BUILT TO LAST: GEORGIA KIDD ON THE REAL COST OF MAKING IT AS A DANCER
Behind the tours, music videos, festival stages and viral performances is an industry built on years of training, constant investment and an extraordinary tolerance for hearing “no”. Australian choreographer, creative director and The Aux founder Georgia Kidd wants to change the way we see — and value — the dancers behind the music.
When an artist walks onto a stage and a line of dancers hits the first count behind them, the audience sees the finished product.
They don’t see the years that came before it.
The thousands of hours spent inside studios. The flights paid for to attend an audition that may last five minutes. The classes, headshots, showreels, gym memberships, physio appointments, rehearsals, self-tapes and training. They don’t see the dancer standing in an audition room alongside 200 other people, knowing that sometimes only four of them will leave with the job.
And they certainly don’t see the hundreds of times that dancer may have heard “no” before they heard “yes”.
That is the part of dance Australian choreographer and creative director Georgia Kidd wants people to understand.
Not because the industry is bad. Not because dancers don’t love what they do.
But because dance is one of the few careers where the glamour of the final product can completely disguise the sacrifice required to create it.
THE REALITY BEHIND THE EIGHT COUNTS
A dancer can train their entire life and still not book the job.
And sometimes, that decision has very little to do with talent.
You can be too tall. Too short. Too muscular. Not muscular enough. Your hair can be the wrong colour. Your look can be wrong. Your movement style might not fit. Your cultural background may not match the brief. You may live in the wrong city. You may simply look too similar to someone the creative team has already cast.
Sometimes you are brilliant — you just aren’t right for that job.
Learning to understand that distinction is one of the hardest skills a professional dancer develops.
“You spend years perfecting something that doesn’t guarantee you anything,” says Kidd. “You can train harder than you ever have, walk into an audition at your absolute best and still not get it. Then you’re expected to wake up the next day, train again and walk into the next room with the same confidence.”
That cycle requires a level of resilience rarely visible from outside the industry.
Australian employment data offers a glimpse at just how narrow the professional field becomes. There are 27.8 million people in Australia. 1.2 million people 15+ years dance. Only 980 Australians are employed as a dancer and or choreographer as their main occupation. Around 75% of the workforce falls between the ages of 20 and 34, while just 11.4% is aged 35–44.
Those numbers don’t mean dancers suddenly stop dancing at 35. They reveal something more interesting: longevity in dance often requires evolution.
The dancers who build lasting careers frequently become choreographers, movement directors, teachers, creative directors, producers, casting directors, studio owners, artist developers and business owners.
The body may be the first vehicle for the career.
It doesn’t have to be the last.
TOURING ISN’T A HOLIDAY
Then there is touring.
From the outside, touring can look like the dream: flights, hotels, stages, backstage passes, artists, crowds and afterparties.
From the inside, it is work.
Serious work.
A dancer may perform anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours at an extremely high physical intensity, sometimes night after night. Around that performance are soundchecks, rehearsals, spacing calls, costume fittings, glam, warm-ups, recovery and the constant responsibility of keeping their body performance ready.
Then the show ends.
Pack down. Hotel. Airport. Fly. New city. New time zone. New venue. Tech. Perform. Repeat.
There can be media appearances and afterparties that the wider team is expected to attend. Meals aren’t always happening at ideal times. Sleep can become inconsistent. Proper recovery isn’t always available. You are attempting to fuel the body of an athlete while living the schedule of a touring musician.
And tomorrow, regardless of how tired you are, the choreography doesn’t change. The audience bought a ticket for that night.
They deserve the same show.
That’s the job.
SOMETIMES YOU PAY TO HAVE A CAREER
One of the strangest realities of professional dance is that even when you reach a high level, you often continue paying to remain employable.
Training doesn’t stop because you become professional.
If anything, the pressure increases.
Dancers continually invest in classes, studio hire, travel, accommodation, headshots, showreels, styling, social media, gym memberships, physiotherapy and maintaining a professional brand.
An opportunity interstate can mean purchasing a flight before knowing whether you’ll book anything. An international opportunity can require thousands of dollars of investment before a dancer earns a cent.
There is also a difficult contradiction at the centre of the industry: the people creating some of the most visible moments in entertainment can still struggle to create consistent income from them.
Creative Australia’s research into Australian street dance found that only 35% of respondents undertook paid work related to street dance, with most doing five hours or less of that paid work each week. Eighty-five per cent were freelance or self-employed, while three-quarters said they wanted to dedicate more time to their professional practice but were restricted by insufficient income and a lack of opportunities.
The issue extends across the creative industries. Creative Australia’s broader Artists as Workers research found that almost half of professional artists earned less than $10,000 from their creative practice in 2021–22. For dancers and choreographers specifically, only 13% reported earning income through long-term employment contracts in 2023, while 34% worked as casual employees without a contract.
That reality is why conversations around dancer pay cannot begin and end with the performance fee. You’re not simply paying for the 45 minutes someone spends on stage.
You’re paying for the ten years that allowed them to walk onto that stage and deliver it. THE DANCERS WHO NEVER GOT THE YES
For Kidd, this is where the conversation becomes personal.
After building a career as a dancer, choreographer and creative director, she began seeing another problem.
There was an enormous amount of talent sitting outside the traditional gates of the industry. Dancers who didn’t have the right connections.
Dancers from Western Sydney.
Dancers who couldn’t afford to constantly travel.
Dancers who didn’t necessarily fit the industry’s traditional image.
Dancers who hadn’t trained at the “right” place.
Dancers who had spent years being overlooked and eventually started wondering whether they were good enough at all.
Kidd founded The Aux in 2022 partly to create a different pathway.
Instead of waiting for opportunities to reach dancers, she wanted to help build them.
Since then, Kidd and The Aux have worked across live performance, touring, music videos, choreography, casting, creative direction and brand activations, with credits and collaborations spanning Jordin Sparks, Shenseea, Stefflon Don, Libianca, Midnight Til Morning, Ashthon Jones, B Wise, Erica Padilla, PANIA, ONEFOUR, The 046, Celly, JBL, JD Sports, Supercars and more.
But for Kidd, the artist’s name on the call sheet has never been the entire point. The dancer’s name matters too.
“Something I’ve always cared about with The Aux is finding the underdog,” Kidd says. “There are incredible dancers who haven’t been given their moment yet. I don’t believe someone’s lack of credits necessarily reflects their ability. Sometimes nobody has opened the door for them.”
It’s a philosophy built around opportunity, but also around responsibility.
If dancers are expected to train like athletes, perform like artists, market themselves like brands and operate like freelancers, then the industry surrounding them needs to recognise the value of that labour.
That means pushing for better pay where possible.
It means creating paid opportunities.
It means respecting rehearsal time.
It means seeing dancers as collaborators rather than decoration.
And it means looking beyond the same familiar names when casting.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER “DANCER”?
There is another shift Kidd believes the industry needs.
Young dancers are often taught how to book a job.
Far fewer are taught how to build a career.
The difference matters.
Professional dance has an unusually young workforce. Australian government data puts the median age of dancers and choreographers at 26, compared with 40 across all occupations in the same Census-based dataset.
For Kidd, longevity has come from refusing to see “dancer” as the limit of what a dancer can become. A dancer understands staging.
A dancer understands music.
A dancer understands cameras, artists, audiences, fashion, movement, culture and performance. Those skills can become choreography.
Choreography can become movement direction.
Movement direction can become creative direction.
Performance experience can become artist development.
A career onstage can eventually become a company.
The question shouldn’t always be, How long can I dance for?
It can also be, How far can dance take me?
That philosophy has shaped Kidd’s own transition from dancer into choreographer, creative director, entrepreneur and founder.
And now, her sights are moving beyond Australia.
FROM WESTERN SYDNEY TO THE WORLD
Kidd’s next chapter is the United States.
Not because she believes Australia lacks talent — quite the opposite.
She believes the talent developed here deserves a bigger international footprint.
Having built The Aux from Western Sydney and taken her own work across artists, tours, music videos, brands and international projects, Kidd now wants to expand the company’s philosophy into a much larger market.
“The move to America for me isn’t about leaving Australia behind,” she says. “It’s about expanding my horizons so I can create change on a bigger scale.”
She wants to build international relationships, connect Australian dancers to global opportunities and continue developing a model where movement professionals are treated as an integral part of the music ecosystem.
Because behind almost every major pop performance is movement.
Behind movement are dancers.
And behind every dancer is a story the audience rarely gets to see.
Years of training.
Money spent before money earned.
Flights booked.
Auditions lost.
Bodies pushed.
Confidence tested.
“No” after “no” after “no”.
And then, eventually, a yes.
The beauty of dance isn’t that the journey is easy.
It’s that dancers keep choosing it anyway.
For Kidd, the next evolution of the industry isn’t about removing that hunger or resilience. Those qualities are part of what makes dancers extraordinary.
It’s about building an industry worthy of them.
One where talent can be discovered before connections.
Where dancers are compensated for their contribution.
Where the person standing behind the artist is understood to be an artist too. And where making it doesn’t simply mean surviving long enough to finally get your yes. It means having somewhere meaningful to go once you do.
GEORGIA KIDD: The Australian Creative Making Her Mark in the International Entertainment Industry
At just 25 years old, Australian dancer, choreographer, creative director and entrepreneur Georgia Kidd has built an impressive international career, working alongside some of the biggest names in music, television and entertainment. Now, the Western Sydney-born creative is setting her sights on Los Angeles, taking both her career and the movement behind her company, The Aux, to the next level.
At an age when many are still discovering their career paths, Georgia Kidd has already established herself as a multifaceted creative within Australia’s entertainment industry and beyond. Working across music, television, international touring, major sporting events and commercial productions, the 25-year-old has developed an extensive portfolio that reflects both her versatility and determination to succeed. With credits including, Jordin Sparks, Ashanti, Libianca, Shenseea, Stefflon Don, Midnight Til Morning, OneFour, Celly, Ali Kate, 046, Yung Milla, Jessica Mauboy, JBL, V8 Supercars and the National Rugby League (NRL), Kidd has positioned herself among a growing generation of Australian creatives making their presence felt internationally.
Born and raised in Western Sydney, Kidd’s journey into the entertainment industry began at just 12 years old when she discovered her passion for dance. By 16, she had made the decision to leave school and pursue a professional career, dedicating herself to training and developing her craft. What followed was years of hard work, financial sacrifice and an unwavering commitment to building a future in an industry known for its competitiveness. Her ambitions quickly extended beyond performing, as she developed a passion for choreography, creative direction and the business behind live entertainment.
Over the years, Kidd has transformed her passion into an international career, collaborating with globally recognised recording artists and contributing to productions across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Indonesia, Africa and the United States. Her experience spans live performances, music videos, artist development, television, brand activations and large-scale events, with responsibilities often extending well beyond choreography. Whether directing movement, developing performance concepts, casting professional dancers or working alongside artist management and production teams, Kidd has developed a reputation as a creative capable of understanding both the artistic and operational demands of the entertainment industry.
Among her notable career experiences is working with American singer Jordin Sparks during her Australian Tour, including a performance at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium before an audience of approximately 35,000 people. Her international experience also includes tours and projects with Shenseea, Libianca and Stefflon Don, alongside Australian acts such as, OneFour, Yung Milla and Midnight Til Morning. Beyond the recording industry, Kidd has continued to expand her professional reach through work connected to major brands and entertainment platforms such as JBL, V8 Supercars and the NRL, demonstrating her ability to adapt her creative approach across music, sport, television and commercial entertainment.
While her growing list of credits reflects an impressive individual career, Kidd’s ambitions have always extended further than her own success. In June 2022, at just 20 years old, she founded The Aux, a First Nations-owned, movement-led creative company established to connect artists, brands and productions with professional dancers, choreography and creative direction. What began as an independent business venture has evolved into a platform supporting creative productions, artist development and opportunities for dancers within the Australian and international entertainment industries.
Through The Aux, Kidd has sought to challenge the traditional perception of dancers as simply supporting performers, instead highlighting movement as an essential part of storytelling, artist identity and creative production. The company specialises in creative direction, movement direction, choreography, dancer casting, performance development and production coordination, offering an approach that brings together the various creative and logistical elements required to deliver professional entertainment. From major touring productions to commercial campaigns and intimate artist performances, The Aux has developed into a business capable of working across different creative environments while maintaining a strong connection to the dance community.
For Kidd, The Aux is more than a business; it represents a broader movement towards recognition, inclusion and opportunity within an industry where dancers and choreographers are often overlooked despite their contributions to some of the world’s most recognisable performances. As a proud Gundungurra woman, she is particularly passionate about increasing opportunities for First Nations talent and ensuring that emerging creatives from diverse backgrounds have access to professional pathways. Through initiatives such as The Vault, which connects dancers with industry professionals and internationally experienced creatives, Kidd continues to invest in the development of Australia’s next generation of performers.
Navigating the entertainment industry as a young woman and business owner has presented its own challenges. Alongside her creative responsibilities, Kidd has had to establish professional relationships, negotiate opportunities, manage productions and build a sustainable business in an industry where work can be unpredictable and competition is constant. Rather than following a conventional career pathway, she has built her reputation through persistence, independence and a willingness to take on responsibilities beyond her years. Her experience operating as both an artist and entrepreneur has given her an understanding of the industry that extends from the rehearsal studio to the business decisions behind major productions.
Despite achieving significant milestones in Australia, Kidd now finds herself at a pivotal point in her career. Having already worked across international markets and developed relationships within the global entertainment industry, she believes that relocating to Los Angeles is the natural next step in her professional development. Although Australia has provided the foundation for her career, Los Angeles offers access to a greater concentration of international recording artists, major production companies, television networks, touring opportunities and creative teams operating at the highest level of entertainment.
For a creative whose work is no longer confined to one country or discipline, establishing a permanent professional presence in the United States would provide the opportunity to build on years of international experience. Kidd is looking to expand her work as a dancer, choreographer and creative director while continuing to develop The Aux as a company capable of connecting talent and productions across international markets. With Los Angeles recognised as one of the world’s major entertainment centres, the move represents an opportunity to pursue larger productions, strengthen existing industry relationships and contribute to creative projects on a global scale.
At just 25, Kidd’s achievements represent a level of professional experience that is uncommon for someone so early in their career. From leaving school as a teenager to founding a creative company at 20 and working alongside internationally recognised artists, her journey demonstrates the possibilities available to young Australian creatives willing to challenge expectations and pursue opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings. Her ability to move between performing, choreography, creative direction and business leadership has allowed her to establish an identity that is not limited to a single role within the industry.
Continuing her commitment to the Australian dance community, Kidd is currently preparing to host an exclusive celebrity dance class with internationally acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning R&B artist Ashanti in November 2026. The upcoming event represents another significant milestone for both Kidd and The Aux, bringing a globally recognised recording artist directly to Australia’s dance community. Beyond the excitement of the celebrity appearance, the initiative reflects Kidd’s ongoing commitment to creating experiences that connect Australian dancers with international talent, providing opportunities for inspiration, industry exposure and creative development. Having built her own career through years of training, sacrifice and international networking, Kidd remains passionate about giving back to the community that helped shape her journey and ensuring that the next generation of dancers has access to opportunities that were once difficult to imagine.
As she prepares for the next stage of her career, Georgia Kidd represents the ambition and creative independence emerging from a new generation of Australian talent. Proud of her Western Sydney roots and First Nations heritage, she is determined to carry that identity into the international entertainment landscape while continuing to build opportunities for the community that helped shape her. With an established body of work across internationally recognised artists, television, brands and live productions, Kidd is no longer simply working towards an international career; she is building on one that is already underway.
For Georgia Kidd, Los Angeles is not the beginning of her story, but the next step in a career that has already taken her far beyond where it began. With The Aux continuing to grow alongside her, the Australian creative is determined to establish herself on the global stage, not only as a performer, choreographer and director, but as a businesswoman helping shape the future of movement in entertainment.