Here's the obvious and insanely fun thing post to write: the pros of being a pro.
Yes, I laughed too much writing that phrase, so let's move on...
The Pros of Being a Professional Ballroom Dancer
- It's glamorous. I KNOW. I told you last week it wasn't. BUT when you get to walk in a ballroom all dolled up and travel the world (or at least the nation), it is glamorous. You wear nice clothes and travel to pretty places and do interesting things and meet cool people. Not to mention, once you pay your dues (but there are so many dues, y'all), you're expected to go shopping. Often. And you can. Glamour = check.
- It pays well. Most non-ballroomer people can't believe we support our family teaching ballroom dance. "What else do you do?" they ask politely. Well, this is it. The G works more or less 40 hours/week and I ... do not and we do quite all right. And we're not Shirley Ballas (the super bad-ass coach who works, and charges, a lot more than us).
- You meet great people. The people in the business, and the students we get to teach, are generally a super-fun, high-energy, honest, inspiring, humble, hardworking gang. [Yeah, there's some bad eggs, but more on that in the next post.] It is usually the highlight of my day to go to the studio and teach my students surrounded by the other pros and their students. (Unless I see a dude commuting to work on a unicycle, then that's the highlight of my day.)
- You have a very specific skill set. It's not everyday you meet a professional tree cutter, or professional movie projectionist, or a professional ballroom dancer. You will OWN small talk and cocktail parties at non-dance functions. Plus, recommendations come pretty easy from your friends, family, and hopefully students since you're the only pro in the field they know.
- You'll be a great shape. It's not a given, but the pro ballroomer set is pretty fit. You're fairly guaranteed on staving off Alzheimer's, heart disease, old age, and a host of other yucky things by being in the industry.
- It's not a 9-to-5. No offense to ye of the regular grind, but our brand of espresso is pretty neat: there's not a lot of early morning teaching hours and your schedule is pretty flexible to fit travel and whatever into it. I mean, you can go grocery shopping at 10am and avoid the after-work rush and that's pretty worth it right there.
- Your workday changes constantly. I'm not talking about late cancellations [again, that's for next time], but going from student (beginning new guy) to student (advanced competitive couple) to your own practice (that new routine) to student (long-time social dancer) to prep (that wedding couple's first dance choreography) keeps the day from feeling like a week.
- It's fun. Music, physical contact, moving. All good.
Next up? The cons (both the actual con artists and the negative side) of being a pro.
