Choosing not to dance. (Survival Tactics Part 2).

For Love or Money?

How do dancers make ends meet? We may dance for the love of it rather than for money, but just how much must we sacrifice for art? [] There are many ways to approach this classic struggle. While some land coveted spots in companies and others answer the call to teach, still more leave the dance field entirely. Part 2 of our three-part series on economic survival tactics reveals other options: tips on how you can maximize a minimal budget, and the story of a young woman who found fulfillment behind the scenes.

Katherine McDermott (aka Katy) enrolled at Oklahoma City University because she loved to dance. OCU's dance program, founded by John Bedford and his wife, Jo Rowan, who heads the department, is known for its high output of dancers who go on to employment in the entertainment field. But after a year, the native Texan realized she wasn't well suited for a stage career. "I didn't like to audition, and I really liked to eat," McDermott says. "My practical nature was at odds with the realities of the dancing life."

As it happens, OCU's School of American Dance and Arts Management turns out not only dancers, but also dance studio owners, dance company managers, and stage managers. McDermott switched over to the school's management track and, while continuing to take ballet, tap, and jazz dance, she completed courses in touring, presenting and sponsoring performances, stagecraft, stage lighting, and contract law for performers. Now, as stage manager for the New York City-based Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, McDermott, 30, has landed a rewarding career in the field she loves.

Before graduating from OCU, McDermott put her new career choice to the acid test when she accompanied Rowan's American Spirit Dance Company as assistant stage manager and wardrobe mistress for a twelve-day tour of China. According to Bedford, dean of the School of American Dance and Arts Management, McDermott succeeded under daunting circumstances.

"Because of the heat, high humidity, and limited air-conditioning, costumes were soaked at the end of a performance," Bedford remembers. "Katy oversaw hand-washing of all costumes and the attempts to dry them in time for the next usage. Unfortunately, in Taipei fabric once wet stays wet. The best we could offer dancers was clean--not dry and clean."

In addition, McDermott worked with non-English-speaking Chinese technical crew and translators who were unfamiliar with theatrical terminology, and she had to deal with a series of spongy, hole-plagued stages as well. The tour was a priceless experience for McDermott and one that Bedford says earned her the respect of her peers.

After graduating in 1995, McDermott worked for several smaller dance companies before landing her current position with the eleven-member Jones/Zane company in July 2000. She has a forty-six-week annual contract, health insurance, a 401 (k) plan, and a sense of stability that allows her to channel her considerable energies into her work.

It's work that some might find overwhelming. McDermott averages twelve- to fourteen-hour workdays while the company is on tour. The company's performance schedule ranges from sixty to eighty shows annually. During lust three years, McDermott has accumulated baggage claim checks from airports in as many as forty U.S. cities and ten countries.

"If the company has multiple shows in a venue we get a little rest, but the schedule can be tough," explains McDermott. "For example, we averaged four to five hours sleep a night on our Italian tour."

Days off depend on the specific performance schedule and the travel necessary between venues. McDermott says the longest she's gone without a day off is thirty-five days. On the other hand, a tour can sometimes offer an unexpected holiday; in November 2002, she had five days off in Europe and was able to visit Barcelona. There she became engaged to her college sweetheart, who is also employed in the dance management field.

After her first two shows (Jacob's Pillow and the Lincoln Center Festival), McDermott found herself in Sydney for the Olympic Arts Festival. "Growing up, all I wanted to do was go to the Olympics as a gymnast or an ice skater. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be going to Australia," said McDermott. "I served as stage manager for our show You Walk?--a full evening production, which was visually beautiful because there were projections and moving scrims. Too, I was able to see some innovative work of groups from all over the world."

During a typical tour, McDermott is charged with a variety of tasks from protecting dancers by installing safety tape "around everything that doesn't move," to placing focus lines for the lighting supervisor, to creating shift plots and fly cue sheets and reviewing them with the crew. Because she works for a small, non-union company, McDermott also manages and maintains all props and has charge of the wardrobe, ensuring that costumes are cleaned, pressed, and ready to go. When the company travels with musicians, she helps set up the orchestra pit. McDermott is the one who delivers all the pre-show time calls, coordinates with the house manager on when to open the doors and raise the curtain, and calls the cues during the show. She even takes a turn behind the wheel of the equipment truck when traveling to short-distance shows.

When the company is at home in rehearsal McDermott puts in more of a traditional forty-hour workweek. But after rehearsal, when the dancers call it a day, McDermott remains to return phone calls, answer email, and complete paperwork.

"When we are creating a piece I send notes on to the set, costume, and lighting designers as well as to the production manager and lighting supervisor. I run the sound in rehearsal as well as the video camera that we use to document the rehearsal process. I also keep a log of the video tapes so that they are easier for Bill to review," details McDermott.

Like others who find satisfaction in offstage careers, McDermott continues to study dance in her spare time. Since moving to New York, she's become interested in modern dance and often participates in company class. "I do the yoga part and the central barre," she says. "But when they get to the more complex combinations, I step out.

"This is the coolest job I have ever had," McDermott says. "I am happy and feel very privileged to be working with such a great group of people."

Karen L. Hayes is a freelance writer and high school publications advisor in the El Paso, Texas, area.