CAREER TRANSITION FOR DANCERS IS HONORED WITH Capezio Award.

Sometimes it's a reminder from your aching knees or Achilles tendon. Sometimes it's a frank look at a two-digit bank account. Sometimes it's a sudden determination that, yes, you want to be able to finish a whole pint of pralines and cream by yourself without being devoured by guilt. Whatever the cause, there's something that tells a professional dancer, sooner or later, that it's time to stop. The question then becomes: What next?

Since 1985, Career Transition for Dancers has helped answer that question. The nonprofit organization has smoothed the path to a new career for nearly 2,000 current and former professional dancers confronted by age, injury, or simply the desire to try something new. It offers scholarships, career counseling, seminars, support groups, a career resource library, a national, toll-free hotline [phone]), and its own Web site (www.careertransition.org). Those years of support have earned Career Transition for Dancers the 2001 Capezio Dance Award, which will be presented in October.

The Capezio Dance Award, presented annually since 1952, is provided through the Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation Inc., the philanthropic arm of Capezio/Ballet Makers. The foundation selects award recipients from a list of candidates proposed by its trustees and a rotating group of national advisers. The award is intended to increase public awareness of dance in America by honoring a person or group that has made a significant contribution to U.S. dance.

Career Transition for Dancers has offices in New York (212/581-7043) and Los Angeles (323/549-6660), with two counselors in each location. They work with dancers from all disciplines and media, including ballet, modern dance, musical theater, movies, and television. Recipients of their assistance have gone on to successful careers in arts management, advertising, education, arts management, physical therapy, journalism, and other fields.

"The counseling aspect is a very crucial key" to finding a new career, said Alexander Dube, the executive director of Career Transition for Dancers. "The dancer goes through a grieving process" upon leaving the dance field, and "for many, this [dance] is all they know."

"There are many, many issues that have to be faced," Dube continued. "There are issues of self esteem, issues of `What am I good for?'" Many of the traits drilled into dancers are attractive to prospective non-dance employers, he said: "They hardly ever get sick, they're attractive, they stay in shape, they're smart, they're fast learners--as dancers, they have to be."

The organization's individual and group career counseling is available to current and former professional dancers who are at least 27 years old and who can show that they've worked 100 or more paid weeks as dancers over a period of at least seven years.

Limited financial grants are available for education, retraining, or starting a business. Since 1985, Career Transition for Dancers has made 1,233 scholarship awards totaling over $1 million to current and former dancers. The organization is funded by contributions from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government.

The Capezio Dance Award--along with a $10,000 check--will be presented October 15 at a benefit for Career Transition for Dancers at New York's Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. Trustees of the Capezio Foundation are Lawrence Freedman, Anthony Giacoio, Donald Terlizzi, Michael Terlizzi, and Nicholas P. Terlizzi, Jr. Its executive director is Jane Remer.