Artist Resume Examples and Templates for 2026
4 Best Dance Resume Examples and Templates for 2026
By Andrew Stoner
, Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner
Last Updated:
October 8, 2026
Tip !
A clean training-and-credits block is what gets dance resumes past the artistic director's first-pass cut; named choreographers and specific repertoire are what make them readable enough to earn a callback slot.
Featured Example
Why this resume works
- Shows up in real productions: Naming specific choreographers, festivals, and tour cities lets a casting director or AD verify the dancer’s level fast.
- Numbers that mean something on stage: Show counts, audition callback rate, and apprentice cohort size all translate to language hiring panels understand.
- Both company and freelance work: The resume covers ensemble stability and self-driven booking, which signals range for repertory and commercial work.
Emerging Example
Pre-professional and recent conservatory grads with strong training but few paid credits. The emerging resume needs to prove technical range, training lineage, and the intensives that put you in front of working choreographers.
Why this resume works
- Made the most of school work: Naming guest choreographers and thesis selection turns student credits into evidence that holds up next to professional ones.
- Real stage time, not just classes: Show counts and the same-week understudy story prove the dancer has actually performed under pressure.
- Honest about the level: The summary asks for apprentice or trainee work, which matches the credits and feels truthful to readers.
Professional Example
Working dancers with a multi-year credit list across companies, tours, or commercial gigs. The professional resume needs to prove repertoire depth, the choreographers who cast you, and the styles you book consistently.
Why this resume works
- Reliable on top of skilled: The 48 of 48 shows stat speaks directly to ADs and rehearsal directors who worry about injury and dropouts.
- Names that signal level: Listing recognized choreographers and brand campaigns places the dancer in the right tier without overclaiming.
- Company plus freelance balance: Showing both ensemble work and self-booked gigs reads as a dancer who can hold a roster spot and pick up commercial work.
Principal Example
Senior dancers, soloists, and dance educators with national credits or program-leadership history. The principal resume needs to prove featured roles, choreography or teaching credits, and the artistic lineage that defines your work.
Why this resume works
- Carries a season, not just a role: Lead-role counts across seasons and a sold-out European tour show the dancer can anchor a company’s year.
- Choreographer side adds real weight: Commission counts, residency selection, and dollar budgets show the artist can lead a creative process, not just perform.
- Career arc reads cleanly: Corps to soloist to principal, plus international work, gives the reader a clear sense of trajectory and standing in the field.
Text Version Dance
Sasha Lindgren
Minneapolis, MN | (612) 348-7720 | [email protected] | linkedin.com/in/sashalindgren
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Contemporary dancer with 11 seasons of company, freelance, and commercial credits. Strong in repertory work and on-camera projects, with growing experience teaching and rehearsal directing. Looking for company contract or long-form project work with a contemporary or hybrid company.
EXPERIENCE
Senior Company Dancer
- Perform featured and ensemble roles across a four-program season, with featured work in nine commissions to date.
- Took over rehearsal direction for two repertory pieces, running 6-week clean-up cycles for groups of 12-14 dancers.
- Anchored 52 performances during the 2022-2023 season with no missed shows.
- Coach two trainees per season on audition tapes and self-presentation.
- Helped launch the company’s first paid summer intensive, teaching morning company class for cohorts of 28 students.
Freelance Dancer and Choreographer
- Booked commercial spots for Target, REI, and General Mills, plus four music videos for indie artists.
- Choreographed three short works shown at Northrop’s Right Here Showcase and at On the Boards new works series.
- Maintain a callback rate near 30% across about 22 self-tape submissions per year.
- Run own contracts, taxes, and project budgeting.
Company Dancer
- Danced full repertory across three seasons, including featured roles in pieces by Doug Varone and resident choreographer Mei Lin.
- Selected for the 2018 small-cast tour, performing 22 shows across eight cities.
- Taught youth pre-professional class once a week to a group of 16 students aged 13-17.
- Sat on the dancer health and safety committee for two seasons.
Apprentice Dancer
- Joined as one of three apprentices selected from a 220-person audition pool.
- Performed in 18 mainstage shows over two seasons and understudied four principal tracks.
- Supported school outreach program with weekly classes at three Title I schools.
Trainee
- Completed full trainee year, with daily ballet, modern, and repertory classes.
- Performed in two studio showcases and one mainstage gala.
- Earned full-tuition scholarship for the second half of the year based on technique review.
EDUCATION
- BFA in Dance Performance, University of Minnesota, 2013
- Gaga Teacher Training, 2021
- Countertechnique workshop, 2019
- American Red Cross First Aid and CPR, current
SKILLS
- Contemporary, Gaga, Countertechnique
- Classical ballet through Advanced 2
- Jazz, commercial, and house basics
- Partnering and floor work
- Rehearsal direction and repertory cleaning
- On-camera and self-tape production
- Teaching for ages 10 through adult
- Improvisation and composition
- Conversational Spanish
Use this in our builder
Copied
How to Write a Dance Resume
01 Open with the one credit a roster page cannot show
Add a single line a company website cannot surface: a featured role in a Balanchine work, a credit under a named choreographer, an aerial silk certification, or fluent partnering at lift weight.
Put it directly under your name in a short positioning line. Artistic directors and choreographers read this line first to decide whether to keep reading or move to the next stack.
02 Translate the work into scope, not numbers
Dance hiring runs on volume and venue more than percentages. Strong resumes name the company, the work, the choreographer, and the run length.
Write “Performed corps and demi-soloist roles across 42 performances of Swan Lake, Nutcracker, and Giselle” rather than “strong classical performer.” Bullets without a venue or count tend to read as class work, not stage work.
03 Group your work the way casting reads it
Most strong dance resumes split credits into clear blocks: company or concert work, commercial and industrial, film and television, and teaching or choreography.
Inside each block, list the production, your role, the choreographer or director, and the company or venue. Add training as its own section with school, primary teachers, and years per style.
04 Put physical specs and training where they read first
Page-one header carries height, hair, eyes, and union status (AGMA, AEA, SAG-AFTRA). Pointe, partnering weight, and aerial rigging certifications belong in a special skills block on page one.
Artistic directors and choreographers need these visible before they open the reel because they drive partnering, costuming, and casting decisions on the first scan.
05 Decide what to cut from a long credit list
Senior dancers carry years of recital and student-work credits that no longer earn callbacks. Cut pre-professional school performances once you have three or more paid company credits.
Trim competition placements after your second professional contract. Keep the resume to one page with a clean reverse-chronological credit list and a current headshot reference on file.
Most Popular Skills on Dance Resumes for 2026
The skills below come from dance resumes our users built on ResumeTemplates.com. Artistic directors and choreographers scan dozens of resumes a week for each call, and these are the skills that show up most often. For company and concert work, technique terms like pointe, partnering, and contemporary floor work carry the most weight.
For teaching and studio roles, syllabus knowledge and choreography credits matter more. Match the list below against the actual call or job posting, and use soft skills as evidence behind a credit line rather than a standalone bullet.
| Soft Skills | % of resumes with this skill |
|---|---|
| Discipline | 51% |
| Collaboration | 63% |
| Creativity | 42% |
| Adaptability | 35% |
| Stage presence | 33% |
And here are the top hard skills showing up most often.
| Hard Skills | % of resumes with this skill |
|---|---|
| Dance technique | 76% |
| Choreography | 57% |
| Multiple dance styles | 40% |
| Improvisation | 36% |
| Data science | 63% |
| Partnering and lifts | 34% |
Based on data from thousands of dancers’ resumes built on ResumeTemplates.com, May 2026.
Must Have on a Dance Resume
Before a dance resume gets a closer read, hiring teams check for a short list of essentials.
Niche Keywords for ATS Checkers
Studio owners and casting directors filter by style and setting before they look at credits. Match your niche keywords to the specific call so the resume surfaces in both ATS and casting database searches.
| Niche | Keywords ATS scans for |
|---|---|
| Classical ballet | pointe work, pas de deux, vaganova technique, balanchine repertoire |
| Contemporary and modern | graham technique, horton technique, floor work, contact improvisation |
| Commercial and stage | musical theater, jazz choreography, industrial dance, cruise ship contract |
| Studio teaching | dance instructor, abt national training curriculum, rad syllabus, competition choreography |
| Specialty and aerial | aerial silks, partnering and lifts, acrodance certified, character dance |
Portfolio Strategy
Dance hiring is a reel-first process. The resume gets you opened; the reel decides the audition slot. Treat the resume and reel as one package that loads from the same link.
#1 for performers
Vimeo (unlisted links)
Clean player, password-protectable, and the standard format casting directors expect for full-length reels.
#1 for teachers
YouTube (unlisted)
Easier sharing for studio owners and parents; supports longer choreography reels and recital footage.
Best for commercial
Instagram (pinned grid)
Casting for commercial, music video, and brand work browses pinned reels and tagged choreographer posts.
Best for full press
Personal site (Squarespace or Format)
Holds reel, resume PDF, headshot, press, and choreography credits behind one custom URL.
Lead your reel with 15 to 30 seconds of your strongest technique, not the chronological start of a performance. Casting often stops watching after the first clip.
Caption every clip with the work, choreographer, and company. Untitled clips read as class footage and get skipped.
Keep a 60-second commercial cut and a two-minute concert cut ready. Audition notices specify which they want; sending the wrong length signals you don’t read calls carefully.
Headshot, Reel, and Resume Together
Performing arts hiring treats the resume, headshot, and reel as a single submission package. Mismatched assets are the fastest way to read as unprofessional.
-
Headshot: current within 12 months, neutral background, hair as it currently reads on stage
-
Reel: 60-second commercial cut and 2-minute concert cut, both available
-
Resume: 8x10 trim or matched to headshot dimensions for print submissions
-
Contact line: agent and union local first, personal email second, phone last
How to List Performance Credits and Awards
Credits are the body of a dance resume, not a side note. Casting reads this block to decide whether you match the work, the choreographer’s vocabulary, and the company’s level.
-
Swan Lake | Corps de Ballet | chor. Kevin McKenzie | Pacific Northwest Ballet
-
Hamilton (National Tour) | Ensemble, u/s Peggy | chor. Andy Blankenbuehler | Broadway Across America
-
Apple AirPods Pro (commercial) | Featured Dancer | chor. Parris Goebel | dir. Spike Jonze
-
Original Work: "Tideline" (12 min) | Choreographer | Premiered at Joyce SoHo, 2024
Dance Credentials That Get You the Job
Active training and a clean credit list keep you eligible to audition. The certifications below are what move a dance resume from the qualified-but-typical stack into an artistic director or studio owner’s shortlist. List the issuing body, level, and year completed on one line.
-
ABT National Training Curriculum Certification: Signals you can teach ballet at a graded, examined standard. Required at many syllabus-driven studios and a strong signal for teaching roles.
-
Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Registered Teacher Status: Marks you as a board-recognized ballet teacher with examined students. Carries weight at private studios that run RAD exams.
-
Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) Certification: Shows you can teach the conditioning method many competitive studios use to build turnout, core, and partnering strength.
-
Acrobatic Arts or AcroDance Certification: Required at most competition studios offering acro classes. List the module level (1, 2, or master) and the year you certified.
Latest BLS Statistics for Dancers
The top-paying states for dancers concentrate in production hubs and cruise-departure markets, not the conservatory cities most emerging dancers cluster in. That gap reflects where paid contract work actually originates: theme parks, casino residencies, cruise lines, and film and commercial production. The employment-volume states tell a different story, anchored by tourism and live-entertainment infrastructure.
If you’re geographically flexible, the resume should foreground union status, the production credits that match those hub markets, and any cruise or theme park contracts you’ve held.
| # | State | Workers | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 2,880 | N/A |
| 2 | New York | 1,400 | N/A |
| 3 | Hawaii | 590 | N/A |
| 4 | Florida | 510 | N/A |
| 5 | Missouri | 450 | N/A |
Written by professional resume writers and loved by hiring managers
Resume Templates offers HR approved resume templates to help you create a professional resume in minutes. Choose from several template options and even pre-populate a resume from your profile.
Frequently Asked Questions: Dancer Resume Examples and Advice
How long should a dance resume be?
One page, single-sided. Casting reads dance resumes alongside a headshot, so the page has to match the headshot's 8x10 dimensions or close to it.
Trim the oldest credits first when the page runs over. Keep training, recent professional credits, and special skills; cut early student performances.
Do I list height, weight, and physical specs on a dance resume?
List height, hair color, and eye color in the header. These drive partnering and costuming decisions. Skip weight unless the call specifically requests it.
For partnering work, list your lift weight as a special skill ("partnering: comfortable lifting to 130 lbs"). That detail matters more than a static weight number.
How is a dance teacher resume different from a performer resume?
A teacher resume leads with syllabus credentials, studios you've taught at, and the levels and styles you cover. A performer resume leads with credits, choreographers, and physical specs.
If you do both, keep two versions. The teaching resume foregrounds ABT NTC or RAD certification, student competition results, and choreography credits. The performance resume foregrounds company and production credits.
Should I include competition wins on my dance resume?
Yes for pre-professional and early-career resumes. Competition placements signal trained technique and stage stamina to studio owners and college programs.
Cut competition wins once you have a professional credit list. National titles can stay as a one-line credit; regional placements should drop off after your first paid contract.
Which resume template works best for a dancer?
For a dancer, an ATS-friendly template is the safest pick, because it puts your certifications and experience where a hiring manager scans first. A basic template is a solid alternative. Whichever you choose, keep the formatting clean and easy to parse: clear section headings, a standard font, and no graphics a parser can choke on.
Check Out Related Examples
Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.