What do dancers do when they stop dancing?

I’m Hamish Scott, former Birmingham Royal Ballet dancer, and this autumn I’m on a mission to find out what happens to dancers after their final curtain call… Where do they go? What do they do?

Follow me on my epic Tour de Dance: a 500-mile sponsored cycle ride from Newcastle to London, starting 22nd September 2025. I’ll be seeking out former dancers in all sorts of new jobs and industries as I pedal south, whilst also catching up with some of the nation’s best loved dance companies and organisations along the way.

Why?

I’m on a one-dancer mission to raise funds for Dancers’ Career Development (DCD) an incredible national charity that has been supporting dancers to retrain, upskill and requalify at the end of their performance career, for over 50-years. My quest is to raise money to support dancers like me, who are planning their next career step; dancers who need your support to fulfil their potential and realise their long-term career aspirations.

After intense training throughout their childhood and adolescence, dancers’ careers are incredibly short lived. Most dancers retire in their early 30’s (many earlier due to career ending injuries); at a time when our peers in other industries are achieving career milestones and financial stability, we dancers must reinvent ourselves and start over. If you’re a dance-lover, this is likely the last thing on your mind when captivated by dancers in a packed auditorium, festival or concert, or when marvelling at dancers’ incredible artistry and skill on the big screen, TV or during a Hip Hop battle.

DCD engage with over 1,500 dancers every year across its services and programmes, preventing dancers falling into unemployment, poverty and/or poor physical or mental health. Demand for these services are at an all-time high.

What is Dancers’ Career Development?

Reliant on fundraising to support the nation’s dancing population, Dancers’ Career Development is the only UK charity that exists to support dancers prepare for, and transition into new careers after retiring from the stage. Through bespoke programmes and bursaries, DCD help dancers explore, identify and successfully navigate their post-performance career trajectory.

See the impact of DCD’s work through the voices of dancers they’ve supported here on YouTube: Dancers' Career Development

Follow my journey from Newcastle to London on DCD’s Instagram account here: (@dcd_dancers). I’ll be discovering DCD-supported dancers who now hold leadership positions within the dance sector, and those who have opted to pursue something else entirely such as law, film, business, medicine, teaching and so much more. During this year alone, DCD bursaries have enabled dancers to undertake University courses in Psychology, Quantity Surveying, International Relations, Business Administration, Physiotherapy, Management and Marketing, and Environmental Science.

Who am I?

Having overcome multiple career-threatening injuries during training in my teens at the Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst Ballet School, I know only too well the precarious nature of a dancer’s career. Following eight years with Birmingham Royal Ballet, one of the world’s leading dance companies, where I toured internationally performing all the classics, I am now considering my own future career options. I will have 500-miles to ponder this question during my epic bike ride! Should I pursue a portfolio career, combining dance with other interests like photography, film, events and modelling, or retrain in something else entirely?

I’m currently undertaking an internship with Dancers’ Career Development (DCD), where I’ve been inspired by the stories of hundreds of fellow dancers who are also considering their next career move, and the many more that have forged successful and rewarding new careers, with DCD’s support, before me.

If you love dance, and are ambitious for dancers’ futures, please sponsor me today and help me exceed my £35,000 target! All money raised will be awarded to dancers to study, upskill and requalify in new careers.

Every donation will go directly to supporting dancers - your gift will be transformative to the dancer it supports.

1p per mile = £5

10p per mile = £50

£1 per mile = £500

Or whatever you feel comfortably able to donate.

If donating, please remember to add Gift Aid, if you're a UK taxpayer - enabling us to claim an extra 25% for DCD on top of your donation (at no extra cost to you!).

If you’re a dancer and would like to meet me on my route to ride together, dance together or share your career story, please get in touch: Hamish.scott@thedcd.org.uk.

If you’d like to discuss donating to the campaign with the team at DCD please email: development@thedcd.org.uk.

Please help us raise funds for dancers by sharing the campaign far and wide.

Thank you so much, your support will be so greatly appreciated by myself, the team at DCD, and most importantly, the hundreds of dancers DCD support each year.