink too much. How typical is this for dancers?

- No way. Physical activity, in principle, will not allow you to lead such a lifestyle.

- By the way, is there any kind of doping in your sport?

- Doping is not common in this sport.

- What about nicotine, for example?

- E then who cares. Most of the time it gets in the way.

- Are there special classes in Kazakhstan for children from low-income families?

- Now the akimat wants to introduce such a program. To make it decently cheaper and even free for the very poor.

- That is, will the state subsidize?

- D a. Literally within a month or two in many schools. All over the city in Almaty. I don't know about other cities. Namely ballroom dancing and gymnastics. in regular high schools. So far, 20 projects are open.

- Tell me, can you learn to dance at any age? How many lessons will it take if the person has never danced before?

- Dances are open to almost all ages. Many accomplished people come to us who have achieved everything in their lives, and now they want to try themselves in a new role, in art, in creativity. And often it is adults who go and achieve great success. You can learn how to move more or less, or, if necessary, put on a dance, in 5-6 lessons. But this, of course, is an express course. It will be such a good dance artistic number.

- Did you meet orders to prepare a dance of the bride and groom for the wedding, so that the whole audience would tremble?

- Yes, such orders all the time. For 5-6 lessons we put on such a dance.

- Do we have world champions in Kazakhstan?

- W no world champions. There are our champions of Asia and Europe.

- Do you personally have titles?

- In 2011, I reached the final of the Asian Championship.

- Do you participate in international competitions?

- N your students - yes. We constantly travel to Moscow, Germany, Italy. Children perform well, they even take prizes The German Open is even stronger than the World Championship. I personally have not danced for 6 years in competitions. I am engaged in teaching activities. Last year we went to Moscow. Our couples in the top level category took first place. By of course, we are the closest to travel to Moscow, cheaper in terms of money. Tickets to Europe are expensive.

- By the way, who sponsors performances at the championships?

- Parents of performing children.

- Has the state nothing to do with this?

- Only for World Championships and then some part for tickets.

While we were talking with Anton, a woman came out of the hall with a child. The boy looked tired, but very pleased. The rehearsal is over. We decided to talk to them.

Eleven-year-old Gosha is picked up from training by his mother.

- Hi, t Do you like the classes? - I ask a little dancer.

- Yes. I'm just a little afraid of speaking.

- How many years have you been dancing?

- Two years.

- Who brought you here: dad or mom?

- Mother.

- How does dad feel about this?

- Not really, he doesn't come to performances - Gosh's mother laughs.

Our dad, - says Olga - is not like it yet. But I already notice that my son has become more organized and disciplined. He already differs from his peers in sports posture. I brought Gosha to dances for both physical development and aesthetic education . So that he understands what is beautiful, what is good. I think he will need it in the future. I see that he develops physically evenly, and is already different from his peers. You can immediately see a child who is engaged in some kind of sport.

- That is. Do you consider dancing a sport?

- Yes, I think it's a sport. Because here the loads are going on, the operating time of physical form.

- Do you manage to combine dancing and school?

- The schedule is quite busy and the school has a lot of classes. But we are not going to quit, as I see success.

Thanking Olga and Gosha. We hurried into the hall. There we met Bekezhanov Khamit - 12-time champion of Kazakhstan. He told us about himself:

- In general, has three types of competitions. I became a champion in the standard, in the European program and in the top ten (this is when these events are combined), in general, it turns out to be a 16-time champion.

- What, in your opinion, needs to be improved in Kazakhstan in this sport? What is needed for its development in the country?

- P lack of support from the akimat. More money would be invested and then the level would be raised faster.

- Is there any support from the state?

- N no, the state does not help. The federation pays for the hotel. The federation is not ours, not Kazakhstani. The hotel day is paid by the federation of the country where the competition is held. World Ballroom Dance Federation. But this is still not help, only one day is paid.

- Do you have any valuable prizes? Like cars?

- Only in a dream. It's more for the name. Diploma, medals give.

Then Anton invited me to dance. First we tried to work out the greeting. This is a half-bow, with a beautiful wave of the hand. Then they learned the step for cha-cha-cha. It's not as easy as it seems at first glance.

While we were rehearsing, a girl with a very beautiful graceful posture came on stage.

- This is our champion Kargabaeva Alua - was introduced by Anton.

- I am not a champion of Kazakhstan, but of many international competitions.
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