On Thursday, Julian took his last class as an official dance “student.” Leaving the School of American Ballet dance studio for the last time represented a bittersweet moment for him. Moving forward, he will consider himself and be called an “apprentice.” No longer a student per se, although a dancer never stops learning and perfecting his art.
Of course, Julian will spend four weeks at San Fancisco Ballet as a regular ol’ summer intensive merit scholarship student before he begins working. He will already have signed his contract with Semperoper Ballett in Dresden, Germany, by then. Officially, he’ll be a “professional dancer.”
That said, his apprenticeship position is through the Palucca University of Dance, an extremely well-respected dance school and the only independent dance college in Germany, as well as with Semperoper Ballett. This is not uncommon. Many apprenticeships have some affiliation with a school, which is why, for example, some New York City Ballet apprentices are allowed to live in the dorms for that first year they are with the company. That’s also why if they aren’t offered a corps job after their apprenticeship, the school personnel will sometimes help them find a position with another company—as if they were still students in the school. So, an apprenticeship is a first real dance job but with the benefit of still getting training.
For instance, although I don’t actually know all the details, I do know that Julian will still receive training (meaning classes) through Palucca University of Dance. I know he has also been offered a small “scholarship” through the school to help with his expenses, since his pay will not be what we hoped the first year. A German Bank, along with the University and the company are trying to alter how the current apprentice contract is arranged, because apprentices at Semperoper Ballett actually only get paid on a per performance basis. They would like to change the money arrangement to a stipend every month because it is safer for the apprentices; if an apprentice becomes injured and is payed by performance, they have no income. Plus, if an apprentice does not fit the company well and does not receive many roles in performances, they also have no way of receiving pay. (But some perform in almost all classical performances and occasionally a contemporary performance, and, as mentioned previously, they have a very long season—longer than in the U.S. In fact, the company has just a few weeks off during the season and one month off at the end.) The German government also requires a certain guaranteed income to grant a visa.
There are lost of different possibilities when it comes to first professional dance jobs, or entry-level dance positions. Your son could be offered a trainee position, a spot in a second company company, an apprentice position (which could look different in the U.S. than in Europe), or (lucky him) a corps spot. If you don’t know the difference, no worries. Here’s a breakdown based on what I know (with a review by Julian).
Trainee Program: I don’t know how many of these actually exist, but San Francisco Ballet, for example, has what it calls its Trainee Program. The dancers in this program train alone away from the rest of the school, but they are part of San Francisco Ballet School and not officially part of the ballet company. They do go off and perform on occasion, possibly even traveling to other countries. They also do get small roles, often just walk on, with the main company. From the trainee program, dancers are moved up to an apprenticeship position. At SFB, this is a real position with the company (not part of the school). Pay here seems to be a small stipend—not really a full salary.
Studio or Second Company: These often are run through a company’s school. For instance, Boston Ballet has Boston Ballet II. The dancers in this company train together and perform together, but they do not perform with the main company often. Although in Boston’s case, there is a chance that the BBII program will get to tour with the company; they have done so in the past. Washington Ballet, for example, has a studio company. It functions in much the same way as Boston Ballet II, as far as I know. New additions to the “company” are nurtured there and then brought into the main company a year or two later. For this position, dancers do receive a small salary.
Apprenticeship: An apprentice in some cases has an affiliation with a ballet company’s school but dances with the main company. They will be given corps roles, but still may get training opportunities not offered to the corps members. In other cases, they may function exactly like a corps member, like at San Francisco Ballet. Typically, apprentices are paid members of the company; in Europe, the pay structure seems to be different, but I can only say this based on the one company with which we have had experience. Apprentice programs are usually unique and do not resemble other apprentice programs from other schools and companies. This position can either be a transitional phase between school and company or it can be a full fledged company position. As mentioned, the details are different for every program.
Corps Position: This, of course, is a full company position. The dancer will dance with the full company and get a full salary. Whoo hoo!
If your dancer is auditioning and getting offers, be sure to look at the contracts. Find out if the company is union or not. That’s a subject for another post. Julian turned down a non-union contract that was for a corps spot.
If you have something to add to my description (or a correction), or if you know of a company that has a different structure, please leave a comment! This is place for everyone to learn and should also be a resource. And, I freely admit that I am by no means the most knowledgeable person on this subject. I look forward to your additions.
Photo of Swan Lake performed by the Russian Royal Ballet (in China 2008) courtesy of © Jackq | Dreamstime.com.
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Wow!
Thanks for the break-down of these different positions!
There sure ARE a lot of different ways of working as a ballet dancer! You are correct that here in Germany things are a bit different.
My elder daughter also had an “apprentice” contract with a company for her first year, but she in fact earned enough to live on. There was, however, no affiliation with a school nor was there extra training in a school. (just company class….)
Then there are other companies, such as the SemperOper, which offer very little pay but extra training in an affiliated academy, and still other companies which offer little pay but NO extra training (aside from daily company class) It is good to ask questions in each instance, to find out what is what. 🙂
At any rate, the SemperOper is lovely and Dresden is also not so bad.
Thank you, Nina. This is very helpful information for all of us.
Thanks, Diane, for the extra info! Semperoper has just changed its apprentice pay structure to a flat monthly fee (rather than per performance) for 12 months of the year. We are trying to find out if there is still a possibility of scholarship through the school as we were told. If so, a scholarship plus set pay could make it affordable! And pay even during the off month is pretty much unheard of!
Thank you, Nina, for all of this great information. My DS is just 14 with hopes of a professional career. Your blog is fabulous.
Thanks. You made my day, Balletmom.
This post is really informative – thanks for taking the time to go into so much detail.
Is Julian already at San Francisco Ballet School SI? How is it going?
My son has just started at Miami and says there a few boys there from SAB as well. I am beginning to see how small the ballet world really is. This is my son’s third intensive in the States and he knows or knows of so many ballet students whose paths cross and recross.
Nina, that is great that the apprentices are going to get more money. 🙂
Dresden is not as expensive as some cities in the former “western” part of Germany, but of course there are expenses.
Dresden does appear to be a fairly “safe” city, which is a big plus.
Yes, on both counts. I was told that Dresden is one of the cheapest cities in Germany. We’ll see.
Just a point to remember — in all the European companies where I have been Ballet Master (half a dozen) apprentices are taken on the basis that they have had no previous professional engagement — also their contracts are limited to one season only. This is usually a union stipulation (limiting the supply of cheap labour) but also protects the apprentice — if the company wants to keep him or her, the direction must find a fulltime contract for next season. There are also frequently shorter-term contracts awarded for a particular production (or tour) — if you get enough of these, you can also make a reasonable living, even without a permanent position.
Thanks for your comment, Jeremy. That sheds more light on how things work in Europe. Love to know where you work now! Of course, Julian hopes to land a position with Semperoper in the corps the following year–especially since Aaron said he wished he had a position for him this year. But there must be an opening, right? And Julian must earn it. So, we’ll see what happens. Please drop by again.
Congrats to Julian..and to you! Great breakdown of the jobs within the companies. My son just signed a contract (well, we signed it as he is not quite 18!) as an apprentice in the US…however, the European jobs have so much “upside.” Ballet is very well thought of throughout Europe…I wish Julian all the best!