Maybe you’ve tried a few other types of jobs and want to apply your new Bachelor of Arts in dance to become a dedicated dance student. You dream of on-stage performances and professional venues, and you’re ready to put in hours of practice to learn different styles and choreographic arrangements.
But what resume template do you use to help demonstrate your enthusiasm? How do you take unrelated experiences and use them to reinforce your ability to dance?
Don’t worry, we can help you establish a sense of direction! After years of helping dancers and students, we’ve put together three dance student resume examples to give you a leg up.
Copy this text for your dance student resume!
Dillon Mcalvey
Dance Student
Dillon@email.com
(123) 456-7890
Pittsburgh, PA
CAREER OBJECTIVE
Talented dance student with office experience seeking a position with Arthur Murray Dance Studios. Offering stellar presentation skills and an eagerness to share dance knowledge and grow in expertise.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Intern
Ruddur Dance
2020 – current
Pittsburgh, PA
-Supported the development of fundraising campaigns, increasing fundraising by 11% through social media outreach
– Assisted with grant-seeking, grant-writing, LOIs, and submissions of corporate and government grant proposals and final reports
– Participated in organizing over 6 special events, including a winter gala, a civic recital, and a state-wide performance tour
– Worked with accounting staff to assist with recordkeeping
– Co-taught 12 students in modern dance and tap class 2 times a week
– Contributed to 75% of the choreography of 3 lyrical dance recitals
Waiter
Chili’s
2019 – 2020
Pittsburgh, PA
– Greeted diners, delivered drinks, and correctly took orders
– Led team in performing opening and closing duties 3 times a week, including register reconciliation with 100% accuracy
– Supervised bar during bar manager’s 2-month absence in 2020 and, conducted thorough inventory checks to decrease loss by 7%
– Received 95% or higher scores on all customer feedback surveys, and earned Employee of the Month 4 times
– Promoted weekly specials, outselling coworkers by 9% or more
– Bussed tables, assisted cooks, and dried dishes during short-staffings
SKILLS
– Physical Fitness
– Modern Dance
– Creative
– Collaborative
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts
Dance
Penn State University
2018 – 2022
State College, PA
Related resume examples
What Matters Most: Your Skills & Experience
Your skills can get a bit tricky as a dance student. Where do you start with showing recruiters how you’ve already established a solid repertoire of abilities that will make you a great professional dancer?
The good news is that you can pull skills that you’ve learned from just about any prior job or class, as long as the abilities themselves are relevant to your new profession. For example, if you used to work in customer service, your collaborative abilities would help greatly with group choreography!
Make sure you’re super specific, too. Say “group choreography,” not just “teamwork”. If your list of skills sounds like it could relate to any profession or any type of dancer, try to get more specific.
See what we mean:
9 best dance student skills
- Physical Fitness
- Modern Dance
- Group Choreography
- Balance
- Active Listening
- Hip Hop
- Costumes
- Vocal Training
- Acting
Sample dance student experience bullet points
Now that you’ve told recruiters about what you can do, they want to see how you’ve already used your abilities to make a difference! Some dance students stress a bit about this stuff, but there are ways to translate other jobs or school activities into bullet points that qualify you as a dancer!
For example, if you helped put together an ad or outreach campaign for your college’s dance performance, mention it. If you participated in a dance group that boosted attendance for your local theater, say so.
Just make sure you include numbers to back up those points. Recruiters want attendance rates, engagement percentages, and graduation increases!
Check out these samples:
- Supported the development of fundraising campaigns, increasing dance studio fundraising by 11% through social media
- Co-taught 12 students in modern dance and tap class twice weekly, collaborating on lesson plans to boost engagement by 19%
- Received 95% or higher on all customer service feedback surveys, earning Employee of the Month 4 times
- Contributed to 76% of the choreography for 3 lyrical dance recitals that increased ticket sales by 11%
Top 5 Tips for Your Dance Student Resume
- Use good metrics
- It’s important to use metrics that reinforce any impact you’ve had that relates to dancing. Random headcounts or numbers of projects don’t really pack a punch, so avoid these unless you follow up with an impressive time crunch or attendance boost!
- Demonstrate ambition
- Whenever possible, use experience examples that demonstrate your go-getter attitude and your enthusiasm as a dance student. Emphasize outreach projects or class assistance roles that show you taking a leadership role.
- Get creative about your background
- If you’re fresh out of college and haven’t had time to build up much work experience, don’t forget that college projects can be just as qualifying at your level. Recruiters understand where you’re coming from, so that student dance group that increased enrollment rates at your school may be more impressive than you think!
- Utilize a cover letter
- Don’t feel pressured to run on with your experience points just to fill the page—it’s better for your resume to have only the finest, most powerful bullet points in a streamlined layout. If you have more to say about your qualifications as a dance student, make fresh points in your cover letter!
- Objectives can be a good thing
- If you’re applying for a student role, it makes sense to include a resume objective that sums up why you’re breaking into professional dancing, and why you’re qualified for it. Just don’t repeat any points from your resume or cover letter!
Alongside your Bachelor’s degree in Dance, you can include separate classes and certifications to reinforce your educational level. If you have something special like an International Dance Exercise Association (IDEA) Personal Trainer Certification, don’t hide it!
Some dance students are fortunate enough to feel like their resume is complete without the need for an additional objective statement. If you already have certificates, credentials, and experiences galore, feel free to nix it!
You can answer this question by revisiting the job description! Comb through the original ad for any keywords like “Urban Dance” or “group classes” that you can reflect in your resume to demonstrate your excellent fit for the role.
