Dancers' career transitions

The hypothesis of this thesis is that it is possible to pinpoint the unique aspects of a dancer's profession which make career transition so intense and difficult and thus to develop career transition methodologies. The thesis analyzes previous research conducted about dancers' career transitions and compares programs that have been developed to assist dancers with transition in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. The study also examines the current status of pension plans for professional dancers in the United States. The author suggests strategies for developing effective dancers' career transition programs in the United States and increasing awareness of the issue.