As freelancers, we have to take care of ourselves. If we get hurt on the job, we don’t have the privilege of having worker’s compensation pay our salary and provide our medical care. 500 per week. By the time I left Pacific Northwest Ballet, my salary was well into four figures per week. During this time I realized that not only could I barely sustain myself on that salary while I was working, but I couldn’t save any money to sustain myself when I wasn’t working. Take some time to define what things in life are most important and then live by those priorities. You can use your licence for one week only, and then you have to exchange it for a Qatari driving licence. This is done automatically once applicants submit their applications making it easy to keep track of them and list candidates that can be considered for future roles in the company. During this time last year, I made a festive list of my favorite moments while freelancing throughout the year.

3. Host familes – This year I had the opportunity to revisit two host families from last year. Going to a local payday lender is the last thing you want to do. With that said, I am currently sitting in a laundromat and still want to share some joy with my viewers. Employers seldom want an employee who is messy or disorganized, so you would be wise to make sure you are clean and able to maintain an orderly work environment without leaving piles of paper stacked or scattered everywhere you go. While I have taught master classes and substituted when I am available, this was the first year that I had the opportunity to work with students regularly for a period of time. Although it had been a year since we had seen each other and danced together, it felt as if we had spent the entire year developing our partnership.

While we had a mutual respect for each other, there were often jokes that I was a diva when I would bring up situations that were not commonplace in most of the companies I have danced for. A lot of companies are switching away from paper applications to electronic applications, but calling to check on your application can get your name put on the top of the pile. Being the wedding planner is a job that involves taking responsibility, the stress and details away from the bride on her big day and making it so that she can enjoy her day to the fullest. 1. As I have said in the past, the most valuable experiences in my career, aside from a few specific moments, have been making connections with people. Eleven years after starting my career, I am performing at a higher level than I did at 18 years old and I am, at times, forced to feel ashamed for trying to ask for a livable wage.

My partner and I have dreams of, one day, starting our own ballet academy. When I was 18 years old, I was offered a contract in the corps of Colorado Ballet. And now that I am freelancing full-time, aside from Nutcracker season, most of the work that I am offered usually pays at or below the offer I was made for my very first job. The company I left PNB for offered me nearly one third of what I had been making out northwest and I graciously accepted without negotiation. I have always wanted to try out for Broadway productions, but I didn’t know where to begin. 4. Auditioning for the Broadway workshop of Christopher Wheeldon’s American in Paris and Starz’s upcoming TV show, Flesh and Bone, have the potential to be life-changing experiences for me. A few weeks after this audition, that same friend (thank you Allison Walsh) had suggested a casting company contact me to audition for the upcoming television show, Flesh and Bone, on Starz. A co-worker was leaving the company we worked for and before she left, she placed a post it note in front of me and winked. This post is dedicated to James Fayette, former New York City Ballet Principal and current New York area dance executive for AGMA, who was recently injured in a senseless attack in Riverside Park in Manhattan this past week (article).