Who are the top 10 best dancers of all time? Dance is a beautiful form of art, which can be used to express our innermost desires and dreams. Despite that, dancers have often been underappreciated throughout history, earning low wages for work that most people would be unable to perform. Fortunately, times are changing and dancers are being admired and recognized for their quality. In fact, the top dancers can earn several hundred thousand dollars as evidenced in The World’s Richest Dancers.
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There are various ways to rank the quality of dancers. For our list, we have used therichest.com to discover the total earnings of dancers, as earnings indicate the relative success of a dancer; the higher the earnings, the more in demand the dancer. We have also taken into consideration the duration of the career as another factor, traced from Wikipedia, as a long career can often be an indicator of quality as well. However, since this is subjective, we have only allocated a 40% weight to the duration of the career. Using these factors, we have calculated the top 10 best dancers of all time, which are as follows:
10. Mark Ballas
Total earnings: $450,000 – Rank based on earnings: 10
Duration of career: 10 years – Rank based on duration: 8
The overall rank: 9.2
Ballas is an established ballroom dancer as well as a world-renowned choreographer with an Emmy for best Outstanding Choreography to his name. He has ventured into acting and singing but dancing remains his main forte.
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9. Benjamin Millepied
Total earnings: $900,000 – Rank based on earnings: 7
Duration of career: 14 years – Rank based on duration: 9
The overall rank: 7.8
Ballet may be underappreciated, but if you are at the top of your game, you can still earn big bucks, as evidenced by French ballet dancer, Benjamin Millepied.
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8. Cheryl Burke
Total earnings: $500,000 – Rank based on earnings: 9
Duration of career: 19 years – Rank based on duration: 5
The overall rank: 7.4
The only person to have won Dancing with the Stars twice, Cheryl Burke, who started competing from the age of 13 has managed to earn nearly half a million dollars in her stellar career.
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7. Derek Hough
Total earnings: $3 million – Rank based on earnings: 7
Duration of career: 10 years – Rank based on duration: 7
The overall rank: 7
Yes, you can make millions of dollars in dance provided you are as good as Latin American dance world champion, Derek Hough, who has earned numerous accolades in a decade long career which is set to continue.
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6. JabaWockeeZ
Total earnings: $5 million – Rank based on earnings: 5
Duration of career: 7 years – Rank based on duration: 10
The overall rank: 7
Away from the typical dancers, hip hop has also made its name as an attractive dance genre, which is exemplified by JabbaWockeeZ.
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5. Sylvie Guillem
Total earnings: $850,000 – Rank based on earnings: 8
Duration of career: 34 years – Rank based on duration: 3
The overall rank: 6
Sylvie Guillem is the embodiment of the quote ‘Age is just a number’. In fact, she is the highest paid female dancer currently, at the age of 40.
4. Karina Smirnoff
Total earnings: $3 million – Rank based on earnings: 6
Duration of career: 15 years – Rank based on duration: 6
The overall rank: 6
Another ballroom dancer makes the top 10 best dancers of all time list, with five-time US National champion Karina Smirnoff rounding out the top half.
3. Rudolf Nureyev
Total earnings: $7.9 million – Rank based on earnings: 3
Duration of career: 34 years – Rank based on duration: 2
The overall rank: 2,6
Often called the greatest male ballet dancer of the 20th century, Rudolf Nureyev revolutionized men’s role in ballet permanently. He accomplished all this despite the KGB consistently attempting to thwart is ambitions.
2. Michael Flatley
Total earnings: $288 million – Rank based on earnings: 1
Duration of career: 24 years – Rank based on duration: 4
The overall rank: 2.2
Far and away the most successful dancer in history, Michael Flatley once earned $1.6 million per week for his record breaking tap dancing.
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1. Mikhail Barishnikov
Total earnings: $45 million – Rank based on earnings: 2
Duration of career: 47 years – Rank based on duration: 1
The overall rank: 1.6
Another Russian ballet dancer makes the list as Mikhail Baryshnikov’s career, spanning nearly half a century, has eclipsed even that of Rudolf Nureyev. Many consider him to be the most famous and recognizable figure in the world of ballet dancing, and he easily tops this list of Top 10 Best Dancers of All Time!
