Choreographers
Also called: Choreographer, Dance Director, Dance Maker, Opera ChoreographerCreate new dance routines. Rehearse performance of routines. May direct and stage presentations.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 4 of its 18 tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 3.1% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 5.7% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Dancers and choreographers”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.8 hires for every 10 job openings in private educational services, which employs about 49% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.8 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $38,990 | $37,190 to $44,300 | 30 |
| California | $75,000 | $51,020 to $101,740 | 410 |
| Florida | $36,670 | $34,010 to $55,620 | 180 |
| Illinois | $34,560 | $31,200 to $35,890 | 30 |
| Indiana | $44,840 | $44,840 to $47,440 | not published |
| Louisiana | $51,170 | $47,030 to $60,680 | 210 |
| Maryland | $69,140 | $68,390 to $70,360 | 80 |
| Minnesota | $74,810 | $41,600 to $87,360 | 40 |
| Nebraska | $49,490 | $48,450 to $72,190 | 60 |
| New York | $173,100 | $75,310 to $216,750 | 340 |
| Ohio | $66,910 | $58,080 to $67,320 | 120 |
| South Dakota | $40,320 | $32,940 to $49,710 | 250 |
| Texas | $46,460 | $36,810 to $59,500 | 380 |
| Utah | $33,640 | $28,200 to $66,340 | 60 |
Nationally: $55,310. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 4 of its 18 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects. | Not published |
| Not much | Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries. | Not published |
| Not much | Record dance movements and their technical aspects, using a technical understanding of the patterns and formations of choreography. | Not published |
| Not much | Direct and stage dance presentations for various forms of entertainment. | Not published |
| AI alone | Choose the music, sound effects, or spoken narrative to accompany a dance. | Not published |
| Not much | Experiment with different types of dancers, steps, dances, and placements, testing ideas informally to get feedback from dancers. | Not published |
See all 18 tasks
| AI + software | Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture. | Not published |
| Not much | Teach students, dancers, and other performers about rhythm and interpretive movement. | Not published |
| Not much | Develop ideas for creating dances, keeping notes and sketches to record influences. | Not published |
| Not much | Design dances for individual dancers, dance companies, musical theatre, opera, fashion shows, film, television productions, and special events, and for dancers ranging from beginners to professionals. | Not published |
| Not much | Audition performers for one or more dance parts. | Not published |
| Not much | Coordinate production music with music directors. | Not published |
| AI alone | Read and study story lines and musical scores to determine how to translate ideas and moods into dance movements. | Not published |
| Not much | Assess students' dancing abilities to determine where improvement or change is needed. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Train, exercise, and attend dance classes to maintain high levels of technical proficiency, physical ability, and physical fitness. | Not published |
| Not much | Design sets, lighting, costumes, and other artistic elements of productions, in collaboration with cast members. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Restage traditional dances and works in dance companies' repertoires, developing new interpretations. | Not published |
| AI alone | Manage dance schools, or assist in their management. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 2 of the 18 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 18 tasks fall under 10 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #6 Develop news, entertainment, or artistic content
- #16 Create artistic designs or performances
- #32 Monitor external affairs, trends, or events
- and 1 more, in the table below
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create artistic designs or performances | |||
| Train others on operational or work procedures | |||
| Coordinate artistic or entertainment activities | |||
| Develop news, entertainment, or artistic content | |||
| Monitor external affairs, trends, or events | |||
| Study details of artistic productions | |||
| Perform athletic activities for fitness, competition, or artistic purposes | |||
| Evaluate personnel capabilities or performance |
Show all 10 activities
| Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures | |||
| Perform recruiting or hiring activities |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Advice or a recommendation28%
- A document or report11%
- A plan or strategy11%
- Creative writing9%
- An analysis or summary8%
How they worked with Claude
14% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for choreographers specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 6,803 moves out
- 1 Self-Enrichment Teachers High +3.5% 8%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 3 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 4%
- 4 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 3%
- 5 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 5,535 moves in
- 1 Self-Enrichment Teachers High +3.5% 8%
- 2 Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators High -2.9% 5%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 4 Art Directors Very high +4.2% 5%
- 5 Teachers and Instructors, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 10% less than high school
- 33% high school
- 19% postsecondary certificate
- 5% some college
- 10% associate's
- 19% bachelor's
- 5% master's
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 21 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 8% less than high school
- 30% high school
- 23% some college
- 9% associate's
- 25% bachelor's
- 4% master's
- 1% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Dancers and choreographers” · 177 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
5 programs, such as Dance, General, Ballet and Dance, Other.
See all
- Dance, General
- Ballet
- Dance, Other
- Musical Theatre
- Theatre and Dance
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/27-2032.00