Personal Branding for Dancers: Photography

Personal branding is a crucial element of success, regardless whether you’re a freelance accountant, lawyer, a fashion designer, or a dancer. We live in a society where everyone is a brand. Many dancers don’t see themselves as a business. Though as a freelancer you ARE indeed a business, and every business needs branding. So let’s talk about personal branding for dancers, and more specifically the photography aspect of branding.

Here’s more on what is personal branding and why it’s important.

Why personal branding is important for dancers

As a dancer, branding is everything from your name, the clothes you wear, your class etiquette, the photos you post on social media, everything. Brand yourself so you can stand out in the crowd of other dancers and show your personality and uniqueness. Being deliberate and most importantly consistent with your branding helps makes you look more professional. The more professional you look in your clients’ eyes, the more chances you have to get hired.

Effective personal branding for dancers is not about putting on a show and pretending to be someone else. It’s about authenticity and developing the right perception.

Personal Branding Photography for Dancers

Photos are a dancer’s gateway for getting jobs – your headshot is the first thing casting directors will see, and your social feed might be the next thing they head to. Just like you can Google any choreographer/dance company, they can also check you out! So be prepared.

Social Media:

Everyone is online and social media is the easiest way to learn about someone and their craft. Make sure you post only the best content possible, and it’s all on brand.

Now it’s easier than ever to shape your brand by curating what you post on social media. As a dancer (like any other freelancer) it’s important to tell everyone what you do online, otherwise how people are meant to know!? However don’t just tell, but show. Post your best dance videos on socials – be it footage from dance classes, freestyle videos, or creative concept dance videos. By the way, here’s a guide on how to film your own dance videos and make them look awesome.

Although dance videos are great content for socials, your branding will get so much more effective if you mix videos up with stunning images of yourself. You are also a personality, not just a dancer. Don’t forget to show your fabulous self in the feed!

You want to have a collection of dance-related images to keep the dance narrative throughout your feed. It’s perfectly fine to post a selfie here and there and lifestyle photos of your everyday life. However when someone new lands on your social profile, you want to make it obvious straight away that you are a dancer. You can do it is posting dance-related content consistently. It’s simple!

The best and most efficient way is to create content for social media in bulks. You could book a Branding photoshoot with a professional photographer and get lots of awesome images to post for a month ahead. Bring as many outfits as you can, get a makeup artist, change your looks as much as you can and get a variety of shots – wide-shots, mid-shots and close-ups (so it doesn’t look like the same shoot). As a result – one photoshoot, and a month worth of content.

Pro portfolio:

As I mentioned earlier, it’s crucial to have a great headshot (or headshots) ready for auditions. Your headshot determines whether you get through the door, and if you do, make sure you look exactly like your headshot. Here’s a helpful guide on do’s and don’ts for dance headshots – Headshots for dancers: A portfolio that will get you booked.

Have at least 8-10 incredible images that show you at you very best. You can include a few headshots (with minimal makeup, full-on glam look), a couple of dance photos showcasing your dance skill, a body-shot, a fitness look, a dressed up look, etc. Remember, the more distinctive looks you have in your dance portfolio, the more jobs you can apply for.

You don’t want to go cheap on your dance portfolio. Great shots will get you work, whilst bad images will compromise your chances of getting a job.

Save up some money, and choose the best professional photographer who will help you get incredible shots. Similarly to any business, you need to spend some money to make money. It’s cliche – but it pays dividends to invest in YOURSELF.

I hope this week’s post was helpful. If you’re looking for a professional photographer in Birmingham to help with your dance portfolio, feel free to get in touch.