Larissa (name changed), 25 years old, works as a freelance dancer in Germany and abroad. Until summer 2017 she studied contemporary and classical stage dance, since then she was employed at an opera and a theater. She teaches dance as a part-time job. She does not have a regular income. It happens that she earns nothing for weeks on end. On average, she earns 700 euros net per month. From this she pays
- 300 Euro rent
- 200 euros for dance training
- 80 Euro for their insurance
- 10 euros for your cell phone contract
- 100 travel expenses to the audition
She has also taken out her dowry insurance, a form of life insurance that parents take out for their daughter and that can become payable beforehand in the event of a wedding, and occasionally draws on these savings, also to pay for food, clothing and hygiene items.
Would you describe yourself as poor?
Not necessarily, but when I consider that a dance degree takes almost as long as a medical degree, but pays much less, it annoys me. It's unfair, because I invest a lot of time in training, in auditions, in rehearsals and in the end I can't make a living out of it.
Permanently employed dancers get about 1800 Euro gross per month as a starting salary, but I hardly know anyone who is permanently employed and if so, then only on a temporary basis. Everything is mostly on a project basis. Most dancers work part-time in a cafe or have other side jobs. (Editor's note: In the dance studio where we met Larissa, almost all of the dancers were not working as dancers.)
How you can tell you're poor on a daily basis?
I live very modestly. My room has eleven square meters, I share my apartment in Berlin with four people. I always watch my money, to audition in other cities I take the bus or savings tickets. I already meet friends, but I don't go out to eat or to the movies.
If I don't get jobs as a dancer, I switch to teaching. At the end of last year I had three months no dance jobs, there I taught every day at my old ballet school and earned per hour 30 euros. During that time I also lived with my parents to save money.
How long it takes to run out of money?
It's different every month, because I don't have a regular income. I sometimes earn 2000 euros gross per month, sometimes nothing. At the opera, I was permanently employed and earned 1600 euros net, which also helped pay for the month afterwards. I sometimes imagine that I would have studied law or business administration, but I love dance and I knew beforehand that I would not become rich with it.
What did you treat yourself to last?
New dance jerseys and dance shoes for a total of 200 euros.
What was the hardest thing you ever did for money??
I had all kinds of side jobs. For a while I stocked shelves at the supermarket. Often I do commercial backup dancing, where I dance sexy in the background of shows. I don't really want to do that, but it's commercial and therefore better paid.
Why is it that dancers are so poorly paid??
Because it is art. In musicals, artists are paid better because people spend more money on them. Everything that is commercial is better paid than art in Germany.
Payment also varies from job to job. At my theater job I get 80 Euro net per performance. That makes 1140 euros net for 18 performances. Normally you get 200-400 Euro net as a dancer at the opera. I have never been able to negotiate. I have often worked for free. There are many who do not pay and say I should see it as experience.
Dancers have the additional challenge of having a lot of competition from abroad. As a dancer you don't have to speak German, anyone can come and work here and many are better than you are.
What would have to change in Germany to improve your situation??
Musicians have a professional group at ver.di, dancers don't have that (note: there is a professional group for theater and stages). Contemporary dance is the worst paid at permanent theaters and the first to be cut. Musicians, actors and singers earn twice as much as dancers, although they have a longer career than we do. We can only work until we are in our late 30s. About the time after that, I am of course worried.
Dance in Germany
In Germany, there are approximately 1300 permanent stage dancers and 5000 freelance dancers. Permanently employed dancers earn an average of 1800 euros gross when they start out. For freelance dancers, the Dachverband Tanz (umbrella organization for dance) and the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Kunste (federal association of independent performing arts) are calling for a lower fee limit of 2200 euros gross.
Dancers have a high risk of injury, plus they often have to change careers in their late 30s. It is possible to work as a dance teacher, choreographer, ballet master or yoga teacher. The "Dance Foundation" specializes in this so-called transition.
Who is poor in Germany? (Source: Living in Europe EU-SILC).
16.1 million people, one in five Germans, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2015.
A person is considered to be at risk of poverty if at least one of the following three life situations applies:
1. The income is below the poverty line. In 2015, this threshold was 1033 euros for a person living alone in Germany, and 2170 euros per month for two adults with two children under 14 years of age.
2. The household is affected by considerable material deprivation. This means that someone has not been able to pay bills for rent, mortgages, or utilities, for example, or to adequately heat their homes, or to fund a week-long vacation trip.
3. Living in a household with a very low employment rate.