Help Bailey Get to Europe

Hello everyone! My name is Bailey Madill, and I have been dancing since I was two years old. Ballet and dance have been the leading and constant driving forces in my life, and I carry a deep passion and love for dance. When I was 16, I moved away from home to pursue my career further and receive professional training, and at age 20, I became a professional dancer. For my whole life (but especially the past 12 years), I have worked as hard as possible to reach where I hope to be within my career, applying for grants, working full-time jobs and dancing full-time. I've danced with Ballet Kelowna, Ballet Edmonton, Ballet Ouest de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, and MOVE: The Company. I've been freelancing as a dancer for the past six years while auditioning for ballet companies. My biggest dream is to be in a full-time professional company for as long as I can keep dancing. Unfortunately, a severe foot injury took me out from dancing entirely in November 2019. I was only given the green light to go back to dancing on March 10th, 2020, the same week the Coronavirus hit Canada hard. During this global pandemic, I have worked hard to get myself back to dancing, training at home for the better part of a year, and eventually back in a studio with masks and distancing.

It's been a financial struggle for a long while. I have been trying my hardest to get myself out to any auditions I could afford for six years. There are few paid opportunities for ballet dancers in Vancouver, and professional companies rarely hold auditions here. Still, jobs as a dancer have always been challenging to acquire, and as the dance world recovers, it has become increasingly difficult to find a job as a dancer. My main occupation since 2019 has been teaching ballet to the next generation of dance artists, nurturing and supporting them through their training and budding careers. I've been teaching dance five-to-six days a week this past year, doing my own training five days a week, and fitting in additional private coaching when I can to give myself the best opportunity to find my place with a company. Taking ballet classes daily, pointe shoes, private coaching, cross training, audition photos, studio rentals - everything that goes into filming new audition videos are considerable expenses that I have to cover on my own as a dancer on top of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. It is incredibly tough to save much money given these circumstances.

Four years ago, I funded my audition tour to Europe for a month using all of my dance income from that year (along with a bit of help from a gofundme!), and though I did not come out of that experience with a job, I learned a lot about what would give me a better shot the next time. I came away from that experience knowing that to be successful the next time, I needed to base myself in Europe for at least three months during the audition season. This way, I could attend as many auditions as possible, network and be present and available to take on opportunities as they came instead of scrambling to try and afford to fly across the world whenever they do come up. I plan to start by basing myself in Paris because I speak French and could have access to good ballet training. Depending on where I am invited, I will travel throughout Europe from Paris to audition based on the materials I send out.

I’ve been hoping to return to Europe for a longer period for a while now, but finances, injury and Covid got in the way. With limited opportunity for work as a ballet dancer in Canada, I truly feel that now is the time for me to go, and this is time sensitive because my body will not allow me to dance at this level forever. Audition season begins in December/January/February for most ballet companies. February is the earliest I can see myself getting to Paris, given how much money I can save with my current work situation and potential fundraising help.

I have worked so hard to save money and recover from the pandemic; I’ve even taken on an extra side gig doing admin work to build up my savings as much as I can to get myself to Europe. I’ve been burning myself out trying to make this happen, but unfortunately, I do not have all the money I need to make this happen yet. I am asking for your help in supporting me in reaching my dream. Dancing professionally at this level is something that I am meant to do with my life, and I need someone to give me a new chance (& I'm hoping you can help me get to a place where I can have those chances). I hope to raise all these funds, as I likely cannot afford to go otherwise, and this matter is time-sensitive. If I do not reach my goal, the funds will still be used to travel to Europe at the soonest possible date.

I am saving up and working as much as possible, but I will unfortunately not be able to get a work Visa for this trip and so I am unable to work once I get to Europe during my travels. I have found a place to stay in Paris for February, which will cost $1000 CAD and then I will need to pay for flights, food, ballet classes, and pointe shoes to get started! After that I will need to find accommodation and will have travel costs to each audition. 

I would be so grateful for any assistance you can give to help me realize my dream.

Can you help?

Warmest,

Bailey