53120 Dancers

What this occupation covers

Dancers are employed by ballet and dance companies, television and film productions and nightclubs and similar establishments. This unit group also includes dance teachers who are usually employed by dance academies and dance schools.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 9 main duties for this code.

• Practise and rehearse dance routines under direction or instruction to achieve desired interpretation and presentation
• Perform dances as soloists or as members of groups before live audiences or for film or television
• Train and exercise to maintain the required levels of ability and fitness
• May choreograph their own performances.
• Teach dance technique and artistic interpretation to amateur and professional individuals and groups
• Teach the techniques, cultural origins and symbolic meanings of Aboriginal, ethnic and folkloric dances
• Teach recreational dancing lessons such as ballroom dancing
• Prepare dance students for specific auditions and performances.
• Dancers may specialize in specific types of dance such as ballet, ballroom, folk, jazz or modern.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 9 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 51120 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations
• 55109 Other performers

Excluded from this code

• Choreographer (See 51120 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations)
• Other performers (See 55109 Other performers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

ballerina · ballet dancer · ballet master · ballet teacher · ballroom dancing teacher · baton twirling instructor · belly dancer · chorus dancer · classical dance instructor · classical dancer · dance instructor · dance notator · dance teacher · dancer · dancing instructor · folk dance teacher · folk dancer · folkloric dance teacher · folkloric dancer · group dance teacher · group dancer · interpretative dancer · interpretive dancer · line dance teacher

Employment requirements

• A university degree or college diploma in dance or Graduation from a private dance school or academy may be required.
• Talent and ability, as demonstrated during an audition, are important hiring criteria.
• Dance teachers usually require experience as dancers.
• Membership in a guild or union related to the occupation or type of performance may be required.