junior pro? is there such a thing...

[Danzatriz]

Lately I was told that some companies -like Joffrey- also have Junior Companies, with members as young as eleven, that get paid up to a thousand dollars per preformance

I wasn't aware of this: I knew of pre-proffessionals, trainees, apprentices... but this is news to me.

Do they get chosen off of the year round school? Do they audition? Or did I get incorrect informations?

 

Also, is it accurate to say that if one is part of this junior company, one can be a professional in pre-pointe?

[Victoria Leigh]

Danzatriz, I have no idea where you got this kind of information, but it's certainly nothing I have ever heard of! I seriously do not think that your information is correct at all. There is just no such thing in ballet. Some professional companies have "second company", like ABT II, WB Studio Company, etc., but these are not children. They are dancers who have finished high school and are almost professionals but still in training. Generally they do one or two years at the most in these groups, and hopefully receive a full company contract after that, either with that company or another one somewhere else.

[Danzatriz]

Thank you Ms Leigh. Oh boy.

Thank you!

Actually, I kind of suspected that, but I didn't want to put my foot in my mouth.

As to where I got the information, in case you haven't guessed it, from a girl that dances in the Joffrey Junior Company:

"There is a such thing as being a junior professional. I've danced in Chicago with the Joffrey Ballet, I'm part of this junior company, and I get paid weekly and paid 1000 dollars every time I'm in a show..so I am pro...sorry to say"

 

...okay!

 

Perhaps with that very direct quote you can understand why my such emphatic "thank you". This place has such a welth on information!

[Mel Johnson]

This is Ballet Urban Legend, or as I like to call it, BUL! Maybe the Joffrey Studio Company get paid $1000 per performance, but that performance only happens once a year. In other words, that's maybe the stipend they get for an entire year! The Second Company at Joffrey used to get shoes and free classes.

[Danzatriz]

Ballet Urban Legend, or as I like to call it, BUL!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Priceless.

[Mel Johnson]

An additional thought, though: If she's in Chicago, then that $1000 could conceivably be the total SEASON compensation for the Nutcracker run this year. Supernumeraries are entitled to a "token" payment for their services, and Mr. Joffrey was always most insistent that this provision be strictly observed. The Joffrey Studio Company is in NYC, and does not, to my knowledge, send dancers to Chicago for Nutz.