Dancers Connected is a new initiative by White & Givan exploring how we can better support sustained paid employment for exceptional contemporary dancers and strengthen the long-term growth of dance audiences.
The project is rooted in a belief that exceptional dancers who can sustain a long dancing career are central to building a thriving dance sector. However, many freelance dancers face increasing challenges in sustaining professional performing careers after graduation, often balancing teaching and other work while trying to maintain the physical and artistic standards required for professional performance.
This survey is open to professional dancers currently based in Scotland, or those who have trained or been professionally active in Scotland, regardless of dance form, employment status or career stage.
This survey aims to better understand:
- employment patterns within the dance workforce,
- the realities of sustaining a performing career,
- how dancers maintain professional practice after training,
- what career barriers currently exist for professional dancers within the sector,
- what conditions are needed to support long-term artistic and economic sustainability for dancers based in Scotland.
The findings will also help inform the development of a White & Givan internal map of Scotland’s dance ecology. If you are happy to be contacted in relation to this work – including potential inclusion in a future directory/map, or to provide further insight to support the development of the initiative – you may choose to provide your name and email address at the end of the survey.
Your contact details will only be used for these purposes and will not be shared with third parties without your permission.
This survey should not take longer than 15 minutes to complete. Taking part is voluntary and you can leave the survey at any time by closing it. All data is stored according to GDPR and saved securely and not shared with third parties. All responses are treated anonymously.
If you feel uncomfortable answering any of the questions, you can skip them and move on to the next question.
This survey is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
The survey is open until Friday 31 July 2026.