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Dancers and Choreographers

ANZSCO ID 211112

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
1,000
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
42%
Female Share
69%
Average age
27
About this data

Summary

Dancers or Choreographers entertain by performing dances, or creating dance compositions.

Specialisations: Ballet Dancer, Contemporary or Modern Dancer, Exotic Dancer.

A high level of dancing skill is needed to work as a Dancer or Choreographer. Some workers also have formal qualifications. Vocational Education and Training (VET) and university are both common study pathways.

Tasks

  • Practises dance routines and interprets the choreographic content of the production.

  • Performs dances for audience entertainment, co-ordinates body movements and facial expression, usually with musical accompaniment.

  • Composes and notates ballet compositions and other dance routines.

  • Creates and performs individual performance routines.

  • Rehearses, auditions and travels between entertainment venues.

Characteristics

Job Type
Professionals
Skill Level
Very high skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
2111 Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Practical
  • Creative
Physical Demand
  • Light
  • Medium
  • Heavy
  • Very Heavy

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers, under the outlook section.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 42% of people employed as Dancers and Choreographers work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 24 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 46 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.

Industries

Main industries

1
Arts and Recreation Services
58.5%
2
Education and Training
13.9%
3
Accommodation and Food Services
10.9%
4
Other Services
2.4%
5
Other industries
6.2%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

26.7% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

32.4% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

21.8% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

4.8% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

12.0% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

0.8% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.8% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

0.8% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Dancers and Choreographers All Jobs Average
NSW 26.7 31.6
VIC 32.4 25.6
QLD 21.8 20.0
SA 4.8 7.0
WA 12.0 10.8
TAS 0.8 2.0
NT 0.8 1.0
ACT 0.8 1.9


  • Around 79% of Dancers and Choreographers live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    Victoria has a large share of employment relative to its population size.

    The regions with the largest share of workers are:

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
27
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
69%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Dancers and Choreographers is 27 years. This is younger than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 69% of the workforce. This is 21 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Dancers and Choreographers All Jobs Average
15-19 7.2 5.0
20-24 28.9 9.3
25-34 43.1 22.9
35-44 14.1 22.0
45-54 4.2 21.6
55-59 0.9 9.0
60-64 0.5 6.0
65 and Over 1.2 4.2
Median Age 27 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A high level of dancing skill is needed to work as a Dancer or Choreographer. Some workers also have formal qualifications. Vocational Education and Training (VET) and university are both common study pathways.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Creative Arts and Culture VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Dancers and Choreographers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 4.6 10.1
Bachelor degree 16.9 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 22.3 11.6
Certificate III/IV 12.7 21.1
Year 12 29.3 18.1
Year 11 5.7 4.8
Year 10 and below 8.4 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers who have strong people skills, can communicate well with diverse audiences and are reliable.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 55%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 50%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 46%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 46%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 46%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 46%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 43%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 43%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 43%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 39%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 39%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 37%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 36%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 36%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 34%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 34%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 34%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 32%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 29%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 27%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 76%

    Fine arts

    Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

  • 35%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 30%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 25%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 23%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 23%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 22%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 22%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 21%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 21%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 19%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 17%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 17%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 17%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 16%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 14%

    Physics

    The physical laws of matter, motion and energy, and how they interact through space and time.

  • 14%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 12%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 12%

    History and archeology

    Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.

  • 6%

    Biology

    Plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, how they rely on and work with each other and the environment.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 84%

    Whole body coordination

    Move your arms, legs, and body together.

  • 71%

    Extent flexibility

    Bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

  • 70%

    Multilimb coordination

    Use your arms and/or legs at the same time while sitting, standing, or lying down.

  • 68%

    Trunk strength

    Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

  • 66%

    Balance

    Keep your balance or stay upright.

  • 64%

    Stamina

    Exercise for a long time without getting winded or out of breath.

  • 64%

    Dynamic strength

    Exercise for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

  • 64%

    Dynamic flexibility

    Bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs, quickly a number of times.

  • 55%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 54%

    Speed of limb movement

    Quickly move the arms and legs.

  • 50%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 50%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 48%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 45%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 45%

    Static strength

    Lift, push, pull, or carry things.

  • 45%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 43%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 43%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 41%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 34%

    Arm-hand steadiness

    Keep your hand or arm steady.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 94%

    Doing physically active work

    Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.

  • 85%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 71%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 62%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 55%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 51%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 49%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 48%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 48%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 46%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 46%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 42%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 41%

    Leading and encouraging a team

    Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

  • 41%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 38%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 36%

    Guiding and directing staff

    Guiding and directing staff, including setting and monitoring performance standards.

  • 34%

    Coming up with systems and processes

    Deciding on goals and figuring out what you need to do to achieve them.

  • 32%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 29%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 28%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 76%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 48%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 43%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 24%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 76%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 71%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 57%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 57%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 52%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 43%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 100%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 97%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 95%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 93%

    Walking and running

    Spend time walking and running.

  • 91%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 89%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 88%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 87%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 86%

    Keeping or regaining balance

    Spend time keeping or regaining your balance.

  • 80%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

  • 80%

    Bending or twisting your body

    Spend time bending or twisting your body.

  • 79%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 78%

    Kneeling, crouching, stooping, or crawling

    Spend time kneeling, crouching, stooping or crawling.

  • 77%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 74%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 69%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 68%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 67%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 63%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 62%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 27-2031.00 - Dancers.

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