To be annoyed when people who dance dance for fun call themselves dancers?

[Bookmonster345]

I've been looking at some of my DDs friends Instagram accounts, and noticed them repeatedly call themselves 'dancers'. AIBU to get annoyed at this? After all, if you were a professional dancer, would you not hate people who just dance for fun labelling themselves in the same way you are labelled, despite the fact as a professional dancer you have put in a lot more work?

thatwhich I think I'd far rather listen to a musician who does it because they love it, than some purist snob who thinks they should be at the Royal Opera House with us all wearing a bow tie and a frilly frock to listen to them.

Morethan- tbh, if your life's work and immense talent is comparable to an amateur who has a day job (and you seem to be saying that your dh is finding this a lot...) then like others have said, that immense talent might not be quite as immense as you'd like to think.....

I am now remembering the scene in Bridget Jones with all the braying heehaw lovies being snobby about classic literature made into television dramas.....

And show me anyone's CV which hasn't been sexed up and I'll run across Hyde Park with no pants on. Promise.

Ds and I were professional dancers eg we got paid and dd who is 12 is on her way. Dances most days and has done amateur and professional shows.
Surely if it's your dds Instagram you are looking at I presume its young girls so yabu to be bothered by it!

Surely if someone can do your job for half the cost, when they already have a day job, then you are perhaps not worth what you think you are.

This. OP YABU.

If dancing is the thing you do most, then you are a dancer. If you play the piano reasonably well, you are a pianist.

I used to work for someone who described herself as an "artist". She did (and still does) indeed paint, and create works of art. Most people would have considered it a hobby, as she only painted for a few hours a week, although she does like to exhibit her work. I'm not sure if anyone has ever bought any. But hey, if she wants to describe herself as an artist, as it's her main "thing" then so what? Sounds better than "housewife".

I am a musician. I am very talented (even if I do say so myself ) and have played various instruments all my life, since I was five.

I would never answer 'musician' to the questions 'What do you do?' or 'What is your job?' because I am not a PROFESSIONAL musician. There lies the difference. I perform in groups/sessions/orchestras/bands for fun and for the joy of it, never for paid work.

Telling me I am not a musician just because I've chosen not to pursue it for money is wrong. I am a musician, I always have been and I always will be. It describes a part of me, not my career path.

Drank Sangria he is world reknowned in a particualar style but plays other styles within reason that just about pay the bills.
When you are part of it because you hear the complaints so often you do tend to have sympathy and as I said its not just my dh but most musicians I come in contact with.
A couple of our friends have gone into teaching at conservatoires and won't work as musicians anymore, it is so sad to see their playing talent disappear. Ironically, they are teaching the future musicians who will also have to make the choice to teach or be shown as much respect as an amateur, quite sad really.

At what point do you class someone as a dancer?
I passed dance exams up to my 5th gold star in Latin and 1st gold star in Ballroom, all with IDTA (official body). Am I classed as a dancer?
I also competed at regional events, and won. Does that make me a dancer?
Or do you have to be paid to dance to be classed as a dancer?

IMO a dancer is a person who has had professional training and has passed an exam by the relevant examining body. Someone who dances at a club and has had no formal training enjoys dancing, but is not really a dancer IMO.
Would I get annoyed if they said they were dancers? Nope not at all.

DD is a dancer, she isn't a professional dancer yet - she hopes to be

She trains 18 hours a week, competes (at Blackpool for Ballroom & Latin), performs (end of year shows, African Dancing with a drumming group maybe 10-12 times a year)

She has never been paid - but she is a dancer, you can tell by the way she moves & stands

KatyMac

Your dd is definitely a dancer, even though she is still studying she trains for the hours that would be considered as a job.
I really can't see her jacking it in or sharing her love of dancing with a day job in an office
I believe it is intention as well as being paid for the work you do and that a true artist makes it their life, its a calling not something you do as a hobby.
Hobbyists and amateurs are fine, but I agree with the OP, why not say what job you do rather than a job you don't. Maybe some people think it makes them sound more glamorous, and less boring.

Ds2 has 'actor' on his twitter account (which he barely usesl - he's 12 & had to have an account for a school competition which seemed odd to me, but still).

However he's been paid for acting (paid a lot more than my hourly rate sometimes), has an imdb page :rolls eyes: so it's an accurate description. I'm sure that a friend's parent looking at his account might not realise that though.

Maybe your dd's friends do loads of dancing & want to be dancers. If they hang around with other dancers all the time I can see why they'd identify as such.

Ahh but I know a number of people who've had to take jobs to pay the bills ( no rich parents or trust funds) but who write, sing, act and dance to high standards. Why shouldn't they say?

Clearly they see it as their part of their identity in society. As for club dancers, I met a girl who earned a lot more than min wage dancing in clubs - she was a professional dancer.

Professional simply means you get paid. Nothing about standards. Standards is exams/ standards. Very similar to the relationship of academia and industry.

I think if you are stating you do something as a profession such as accountant, doctor, Solicitor, actor, musician, this is your job/ profession/ day job.
You don't turn round and say oh I'm an actor really but my hobby is being an accountant.
It just seems silly to call yourself something that you aren't.
I guess there's only me who thinks like this, maybe its because the artists and musicians I know do it for a living and have sacrificed a lot for their art, whereas what has an accountant sacrificed to play tuba in an amateur band, once a week?
Then there is the practice, composing and arranging, paid rehearsals, networking, sometimes in the wee small hours when they are actually working, travel, and countless other things that are associated with being in the profession.

OP, I totally agree with your point, although I sabotaged a little and compared it to professional musicians. But the answer to your question is yes, it does piss off the professionals.

Most of the actors/dancers that ds2 has been in tours with do do lots of other things as well though (except the big stars obviously). They seem to run production companies/teach/choreograph/do casting/ etc etc. I can think of one who has been to drama school, was cast in a high profile tour (with good reviews) but last time I looked him up was doing something entirely unrelated to acting while still going to auditions. I know that if ds2 ends up going into something performance related he is expecting to have to do a lot of other things as well to pay the bills.

YABU - there kids. And tbh who cares. It's like playing hairdressers isn't it?

Dd has just had instagram. She describes herself as a dancer. She hasn't yet been paid for it (the few professional shoes she has been in didn't pay the children) but she is 12 & studying at a full time dance school.

Kids don't have a profession yet so tend to put their hobbies down (dd also lists a composition computer programme she likes to use on hers)

Ironically, they are teaching the future musicians who will also have to make the choice to teach or be shown as much respect as an amateur, quite sad really.

Personally I treat all performers amateur or professional with respect. HTH.

Anyone who gets pissed off about other people referring to themselves as the same profession as them even if they're not is, IMO extremely petty and insecure.

That would be like me getting pissed off about my friend saying she's a blonde when hers is died and mine is natural.

morethan you sound quite insecure and very discerning towards 'amateurs'. The next amateur you meet could have just as much talent as the professionals you know, just without the opportunities.

My best friend's husband is a musician who gets paid for what he does. He is far too special and talented to take any other kind of paid work or even teach. Even though he bring in a pittance he needs to practice for hours every day and dedicate his life to his calling.

Frankly the only person making any sort of sacrifice is my friend who works like a dog to bring in a decent wage and stretch it to bring up their four kids.

Yes that's the danger isn't it Tinkly. I was delighted when one of ds2's chaperones - a lovely girl straight out of drama school sat him down & told him if he really wanted to become a performer he needed to start thinking about how he would earn money between jobs. He was 11 at the time & he took it seriously. When we go to the theatre we both spend a bit of time together looking at what else the cast get up to & how they earn money.

It's a major thing we're taught at uni; the importance of being versatile, having a back-up plan (and a back-up plan for that), and marketing ourselves, CV work etc so that we can work between the jobs we'll (hopefully!) get.

Tinkly, thats my dh,although he did take a job teaching as a peri straight out of college.
We are not materialistic and live a brilliant life, and thank our lucky stars that dh didn't continue teaching to pay the bills.
he'd certainly have been high up in music education with a decent salary by now.
Instead he has a fabulous reputation and first call for lots of orchestras and bands.
As far as education and teaching is concerned he is brought in by the leading conservatoires to provide additional coaching to the young musicians, including one of the most recent YMOTY.
If your friends dh isn't very good and doing this, I pity your friend.
I am a sahm, dh wouldn't have asked me to work to support the family, but would have supported me If I had wanted to.
For the record, my dh never had a back up plan as he saw this as admitting defeat, it was music or nothing.
We now have a dd exactly the same, she is just driven and won't even think of anything else.

Meh posted to soon she isnt professional but wants to be I coulndt give 2 hoots really people who dance are well dancers yabu on 2 counts instagram is full of pretentious teens and middle aged folk who think they are arty oh and kardashian s