The entrepreneurial dancer : exploring the relationship between professional dance and creative entrepreneurship

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to explore the notion of the entrepreneurial dancer. This study addresses the following two research questions: (1) How are the skill sets and characteristics of professional dancers similar to those of creative entrepreneurs?; and (2) To what extent can the valuable skills of professional dance training be transferable to creative entrepreneurship? A review of the literature suggests that professional dancers possess traits and skills similar to creative entrepreneurs including passion, creativity, and perseverance. The skills and experience that professional dancers accumulate during their dance training and careers, including discipline, creativity, teamwork and perseverance are valuable, transferable resources that are in danger of being wasted as their short careers in dance come to an end. Moreover, creative entrepreneurs, in turn, possess many of these similar skills and are listed as driving forces of the economy, contributing significantly to the growth of the creative sectors. This exploratory study has addressed a gap in the literature insofar as not much research has directly addressed the relationship between dance and entrepreneurship. This study examines five professional dancers who have been successful in founding a range of innovative and artistic enterprises and, by contrast, five other professional dancers who have not ventured into entrepreneurship. The research questions draw upon a qualitative approach utilising semi-structured interviews. The results obtained through thematic analysis present six themes that highlight the similarities of traits between professional dancers and creative entrepreneurs and the extent to which the skills of professional dancers can be transferable to creative entrepreneurship. Overall, this study suggests that professional dancers and creative entrepreneurs share a broad measure of common skills and characteristics. It transpires that, in general, the skills gained by professional dancers are useful not only for their careers in dance but are also transferable to other creative pursuits including entrepreneurship.