As a dancer, as much as you are looking for casting calls and audition opportunities, people are also looking for dancers that fit their needs for various productions. This is especially true once you have built a solid presence in the performance industry. These people want to know what you can do, what you have done, and who you are. Of course, during in-person encounters and formal auditions, you will need a paper resume and a headshot, but when you’re networking and putting your name out there for people to find, you don’t want to carry around a stack of resumes! This is where a website is your best friend.
Share Your Story
Your talent and skill are what make you a must-have performer, but your personality is what makes people want to work with you. A website is the perfect place to showcase your full bio. In this bio, much like your mission statement on your resume, you can share your goals as well as some of your most notable accomplishment and even some fun facts about you. It lets people get to know you without having to read between the lines of your resume.
Collect Press
Have you been mentioned in reviews for the productions you have been in? Have you been interviewed about dance and other relevant aspects of your career? These things can be included in a “Press” page on your website. Having press to share with people gives them access to other people’s opinions and reinforces to them that you are someone people want to work with. You can’t attach all of these materials to a resume.
Display Awards
Your website is also the perfect place to list awards you have gotten. These awards show that you have obvious skill in the talents you are trying to market to casting directors and other potential employers. You don’t necessarily want to post a picture of every trophy you have ever gotten, but a list of awards, who awarded them, and what they were awarded for is a valuable resource (and a good way to keep track of your accomplishments).
An Easy to Access Resume
One of the most important parts of any resume, digital or on paper, is your past work experience. For performers, this is “credit collecting.” On a website, you can collect a list of all of the credits you have for theater, dance, commercials, TV, and more in one organized place. Plus, unlike a resume where you have to prioritize the most striking and the most recent, on a website, you can share all of your hard work. This is one of the main reasons why a website is the most detailed resume you can have. And, you can simply give people the link (make it easy to remember!) and they can look up your credits and experience at any time!
“Contact Me”
The only thing more important than what you’ve done is how to contact you. If your website looks nice, is organized, and has been built to present you in the best way possible, people are going to want to get in contact with you. A fully dedicated “Contact Me” page lets you share your email and your phone number for business inquiries, and it is also a place where you can put phone numbers and email addresses for management, agents, PR representation and more as needed.
Websites are an easy way to showcase every aspect of who you are. Resumes have to be carefully edited and crafted for each job you apply for (and they should be!), but a website is much simpler way to share everything you have to offer with people that want to know who you are and what you can do. You can even link a PDF of your resume to your website. It’s the whole package.
