What is ODN

Dancers start their career following their dream. They dive in headfirst ignoring the crude reality that a professional dancing career is short lived.

Ironically, what dancers love, is also what causes their career to be so brief: pushing their bodies and minds to the extreme to become the best version of themselves. It is honourable, but also exhausting, and by the age of 34 most dancers take their final bow.

At that point, they find themselves nowhere near the age of retirement and therefore it is essential to retrain, to find a new position in society.

ODN was founded 35 years ago to give dancers a helping hand when they face the inevitable challenge of considering what to do next and how to do it. We do this in two ways. We guide dancers through the transition process with career counselling and, in addition, we provide financial support to dancers who are eligible for it, to put their plans for the future into practice.

ODN helps dancers when they are at their most vulnerable moment. When they realize they have been lucky to see their dream come true, but it is now time to move on and reinvent themselves.

The importance of receiving support in this phase of their career is shown by the countless heart-warming reactions received by the dancers who make use of ODN. Since ODN’s foundation in 1986, more than three thousand dancers have made an appointment for advice about their career and over five hundred dancers have received financial support for retraining.

Dancers are some of the hardest workers on the planet, and it is not only our job but also our passion to help them make a successful transition from dance into a new career.