Options with performing arts (dance/drama)
A performing arts course is an invaluable way of gaining a rounded and informed view of the industry, as well as gaining specific skills and discipline in your chosen area of specialty. Courses can focus on a particular area, while others may give a broader overview before you specialise.
The course will develop and fine tune your original talent, in addition to teaching you new techniques to enhance your performance, e.g. movement, improvisation and breathing. Courses often involve acquiring new skills such as mime and choreography. Some will also provide you with relevant technical understanding, such as how to use sophisticated sound and lighting equipment or how to stage a production.
Most courses introduce you to the history of individual performing arts and the different influences that have shaped them. You also develop an understanding of related subjects such as anatomy, sociology, media and culture.
Performance skills and stagecraft are also developed through real performances. Another key aspect is working with industry professionals and beginning to build your performance networks and contacts.
Studying performing arts gives you a range of skills sought after by all types of employers:
Performing artists will generally supplement their training, generate opportunities and enhance their creative knowledge by participating in voluntary projects and work experience. Many of these will take the form of community projects in a local community centre, unfunded charitable organisations' projects and supporting industry professionals in developing their creative process.
Often actors and dancers will organise workshops and creative laboratories to expand their art form, as well as applying for funding for self-created art projects. Many dancers and actors will also start their own company with a particular art form style they want to explore.
These unpaid projects or workshops are valuable ways to grow as an artist while creating opportunities for the exchange of ideas and these open forums/performances are often attended by industry professionals.
Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.
Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.
A 2012 HESA survey of 2011 graduates indicates that six months after completing their course, just over two-thirds of performing arts graduates were in employment in the UK or overseas, with a further 6% combining work and study. Of these, 23% were working in art, design and culture, while almost 8% were working as education professionals. 6% were working as commercial, industrial and public sector managers and just over a third were working as clerical, retail, waiting or catering staff.
Other career areas open to performing arts graduates include retail, finance, social work, marketing and travel and tourism.
You will find that the most common employers of performing arts graduates include:
Short-term or freelance contracts, moving between different fields, generating opportunities through networking, attending auditions, collaborating with other artists and putting on your own shows are all part of a performer’s lifestyle.
Performing arts is about how you present yourself, therefore it is important to network at every opportunity and keep your finger on the pulse of the industry. There may be an opportunity for employment in the most unusual places, and by keeping your mind open and body ready you will be able to make the most of your individual talents.
Auditions are generally advertised via networking contacts and posted up at studios and centres (anywhere artists meet, take classes, participate in workshops and rehearse). It is important to regularly visit these centres while you are training and after graduation, keeping your ears and eyes open.
For an insight into more potential roles and employment areas take a look at:
For further information on possibilities in other employment areas, see job sectors.
Statistics are collected every year to show what HE students do immediately after graduation. These can be a useful guide but, in reality, because the data is collected within six months of graduation, many graduates are travelling, waiting to start a course, paying off debts, getting work experience or still deciding what they want to do. For further information about some of the areas of employment commonly entered by graduates of any degree discipline, check out What Do Graduates Do? and your degree...what next?
In 2011, six months after graduation, just over 8% of performing arts graduates had gone on to full-time further study, with a further 6% combining work with further study. Part-time study is increasingly popular because you can earn and learn at the same time.
You may want to specialise further, learn additional performance skills or do academic research into an aspect of your subject that interests you. Alternatively, you may take a vocational course, such as a diploma in arts administration or a teaching certificate that will open up alternative areas of employment.
Continuing your education while taking the first steps to becoming established can ease the transition from student to professional performer. It also means that the opportunity to take part in student performances and festivals is still open; many dancers, actors and musicians have started their careers through this route.
These trends show only what previous graduates in your subject did immediately upon graduating. Over the course of their career - the first few years in particular - many others will opt for some form of further study, either part time or full time. If further study interests you, start by thinking about postgraduate study in the UK and search courses and research to identify your options.
For details relating to finance and the application process, look at funding my further study.
