After the Curtain Call: The Career Transition Experience of Modern Dancers

This research project examines the career transitions of professional modern dancers. It is based on the hypothesis that modern dance creates distinct issues for the career transition process of those working in the field. Since much of the data available on career transition focus predominantly on ballet, it is difficult to recognize factors that could be problematic for the transitioning modern dancer. If we are to better serve our modern practitioners, it is necessary to understand the circumstances within the genre that can cause difficulty during transition. Using the current transition literature as a reference, this study endeavors to even the field of knowledge by analyzing the experiences of five former professional modern dancers and, through this analysis, to provide a better understanding of the issues facing modern dancers. Ideally, these issues will be more fully explored by future researchers so that modern dancers will have appropriate career transition resources.