After the curtain call: The career transition experience of modern dancers

This research project examined the career transition of professional modern dancers. It was based on the hypothesis that modern dance creates distinct issues for the career transition process of those working in the field. Since much of the data available on career transition focuses predominantly on ballet, it is difficult to recognize the factors that could be problematic for the transitioning modern dancer. If we are to better serve our modern practitioners, it is necessary to understand the circumstances within the genre that can cause difficulty during transition. Using the current transition literature as a base, this study endeavored to even the field of knowledge by analyzing the experiences of five former professional modern dancers. Through this analysis, a better understanding of the issues facing modern dancers was developed. Ideally, these issues will be more fully explored by future researchers so that modern dancers will have appropriate career transition resources.