2025 Global Resident Choreographers Report

This is DDP’s sixth annual Global Resident Choreographers Report, offering the most comprehensive data analysis to date on resident choreographer positions in the dance industry. Often overlooked yet critical, the role of resident choreographer provides both artistic and financial stability in a field where freelance labor is the norm.

This milestone 60th report is a testament to DDP’s purposeful iteration and expansion to encompass the global dance economy. The resident choreographer role often represents one of the only pathways to job security for choreographers—but these positions remain rare, and access to them still tends to favor men.

– DDP President and Founder Elizabeth ‘Liza’ Yntema.

This year’s report examined 440 dance companies—275 based in the U.S. and 165 internationally—an increase from 378 companies analyzed in 2024. For this sixth edition, DDP expanded the international sample and included the Largest 125 U.S. Contemporary and Modern Companies for the first time. DDP identified 202 resident choreographers across 141 companies, up from 158 choreographers at 111 companies last year. Of the 202 choreographers currently holding resident positions, 90 are women (44.6%), 110 are men (54.5%), and 2 are gender expansive individuals (1%). This marks a slight increase from 2024, when women held 43.7% of resident roles, continuing a slow but consistent upward trend from 36.2% in 2023, 31.6% in 2022, and 28.6% in 2021.

Among the 165 global companies analyzed, only 10 contemporary and modern companies employed resident choreographers, compared to 38 ballet companies. Within the global contemporary and modern sector, women now outnumber men in resident roles, holding 57.1% of these positions. In contrast, 76.2% of global ballet resident choreographers are men. Among sole resident choreographers (those not holding dual artistic director roles) in the U.S., the largest share of women (54.5%) have held their positions for one to five years, indicating a recent and encouraging trend toward increased hiring of women in these roles. Women directors/choreographers also dominate the longest-serving category (21+ years), with 60.6% of these U.S.-based roles held by women. Among the global sample, the largest percentage of women directors/choreographers (52.6%) have served in their roles for one to five years. However, when excluding dual artistic director/choreographer positions, men equal women in the 1-5 year tenure and outnumber women across all other tenure categories — highlighting the continued challenges in achieving standalone recognition.

“DDP’s findings around tenure of resident choreographers reveal a powerful story,” said DDP Senior Research Consultant Junyla Silmon. She continued, “Women are increasingly taking on leadership roles—particularly in smaller or self-founded companies—but the path to sustained recognition as a resident choreographer remains steep, especially for those not in artistic director positions.”