I haven't done any studies on it, but I imagine, if my household is indicative of anything, shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance have increased the popularity of dance—at least watching dance. My kids and I are just blown away at the calibre of people who aren't even professionals yet on So You Think You Can Dance, and by how powerful and impactful good dance is.
I imagine that this type of exposure increases the popularity of dance. Is there more that we can do to market dance? That would probably increase people's ability to make a living dancing. You talked about making money and then not making money and then making money again. It depends a bit on the market. If the market is really into dance, they're going to pay for dance. With my seeing these shows, if a good dance troop came to town I'd be more willing, just because it's in my consciousness now, to take my kids and pay for tickets to see them.
Is there a way that we can do this marketing to help raise the popularity, and therefore the income, of professional dancers?
Go ahead.