YW Interview: Amanda Hancox

Dancing into Transition

INTERVIEW BY KAREN RICHARDSON

After a 30-year career as a professional dancer and actress, Amanda Hancox is now the Executive Director of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC) in Toronto, Ont. The Centre assists performing dancers make transitions into new careers by helping them develop transferable skills, explore career options and prepare in advance for work life after a career in dance.

Hancox first joined the DTRC as the Director of Administration in 2002. “I couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit for me at that stage of my career,” she says. “Over the years, in-between my acting roles, I gained experience in administration. I managed the office for a small accounting firm and volunteered as head of fundraising for a not-for-profit organization.”

“As a self-employed artist, I knew it was vitally important to develop a bank of transferable skills. It not only gives you greater ability to manage your performance career, but it increases your capacity to take advantage of opportunities that come along and prepare for transition. I have always said ‘yes’ to anything that will challenge me and give me the opportunity to learn new skills.”

While dancers may work as hard as athletes in terms of physical demands and professional training, they only make a fraction of the salaries of other professional athletes, averaging $18,500 per annum. Average salaries in all sports are at all-time highs, according to an article in SportsIllustrated.cnn.com. The league with the highest average annual salary is the National Basketball Association. Players in the NBA average a little more than $4 million with the highest-paid player being Shaquille O’Neal, who made roughly $20 million in the 2005-2006 season. The minimum salary, as of the 2005-06 season, was $398,762 for rookies and a little more than $1.1 million for veterans with 10 plus years of experience, according to the NBA.

YW: Why do professional dancers need assistance?
AH: Dance careers are intense, insecure and short. Dancers train hard, earn very little and take physical risks on a daily basis. The level of commitment required to be a professional dancer means that it’s more than just a profession—a dancer is who you are and it is tied to your identity. When a dance career ends, either by personal choice, physical limitation or injury, many dancers are at a loss. As performers, they have spent most of their lives in the studio, rehearsal hall and on stage. Leaving that world behind can be a shock and dancers can feel quite isolated.

Dancers train hard, earn very little and take physical risks on a daily basis.

YW: So how do you help them?
AH: We provide dancers with counselling support, education, skill-building opportunities and financial assistance. Our proactive approach helps dancers to sustain their performance careers, prepare in advance for a career transition and retrain in new professions when a life on stage is no longer possible. We’ve seen time and time again that the skills dancers gain through years of training and performance are highly valued in any career—skills such as a strong work ethic and creativity, just to name a few. I’m proud that we’ve helped thousands of dancers make successful and rewarding new beginnings in just about every career field you can imagine. Former National Ballet of Canada dancer Paul Winston is now a medical doctor, specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Terry Gardiner, who danced with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Toronto Dance Theatre, is an early childhood educator. Former contemporary dancer Gillian Ferrabee now works for Cirque du Soleil as a casting scout and advisor. Former musical theatre dancer Diana Cartwright is now an environmental policy advisor for Environment Canada. These are just a few of the many, many examples.

YW: Can the DTRC’s knowledge of the importance of career transitioning be transferred to other occupations that have a short life, such as professional athletes?
AH: Last year, I had the opportunity to sit down with the senior counsellor from the Canadian Sports Centre Ontario, an organization for Olympic and high-performance athletes and also to meet with counsellors from SCOPE, an Australian transition program for dancers that grew out of a similar program for athletes. The DTRC has given workshops on transferable skills and career transition to stunt performers and stage managers, and is a frequent participant in panels and conferences focussed on transition, life-long learning and the ways in which the arts can inform the wider work world. These days the average Canadian is expected to have several careers in his or her lifetime. With more than 20 years of success in providing transition-based programs and services, there is much that the DTRC can share to help others make successful and rewarding career transitions.

YW: Can you describe what you do on a daily (or weekly) basis?
AH: Leading a small, national organization means I work closely with our staff, both in the national office and regionally, to plan and implement our activities. I spend a great deal of my time meeting with government representatives, funders and arts organizations, to individual donors and dancers. We also work in collaboration with many other arts organizations to present programming, do research, or work to improve the socioeconomic conditions of artists. Creating public awareness of career transition issues is a large part of my activity. I also speak to individuals or groups about the transition process, as it is an issue facing many sectors of the workforce.

YW: What are some of the challenges of your job?
AH: As a national organization, I find the sheer size and diversity of Canada makes it challenging to stay connected with everything that is going on in the dance milieu. Fortunately, we have offices and representatives across the country who are closely connected with their communities. But I wish it was feasible to meet more often with the dancers in other regions.
Finding funding support is another constant challenge. Although we receive major government funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, we must make up a large portion of our budget from fundraising in the private sector. In these economic times, many charities are finding this an increasing struggle.

YW: What do you love most about your job and/or what do you find the most rewarding?
AH: I love to watch the extraordinary accomplishments of dancers as they explore new careers, to see the transformation as they discover a passion beyond the world of dance and excel in their course of study. John Kellner, a former dancer with Ballet British Columbia and the Alberta Ballet, describes his transition into aviation: “I soared through the air as a dancer and now, with the help and support of the DTRC, I am again soaring through the air—completely blessed to do something that makes my heart sing. All the discipline, focus, passion and artistry dancers develop during their performance career translates so beautifully into whatever they turn their minds to. It is extremely rewarding to see and a great privilege to be part of aiding that process.

YW: How do you achieve work/life balance?
AH: It is tricky to keep an eye on your work/life balance when you are involved in work you love and I feel so fortunate to be in that position. The work is very rewarding and fulfilling, which goes a long way in keeping life in balance. I have truly excellent staff, whom I depend on, and we have an easy-going, happy workplace.

Article first published in Your Workplace magazine issue 11-5