How to Pivot Your Career with Courage: A Dancer's Inspiring Journey to Success

Alumni Share Insights on Career Development

Araminta Wraith and Nicky Henshall, both alumni of The Royal Ballet School, recently returned to share their experiences with pre-professional students in a presentation and Q&A session. They discussed the vital role of Dancers Career Development (DCD), a charity offering career retraining support and mentorship for dancers at all stages.

What is DCD?

Araminta, a Schools Workshop Facilitator for DCD and former dancer with English National Ballet and Scottish Ballet, kicked off the workshop with an overview. DCD provides Evolve workshops for networking and two key grants: the Exploration Grant for career development training, which Nicky received, and the Retraining Grant for pivoting careers, which Araminta used for her acting degree at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

"The amazing thing about DCD is that it’s totally independent. Sometimes, you don’t always want to speak up in the environment that you’re in. DCD are completely independent and confidential. So, you could ring up and say, ‘I think I need some one-to-one confidential support.’ And DCD will say, ‘Okay, where are you dancing? What’s your story?’ No matter what, they’ll try and find a way to help you.

They can arrange for a life coach that’s worth £100, but you will only pay £10 to get a session to talk to someone about your career, any struggles or goal setting. Even if you’re not struggling but have a big ambition and need help navigating it, someone will talk to you, and, in the real world, this is very hard to come by."

Nicky’s Student Life

Nicky, a recipient of the DCD Exploration Grant, shared her journey starting at age 14 when she moved to White Lodge from Stoke-on-Trent. She reflected on the intense training that built her resilience, work ethic, and discipline.

"I look back at that time and see it as the most intense period of my life in such a pressured environment, but that really set me up to have resilience, an incredible work ethic, to be motivated and disciplined.

I got used to being a student and trusted my teachers. I had really supportive peers in my year and felt familiar with these surroundings. I worked a lot with the Company and felt like, although it was stressful, I knew how to do it. I had been taught well. I got it."

In her Pre-professional year, she performed in a piece by Wayne McGregor, leading to a job offer from English National Ballet's Artistic Director Wayne Eagling.

"I found out in March, halfway through my Pre-professional year. I was really happy to be staying in the UK. I wanted to stay close to my family, and I loved London and wanted to stay. I was looking forward to it, and I felt proud that I got a job."

Transition to Professional Life and Enduring Injuries

Despite initial excitement, Nicky found the shift to company life overwhelming and struggled with injuries.

"I found that first transition year really difficult. I don’t think I was prepared for the massive change. Even though I was staying in the UK, going into a big company and had trained every day at school, I wasn’t prepared to be my own teacher, supporter and champion. I look back and think, gosh, I just wish I’d been a bit kinder to myself because it is a struggle, even if you are lucky enough to transition straight into a company."

Injuries added stress, and she entered a dark period, realizing she hadn't balanced her aspirations as a dancer with her needs as a human.

"I went into a pretty dark place, and, even though I had good support around me, I just thought, ‘This isn’t making me feel great. I’m not very happy.’ And that was really difficult to acknowledge, because that’s all I’d known. I left home at 14, and I was so passionate. I was obsessed with dance. I wanted to be the best I could be, and I had big aspirations for myself as a dancer. What I think I failed to consider was that I didn’t have massive aspirations as a human, as in what I needed to succeed as a dancer and a human together."

After discussing with Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, she decided to leave ENB to regain control.

"I still remember these words, and I’m proud of my 25-year-old self for saying, ‘I want to leave now and still love what I do, ballet and dance. I want a chance to return in my own way rather than stay here for the next five years. I feel like I’m so far down the trenches, and I don’t know how I’m going come back up.’

Ultimately, I felt like it was not fulfilling me. I made the decision to leave ENB without another job. I knew I needed to get out now, figure stuff out, then redirect and pivot. That was such a massive turning point, because I took initiative of my own journey, growth and career, something I hadn’t been used to as a student or as a young professional."

Career Reset and Pivot

Nicky returned home to Stoke-on-Trent for recovery, finding motivation in taking control of her path.

"My transition back home was actually quite smooth because I really needed to recover mentally and physically. It was scary, but I had this new lease of motivation, because I felt like I was back in control of what I wanted and what I was."

She worked with mentor Kerry Nicholls to rediscover her passion for dance, founded Staffordshire Youth Ballet, and explored teaching and other dance genres.

"If I can give you one bit of advice, it’s to find the people that support you, whether that’s a friend, mentor or someone that you look up to, so they can be an anchor and a mentor to you. Kerry helped me, and I slowly fell back in love with ballet."

Nicky declined a job at the Royal Ballet of Flanders, preferring freelance work, and later collaborated with Akram Khan as a research and development dancer for Giselle, leading to her role as a rehearsal director.

"I worked for the first time on a creative process that I had no endgame of performing, and I really, really enjoyed it. I loved working with him. He’s a very innovative, intelligent, creative man. Then, I worked with the company alongside the dancers who I used to be with every day, but now I was assisting his process rather than learning from a dancer’s point-of-view. That led to me exploring the role of a rehearsal director."

Looking Forward

With DCD's Exploration Grant, Nicky pursued yoga and teacher training in India and is now training to become a psychotherapist, aiming to blend counselling with movement therapy.

"Figure out what you need for yourself and figure out what you want. Source out the people that you trust and respect, who you think are going to help you. Listen to yourself when you’re getting stuck, be very vocal in taking accountability and initiative, and trust that you know how you feel. Be brave enough to pivot and have the courage to take a risk, because you don’t know where it will lead to, and what doors it might open. Have an open mind about your future."

She emphasized focusing on circles of control and influence, advising students to manage what they can and seek mentors for support.

"This is a perfectionist art form. We’re constantly seeking and working towards that perfection. Then suddenly, you’re in a room with principals and people that you’ve never worked with before. You start to doubt yourself. But you’re still 19. You’re growing. So, that’s totally normal. That’s why I say to find mentors, because they are going to help you."