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Choreographer

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Choreographers enjoy glamorous careers and are rewarded for their many years of training with well-paying jobs -- sometimes.

"It's possible for a choreographer to earn $100,000 a year, but only if the show he or she has choreographed is a hit," says choreographer Rob Johnson. "If Broadway is lucky, it will see one or two musical hits a year."

That means that out of the thousands of choreographers working out there, only a few earn six figures a year -- if they're lucky.

With those kinds of odds against them, why would anyone choose this profession?

"You don't pick dance, dance picks you," says choreographer Wayne Burritt. "If you feel passionate about it, and you're supposed to do it, you'll do it."

Since the beginning of his career as a professional choreographer in 1994, Burritt has been commissioned for over 22 ballets. Like all others in this career, he started as a dancer.

"I started down this path when I was 19. I was a dancer first, and throughout my career, I've even stopped dancing at times. I didn't really know I had a talent for choreography until I started to do it."

Burritt puts in very long days, which include rehearsals, creating dances, teaching classes and taking classes. So why does he continue to do it?

"The work. That's the greatest thing in the world. I love what I do. To make dances is a wonderful thing. To be able to make dances, to want to make dances, to have the talent to do it -- there's nothing that compares to it."

So what advice does he offer to aspiring young choreographers? "First you should be a good dancer. If not a good dancer, then a well-trained dancer. A professional background is important. Develop your skills, and once your skills are developed, then you can start to be creative."

Deborah Lundmark, a choreographer and artistic director, has choreographed over 30 dances for her company. She says the hardest thing about choreography is having time to think about the project before you start to create the dance. "The research to your idea must have time to be researched," she says.

"It's hard. You need to be ready to fail and be willing to have your work in public to be criticized all the time."

She also says that you need "a good understanding and many years of training in a particular field. You need to know the history of dance that you have chosen and...some sort of creative energy.

"You have to be creative and willing to take risks."

Roxanne Claire, a choreographer working with the Houston dance community, knew she wanted to be involved in dance when she was five.

What does she feel is the hardest part of the job? "You don't make any money. The number of people who actually make money at choreography is very, very few. Most of us work other jobs in order to have the money to do the choreography.

"You have to love it. You have to really want to do it. The only reason for doing it is that you can't imagine your life without this aspect to it."

This passion for their work is a common thread among choreographers and dancers. "You're not going to make any money initially," says Burritt.

"You may never make money. Eventually you might. You've really got to do it more because you love doing it -- it's not an economic thing at all. Maybe if you're one of the top 10 choreographers in the world. Besides them, the rest of us are running around struggling. But that's the great thing -- it doesn't matter."

Carmen Romero, a celebrated flamenco dancer and choreographer, studied her art among masters in Spain. "I cannot recall making a conscious decision to choose to become a choreographer. I would choose the music that I liked and then just improvise in performance.

"I was very comfortable with this, and so my performance was strong. People thought the dances were choreographed and started hiring me to create works for them or to teach."

Now she runs her own school and company where she teaches dancers and choreographs works for her school and company, as well as outside commissions.

Like the others, Romero feels the most difficult part of being a choreographer has to do with the lack of funds. "The most difficult part of being a choreographer for me is that my ideas are far greater than my budget. Being creative is one thing, but being smart and creative is another.

"As an independent choreographer, you need to find ways to fund your projects. And if money falls short, you have to find another way to complete the project to your own standards without jeopardizing it."

Romero says that being a choreographer makes her feel assured that she has something to do long after her performance years are over.

"One of the most exciting things that has happened to me in my career is to present my first ever fully self-produced, directed and choreographed production to three full houses in three nights."

Those sold-out shows didn't come easy. "I started with no money and no formal dance company. Within six months, I auditioned dancers, applied for grants, found a music director and choreographed seven pieces. The best part of this was the standing ovation that made us all proud of sticking it out. It was the beginning."

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