Networking is definitely an important part of any professional career but especially between performers. Networking is how we can keep up to date with the ever changing dance world, find out useful information such as auditions that don’t always get posted, meet new people and develop new contacts. The name of the game is getting to know people and influential people if possible.
The widely used quote ‘It’s not What you know, It’s who you know’ instantly springs to mind
Never a truer word spoken. In my experience so far all of my opportunities and those of others close to me have come through chance meetings with someone or even being heard of or seen without meeting at all! For example my friend and I were working in a small touring Ballet company, he was always great at making friends even those that not everyone could get along with At the end of the contract one of these people who everyone else tried to ignore it turned out was a good friend of the Director of Ballet West and then recommended my friend to work as a guest principal with the company, he didn’t even audition and ended up touring China in Romeo and Juliet. Also my friend was very pro-active in finding company class; after working on a one off project with ENB he always goes back to take company class with the help of the human resources coordinator who he had befriended and realised she would soon be company manager, this goes to show the importance of friend making not necessarily with just dancers but influential members of a company.
This statement could be expanded to how well you know the person and not just if you know them at all. This really makes me think of such things at ENB my friend is now really good friends with all the dancers there and all the ballet staff know his name just because he kept letting them see him and get to know him and whenever anything comes up it’s always his name first. Another thing on this same line is sites such as Networkdance.net where you can let people get to know you without meeting you in the interest of employment and networking. It contains a way to blog, put some personal info about yourself, pictures and videos just like facebook. The website is accessed by all the company directors from all the major companies all over the world and again my pro active friend is right in there, he literally just yesterday turned down an international gala opportunity in Chicago but in doing so he had a conversation with the directors of many American state companies and was invited again next year.
My current networks are:
- past and present teachers
- past production managers/directors
- past teachers/choreographers
- friends in the business
- previous colleagues
My tools that I currently use to engage with these networks are:
- Telephone
- Arranging meetings
- Networkdance.net
- dancerspro.com
Since we left college my friend and I have barely applied for an audition let alone been to one due to the future of networking, the people he knows have got him amazing jobs such as touring internationally with CATS or Mercutio touring in China so he’s never been out of work.
The more experienced we become in our profession, the bigger our networks will be. Other dancers now ask for his contact details for work in the future because he’s so well travelled. This shows that further along we get in our careers the more we are able to give back due to the experience and people we know.
I have a similar experience to you although I am an actor, not a dancer. I have found that a lot of my work comes through meeting people, or working with a director who asks me to work for them again. The story you told about your friend just goes to show that in our industry you never know who could get you a job! Although I don't believe we should go around 'sucking up' to people the whole time, it's important to remember that you never know where someone might end up, or want their network of contacts might be.
ReplyDeleteI think that when working within a company - it's important to be a friendly, approachable face and include everybody, as these qualities are almost as important as talent. Everybody likes to have nice people in the company that make the working environment pleasant.
We have not interacted much so far on the blogs, so I look forward to sharing some ideas about Networks and hopefully learning from each other's experiences.
Kazuke - glad to hear that networking is working for you and there are both virtual and real ones. Try to look at them through the features outlined in the Reader. Stephanie's point is well made in terms of being friendly and generally helpful. You never know where today's peers are going to be in 5 years time say. They could be in powerful positions. And if you are climbing right now into that powerful position be "nice" to those on your way up as you have no idea how long you will be "up" there ...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your 'sucking up' comment Stephanie and in my experience that has actually cost people jobs as it makes them come across as false. I also say that you don't even have to befriend a person to get a job out of knowing them. I've found that if you can show them your good qualities such as dedication, resourcefulness, good under pressure etc. and not to mention if they are outside of a group and you include them every now and then in an activity, they still think of you on the premises of 'who could get the job done?' and 'who's good with people?'
ReplyDeleteRosemary this is so very true. A saying comes to mind, 'be careful who you step on during the way up as you never know who'll you need to catch you on the long fall down' I don't know who said that originally but it really says something very true about humility and arrogance. I do find that many high ranking dancers become different people as soon as they become high ranking, have you ever picked up on this? obviously it's true of all things but I think it's because dance is such an elitist profession and as perfromers always crave attention we want to be heard as an elite member; this is why i think it is so frequent.
Hello Kazuka, very interesting detailed blog you have, I wondered if the list you had made ‘My current networks are’... If these were your current most important sources of information?
ReplyDeleteTanisha
Hi kazuka, i really like your quote its not what you know but who, because in this line of business knowing the right people can get very far...
ReplyDelete