'A Dancer Dies Twice':

The Unique, Sad

Challenge of Retiring
From Ballet
Acclaimed ballerina Wendy Whelan is just one of
many professional dancers who find themselves
struggling to transition into new careers as they
hit middle age.

By Maroosha Muzaffar
MARCH 7, 2014
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On a January morning in 2012, Wendy Whelan

stepped out of a cab at the New York City Ballet
dance studio at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. The
morning class was about to start. After changing into
her dance clothes, Whelan, then 44, started warming
up at the ballet barres. After a little warm up—tendu,
demi-plié—she started dancing the pirouettes and
gradually started doing the grand jetes. The day had
begun like any other day at the New York City Ballet.
She had been following the same routine for 28 years
now.

Suddenly, she realized her right ankle felt a little

stiff. Her joint felt locked and swollen. She thought to
herself, all will be fine. I just need to get a massage,
some help.

Whelan had moved to New York from Louisville,

Kentucky, at age 15 in September 1982 to train at
the School of American Ballet. In 1986, she became
part of the New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet; in
1989, she was promoted to be the soloist. In the
spring of 1991, she was promoted again, this time to
the role of principal. She danced Ash that night,
choreographed by the ballet master-in-chief of the
New York City Ballet, Peter Martins.

She would go on to dance to the choreographies of

George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins,
William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo,
Twyla Tharp, Wayne McGregor, and Alexei
Ratmansky, among many other top choreographers.
In 2012, The New York Times hailed her as
“America’s greatest contemporary ballerina.”

But the greatest contemporary ballerina danced that

winter season on a stuck foot, and then in the fall of
2012, another accident happened: While rehearsing,
she slipped and pulled her hamstring. Whelan didn’t
give up, putting in more effort every time she
danced. But by December of 2012, each time she hit
the fifth position while rehearsing she felt additional
pain in her hip joint. She discovered she had a labral
tear in her hip.

She hasn’t been to a group ballet class since January

2013. She has not performed on City Ballet stage
since December 2012. Instead, she has watched
much younger dancers take on the roles she did at
the New York City Ballet.

And so, for the first time in her life, she faces the
challenge of a career transition.
 ***

Dance as a career entails an extraordinary high level

of commitment and passion, extensive periods of
training, and a professional life that is brief. Martha
Graham, the legendary dancer, once said that “a
dancer dies twice—once when they stop dancing, and
this first death is the more painful.” But for
professional dancers like Whelan, this "first death"
can also mark the beginning of an uncertain,
potentially unstable future.

In a first-of-its kind study in 2004, titled Making

Changes, Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to
Post-Performance Careers, researchers undertook
sample surveys in Australia, Switzerland, the United
States, and other countries to “assess the extent and
nature of the challenges of the transition process.” In
total, 11 countries were included in the study. Among
its findings:

Currently active dancers expect to continue their performing careers

well into their forties. However, dancers whose active careers are now
over remember that, although they thought they could continue until
their late thirties, on average they actually stopped dancing
professionally in their early to mid-thirties.
According to the report, “The great majority of
current dancers claim to be aware of the challenges
that transition will pose (98 percent, 86 percent and
93 percent in the U.S., Switzerland and Australia,
respectively), but many former dancers concede that
they were in fact ill-prepared for this process.”

“He told me, ‘I don’t think you should do this part anymore. Because I
want you to only look best on stage. And I don’t think this makes you look
your best.’”

Many dance companies today ask dancers to take

classes at some of the universities they partner with.
For example: The New York City Ballet and Alvin
Ailey School offer classes to dancers at Fordham
University while the American School of Ballet has
an alliance with Long Island University. But dancers
usually don’t dedicate their time and resources to
academic degrees while actively performing.

Which is why New York’s Career Transition for

Dancers (CTFD), founded in 1985 and one of just
four institutions like it in the world, exists. It
provides transition services like career counseling
and annual educational scholarships and grants to
dancers who are in the process of transition. Lauren
Gordon, a career counselor at Career Transition for
Dancers, told me that the center works with dancers
who are seeking financial security and some looking
for advice on enrollment in colleges.

***

Dancers usually receive oblique indications that their

time is up, like not being cast for roles they once
danced or seeing younger dancers chosen in
auditions. Most know that’s a sign to let go and move
on to something else. In November 2011, the ballet
master-in-chief Peter Martins called Wendy Whelan
into his office and told her she should not dance the
Sugarplum Fairy part in The Nutcracker anymore.
Whelan was stunned. She had danced that role for 22
years for City Ballet.

She later recalled that meeting to me. “He told me, ‘I

don’t think you should do this part anymore. Because
I want you to only look best on stage. And I don’t
think this makes you look your best.’”
Whelan says her mind began to race. Look my best?
But I’m physically fit. I’m dancing every day.
Churning out, producing. Every ounce of me is for
the New York City Ballet. And you think I shouldn’t
dance this part anymore?, she thought. I never had a
baby. I never took time away. She recalled tearfully
telling Martins, “I think I am good enough in this
part.”

“I didn’t feel it was time for me to not do that role

anymore. It was a very big struggle,” Whelan said.
She had already started giving up her many main
roles. Giving up the Sugarplum Fairy probably meant
the end.

Whelan had a hip surgery last August and used

crutches to walk for three weeks afterwards. She is
hopeful that her injuries will heal.

***

I went to one of the CTFD workshops for “older

dancers” at their office on the seventh floor of the
New York Actor’s Equity Building in Manhattan. The
theme of the workshop was “Finding Work: Part II.”

Various handouts were passed around. “Job Search

Over 40,” read one. It detailed the steps in planning
a new career: Identify your transferable skills and
areas of special interest; set goals/ define and focus
on alternatives; Re-train/educate yourself; Write a
resume and cover letter.

“You have to decide when it is time to move on. I was dancing on

Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or
retiring and I was dancing with younger dancers.”

Another handout listed various career options the

dancers in the room could explore: Personal fitness
trainer. Pilates instructor. Casting agent. Dance
journalist. A costume designer. Make-up artist.
Dance studio owner. Personal assistant. Dancewear
shop manager. Event planner. Interior decorator.
Gardener. Personal finance handler for others.
Jewelry maker. Backstage helper. Stage manager.
Dog walker.
Outlined in various bullet points was advice on
addressing age and the job search. How to get that
job when the employer’s underlying concern is your
age? It said: “Prepare stories to illustrate the
advantages of hiring someone with your experience.”
“Present yourself as active and healthy.”

Inside the room, Billy (whose name has been

changed) told a dozen or so other dancers about how
he couldn’t make any headway into television
production. He spoke of his struggle to fit in: “I am
right now at the lowest rung of this business.” He fell
silent and looked around. The room was quiet.

“You have to decide when it is time to move on. I was

dancing on Broadway for many years," another
dancer said. "Then everyone was either getting
injured or retiring and I was dancing with younger
dancers. And they were so good. It was difficult to
figure out what my place was.” She told the group
how she made inroads into the costumes department
and started working there, making sure she earned
some money to pay her rent.

Another, slightly older dancer chimed in: “I started

teaching when I found out I couldn’t dance any
longer.”

Similar stories followed. Carol Bentley, a theatre arts

dancer in her early forties, who is finishing her B.A.
from St. Mary’s College in California, had many
questions. “I feel like I am interested in writing,” she
announced. “I am writing a paper for my course and I
think I enjoy doing that. What are my options?”

Growing up in Michigan, Bentley had escaped an

alcoholic father and a chaotic household by throwing
herself in the rigors of dance. “I liked the structure of
ballet,” she told me a few weeks later. When she
left, she had no idea what would give her life the
structure or discipline that ballet had. “We shall
see,” she told me.
Now it was John’s turn to speak (his name has also
been changed). He was a choreographer but did not
make enough money; he wanted to build a dance
website. “Maybe it will have dance critiques, or
information about various dance pieces,” he said.

“But how will you sustain the income?” one dancer

asked.

John looked blank. “Maybe it will be like Yelp for

dance,” he answered.

Someone said, “Maybe you can name it Delp. D for

Dance.”

Everyone laughed softly, except for John.

***

One of Whelan’s chief concerns, too, is her financial

security. “After this, I have to either find a job
teaching, find a way to pay my rent. Find a way to
get insurance. Start all over again with making an
income,” she said. “We are not supported federally at
all once we leave the ballet. There is no support
whatsoever, financially or insurance wise for dancers
in the United States.

“In Europe, very often there is federal support,” she

added. “They take care of their people. Here, no care
at the end.”

A report titled “Dancers’ Career Transition” by the

International Federation of Actors explains: “In
general, dancers in Europe can benefit from general
national pension schemes applicable to all workers,
provided they have contributed to the schemes.” It
further mentions that “A few countries have specific
provisions on early retirement of dancers. Conditions
to access schemes and the amount of pension
benefits vary considerably across countries."

“I’m gonna go,” she said. “Because I’m hoping that that will take the pain
away.”

“Some of these early retirement schemes,” it goes on

to say, “are applicable only to dancers employed in
national companies/national ballet (France and
Norway, for example). In Latvia, a specific law
applies to early retirement of dancers (and other live
performance professionals). Several other countries
provide in their legislation for special conditions
under which dancers can retire earlier (like Hungary
and Poland). In Sweden, dancers employed in public
owned dance institutions, can benefit from a special
pension plan run by the state which gives the right
(under certain conditions) to a pension between 41
and 65 years of age.”

In the United States, though, “There is no

governmental support for dancers that transition
from full-time performing,” James Fayette, a former
NYCB principal dancer told me. “The only benefits
American dancers receive are the same as every
other American has access to, Social Security and
Medicare at 65 years old.”

The problem is that most dancers retire in their mid-

thirties or early forties.
“Most union and AGMA dance contracts do provide
some level of retirement benefits which are
negotiated into the contract,” Fayette explained.
“These range from as little as an additional two
percent of compensation deposited in the AGMA
retirement fund on an individuals' behalf to as much
as 10 percent additional compensation for some of
the larger companies.” However, this money is not
accessible without tax penalties if dancers withdraw
it before the age of 55.

“Many contracts have an exit or severance pay in

order to help a dancer with their transition, and this
usually is valued between one to 10 weeks of
additional salary depending on the company and an
individual's seniority with that company.

“However,” Fayette added, “note that these are

Union, AGMA conditions, and most non-union
companies do not have much if anything in the area
of exit pay or retirement contributions.” Fayette
recently left his job as the New York Area Dance
Executive of the American Guild of Musical Artists—a
labor organization representing dancers, opera
singers, concert musicians—and took up the position
of Managing Director of the L.A. Dance Project.

***

Today, Whelan is making small progress with her

injuries; she has starting doing light exercises.
However, she intended to be back on stage this
month for her freelance dance project, Restless
Creature, but had to postpone the tour due to delays
in her recovery from hip surgery.

She still plans to appear in the NYCB’s spring season

—but in City Ballet’s fall season, she told me, she was
bidding goodbye to ballet. She will retire.

“I’m gonna go,” she said. “Because I’m hoping that

that will take the pain away.”

She continued, “When you are a kid, you find so

much comfort in dancing. I was comforted. [I
thought,] I am safe. But then in the end, you are not
really safe.”

This past Christmas season, Whelan didn’t dance the

Sugarplum Fairy part in the Nutcracker. When she
thinks of it now, it generates bittersweet memories.
The part wasn’t her favorite but she had been cast in
it for years. This winter season, she went to the
David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center to watch her
friend, principal Janie Taylor—who is retiring this
month from the New York City Ballet—perform
Balanchine’s tragic La Sonnambula.

Whelan sat in the audience while the dancers took

their curtain calls on stage. This time, she didn’t take
any bows. Instead, she clapped for others.

Maroosha Muzaffar is a freelance writer based in India.