Beyond performance II: success stories.

It's a fact of life in dance that a performance career is often short-lived. Whether occasioned by injury, age, financial necessity, or the desire to do something new, countless dancers each year find themselves searching for a new or supplemental livelihood.

In Beyond Performance Part I (September 2004), we shared stories of dancers who've found life after performance in a dance-related field. Now, we look at the process of transition: what to expect, the help available, and best of all--stories of success.

In the following pages, you'll meet dancers who have translated their skills and abilities into a variety of careers: fitness, gardening, nutrition, film-making, computer technology...even medicine. For some, the change came easily and naturally. Others are still exploring and making self-empowering discoveries along the way.

COLLEEN CAVANAUGH PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND DANCED WITH LIBBY NYE, MARCUS SHULKIND, AND RUSH DANCE STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 29-30 OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGIST

I stopped dancing partially because I felt I needed something I could do when I was older. I had dance work, but things that really inspired me came along only every once in a while. Even though I loved taking class and rehearsing every day, the work wasn't inspiring enough for me to make sacrifices for.

I decided to pursue medicine because I had an interest in science. The discipline of dance training and the ability to find interest in things that are repetitive helped me know that I was going to get something out of my studies. It took almost ten years for me to feel comfortable as a doctor, though. I felt like I didn't fit in, like I was an artist that was somehow practicing medicine. But after ten years I started to think that being an artist enabled me to bring different things to people. In the end I think it made me a better physician.

I feel like I've made a difference in people's lives. Once I gave a woman an emergency, life-saving hysterectomy, and her 4-year old said to me, 'Thank you for saving my mommy's life." The field I'm in is stressful, but there are real blessings that come along the way.

FRANCES CHIAVERINI PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA DANCED WITH NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER II STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 24 CERTIFIED PHYSICAL TRAINER, WAITRESS, AND FREELANCE FILMMAKER

I took a course for certified personal trainers. I want ed to see how much I would enjoy it. I learned things about biomechanics that were not part of my dance training. I was also interested in the culinary field and took a job as a waitress to familiarize myself with it. While searching the newspapers, I saw an announcement for a local film festival competition. I made a short film with my video camera and a computer. Eight films were chosen for the festival. I didn't win, but I got positive feedback. Film can take you wherever you want to be and you can do it for as long as you like, whereas a dance career is short.

I was passionate about dance, but two seasons at Nederlands Dans Theater II wore me out. I stopped dancing at the end of last season and moved back to Pittsburgh, where I haven't lived in six years. I've just got to hang in there.

--interviewed by Karen Dacko

DAVID PLETTNER Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA DANCED WITH LORETTA LIVINGSTON & DANCERS STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 46 ARTS CONSULTANT, CO-FOUNDER: THE CULTURAL + PLANNING GROUP

Management consulting was a side job for me when dancing wasn't enough income, so it was natural for me to do that full time once I retired. When I stopped performing I realized it was too important to me to leave the arts world altogether. Certainly my legal education (a law degree from the University of North Carolina) helped prepare me, but much of my skill in arts management came from managing non-profit organizations. I had on-the-job training through Loretta Livingston and Dancers, where I also danced for 15 years. The best part of being a consultant is that I get to help improve the ecology of arts support and make things better for artists. Recently the city of San Antonio adopted a 10-year arts plan that my firm created.

--interviewed by Victoria Looseleaf 

RENE MICHEO CINCINNATI, OHIO DANCED WITH CINCINNATI BALLET STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 38 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGER

My career transition was gradual. I learned on the job. Ten years ago, Cincinnati Ballet started growing. While I was dancing I was already helping with their computer network. I'm self-taught--I took my first computer apart in 1988 to see how it worked. Today, anything that has a wire is my responsibility at Cincinnati Ballet. I work with five servers that I built from scratch. I've branched into digital photography and video. I am webmaster and archivist for the company, and I manage the video security cameras for our three studio locations.

My years of performing with companies like Ballet de Santiago, Tulsa Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet, gave me skills like focus and concentration and memory.

--interviewed by Kathy Valin

CARL AND ELISE CORRY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS CARL DANCED WITH JOFFREY BALLET STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 42 ELISE DANCED WITH NEW YORK CITY BALLET STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 47 PILATES INSTRUCTORS AND OWNERS OF PILATES FITNESS INC.

It's traumatic to stop dancing. But the transition to Pilates was a natural one, like putting on a different pair of tights. Elise has done Pilates since the '70s and never had a major injury while dancing. I had done weight lifting, running, aerobics, and a lot of different things to stay fit. Nothing really worked that well, to be honest, and I had many injuries and spent a lot of time in rehab. But understanding what happens when things break helps with Pilates, as does a dancer's understanding of alignment. It took a little more than a year to get my certification, which I did at a training center in Chicago.

The Pilates method is extremely intense--to this day Elise and I are still exploring it. It's fascinating as a teacher to try to figure out what exercises can benefit each individual, since every body is different. We had one client--a woman in her late '50s, early '60s who'd had a herniated disk in her lumbar spine for years and fell down often. With the help of a surgical spinal implant that sends a message to the brain that there is no pain, she was able to start Pilates, which she did with us for two years. Pilates is more than just a business--it can help just about anyone.

--interviewed by Laura Molzahn

REBECCA DONNENBERG AUSTIN, TEXAS DANCED WITH BALLET AUSTIN, NASHVILLE BALLET STOPPED PERFORMING AT AGE 22 STUDENT: NUTRITION MAJOR

I wanted the college experience while I was still in my early '20s. I took one course in nutrition and loved it. It was a natural transition--dance is so body conscious. I see myself starting out in a clinical environment where the jobs are most plentiful, but I would like to work part-time with dancers to contribute back to the dance world.

Dance taught me discipline, discipline, and time management skills. As an apprentice at Ballet Austin, I was not paid well--I had to hold an extra job.

The perfectionism that dance instills carries over to academic work. The hardest part for me has been the guilt. I feel that I should be taking class.

Dance is something I will always love, but it's refreshing to be in an academic environment. And I get to count beyond eight again."

--interviewed by Karen Dacko

ROB BESSERER NEW YORK, NEW YORK FOUNDING MEMBER, WHITE OAK DANCE PROJECT GARDEN DESIGNER AND AERIAL CHOREOGRAPHER

A few years ago I thought I wanted to stop dancing, so I took a grunt-work gardening job. I got on the job training, but basically I'm self-taught. After about a year I started my own garden design business, and started dancing again--I realized I could never stop performing. Now I design and install gardens on terraces, in brownstones, yards, and on penthouse rooftops.

Dancing and gardening are all about process; it's a question of figuring out what works and what never to do again. Gardening is also about composition; putting something together that pleases the eye. They're very similar, except that there are no other dancers to complain with, or choreographers to complain about. You plant things, nurture them and watch them grow, and it's very satisfying.

I thank Martha (Clarke) for the flying, because we did workshops where we learned to fly on wires for Hans Christian Andersen. People saw me in the piece, and started calling and asking me if I could choreograph their aerial work. So in spring and summer I'm gardening, in winter I do theater, and flight is all year long. The success story is that I'm making a living--my career is diversified, luckily. And the balance of the three professions really keeps me happy.

--interviewed by Nancy Alfaro