← Introduction to Dance-Fitness · Module 7 of 13 · 12 minutes
Performing or fitness?
Who should choose dance for exercise?
- People who are busy.
- People in corporate jobs.
- People who do not want to perform on a stage.
Performing and exercise reach very different intensity
On the Borg scale (0 is nothing, 10 is maximal), performers usually stay between a quarter and a half of the scale, because a performer who is sweating hard does not look good on stage. Exercise should reach much higher, swinging repeatedly between low and high intervals, roughly 2 to 9.
What is your return on investment?
- Performing: hours and hours of rehearsal for a show of a few minutes, lots of standing around, often as an extra, with costumes and politics to manage.
- Exercising: turn up, one hour non-stop, then get on with your day.
What does it pay? The money side of your spare time
Your spare time is limited, so it is fair to ask what each choice gives back. Here is how typical earnings in the UK compare. The performing-arts figures come from surveys of working performers, and most performers are freelance. The other figures come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and cover full-time employees.
| Work | Typical yearly earnings |
|---|---|
| Lawyers (solicitors) | about £57,000 |
| Software developers | about £57,000 |
| Doctors (generalist medical practitioners) | about £55,000 |
| Accountants | about £50,000 |
| Secondary school teachers | about £48,000 |
| All UK full-time employees | about £39,000 |
| Performers whose main work is performing (median, from performing) | about £17,500 |
| Freelance dancers (average, from dance work) | about £11,700 |
Sources: CareerMetrics, summarising ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025, for the professions; the ONS 2025 bulletin for the all-jobs median (£39,039); the Actors’ Earnings Survey 2024 for performers; and the One Dance UK freelance dancers report (2019, so older) for dancers. The sources measure different things, so treat the table as a rough picture rather than a like-for-like league table. Some salaried performing jobs pay much more than the typical figures here.
The pattern is clear. Most people who dedicate their spare hours to performing arts earn little or nothing from it, however talented and committed they are. Most people in professional jobs already earn well, and what they most need from their spare time is something that keeps them healthy, rested and able to keep doing their job.
In a performer’s own words
Becki Hughes is a former professional dancer who has spoken publicly about the gap between how touring looks and what it pays. In a video on her Instagram channel, she says:
“Whilst everybody else looks like they’re doing way more than you, no one is doing what it looks like. And most of the people that are on stage right now doing this whole touring thing are broke.”
“What was supposed to be four hours turned into 12 hours every single day.”
She describes dancing for a huge artist, with everyone assuming it was glamorous and well paid, when the pay was not worth the hours. She says she now feels most successful away from the stage, with peace of mind and money in the bank. This is one person’s experience, not a statistic, but it matches what the earnings figures above show.
Exercise fits that gap. An hour of exercise a few times a week asks for a small, fixed slice of your week, not all of it, and it gives back energy, sleep, mood and stamina. Community and friendship are available either way, because a class and a rehearsal room are both full of people who like each other. The difference is what the rest of your time is left free to do.
None of this is a criticism of performers. Many people perform for the love of it, and that is a good reason. It is simply a different goal, and it helps to choose it knowingly.
Performing and dance-fitness side by side
| Dance-performing | Dance-fitness | |
|---|---|---|
| Main aim | Entertain and impress an audience | Your health and fitness |
| Led by | A choreographer | A fitness instructor |
| Intensity | Low to moderate, so you still look good on stage | High, swinging between low and high intervals |
| Time | Hours of rehearsal for a show of a few minutes | Turn up, one hour non-stop, then get on with your day |
| The goal | The day you perform in front of an audience | An event or video where you show your skill and energy |
| Watch out for | Hours of rehearsal and politics | Showing off |
What both share: a sense of achievement
One of the biggest benefits of dance-performing is also available in dance-fitness: a sense of achievement, accomplishment and having a goal.
For performers, the goal is the day they perform in front of an audience. It is extremely motivating. It keeps people practising, showing up for rehearsals and staying focused.
Dance-fitness should not be about performing on a stage. But you can still create that sense of a goal by aiming for an event where you show others how skilled and energetic you are in the movement. That is a good target to work towards.
Pungra recommends: form a team and make workout videos
Making workout videos with a team gives you a goal to practise towards. Together you improve your skill and fitness and stay focused. And you are also helping other people do the same.
“Doesn’t dancing give you confidence?”
Many activities build confidence. Performing on stage can help people handle adrenaline, but it is addictive because it stimulates dopamine. Exercise boosts other hormones too, including IGF-1, testosterone, serotonin and oxytocin.