How to become a dancer or choreographer
Official title: Dancers and choreographers
Also called: Dancer, Choreographer, Ballet dancer, Dance coach, Dance artist, Ballet master, Dance teacher, Ballet teacher, Dancing partner, Dancing teacher, Dance instructor
Dancers and choreographers devise, direct, rehearse and perform classical and contemporary dance routines.
Main tasks
- Builds and maintains stamina, physical strength, agility and general health through fitness exercises and healthy eating
- Attends rehearsals to develop and practice dance routines for performance
- Participates in dance performance
- Demonstrates and directs dance moves, monitors and analyses technique and performance, and determines how improvements can be made
How to become one
There are no formal academic requirements, although some dance schools may require candidates to have passed relevant dance graded examinations. Entry to courses is often via audition. Medical and physical assessments are required. Performers’ courses typically last three years and lead to a diploma or certificate awarded by the school. Some degree courses are also available.
Ways in
- University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £31,465 a year
- About 12,600 people work in this job now, and about 14,100 are projected by 2035. (+11.1%)
Related jobs
- Musicians
- Arts officers, producers and directors
- Artists
- Authors, writers and translators
- Actors, entertainers and presenters
- Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
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Questions people ask
How do I become a dancer or choreographer?
There are no formal academic requirements, although some dance schools may require candidates to have passed relevant dance graded examinations. Entry to courses is often via audition. Medical and physical assessments are required. Performers’ courses typically last three years and lead to a diploma or certificate awarded by the school. Some degree courses are also available.
How much does a dancer or choreographer earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £31,465 a year (Office for National Statistics).
Is a dancer or choreographer a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 11% by 2035, from about 12,600 to about 14,100 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a dancer or choreographer?
Not always. 47% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Creative Arts & Design degrees.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.