Career spotlight: Contemporary dancer

Three dance professionals, from Bangarra, Australian Dance Theatre and Sydney Dance Company, offer advice for aspiring dancers and shed light on the challenges and quirks of their careers.

Bangarra’s Tara Robertson. Photo credit: Daniel Boud.

Success as a professional dancer depends on a number of factors, including talent, determination, fitness, flexibility, and artistry – including the ability to embody and interpret a choreographer’s instructions and convey a range of emotions through precisely articulated movement.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts