From being in the studio for eight hours a day to taking online classes in a dressing room, UCLA economics student, Taylor Berwick, has quite an unusual schedule. After both getting into UCLA and landing a position at the American Contemporary Ballet, or ACB, Berwick has been balancing academics with her professional ballet career ever since, charting her own path by combining her expertise in the performing arts with her pursuit of a career in finance.
“Having those two sides of your brain work at the same time is something that’s really valuable,” Berwick said. “Ballet and economics are connected in ways that I didn’t realize until I started doing both of them together.”
For many students, 8 a.m. is the most dreaded time to take a class, but for Berwick, this is just the norm. A typical day for Berwick begins with 8 a.m. classes on the UCLA campus, after which she drives downtown to the ACB studio, she said. There, she begins her 8-hour day by warming up in her 10 a.m. ballet class, and then rehearses with her company to put on their bimonthly shows which run for approximately one month at a time, Berwick said.
During show weeks, Berwick is able to spend more of her day on campus, instead of traveling to the studio at night to perform shows, she said. The end of fall quarter is the busiest time of year, Berwick added, as UCLA finals week overlaps with ACB’s performances of “The Nutcracker Suite,” where the company performs six shows per week. Although Berwick’s schedule seems hectic, the aspect of performing on stage, as well as the people that she is surrounded by, makes it worth the hustle.
Berwick said that ballet teaches discipline, grit and work ethic in an environment unlike any other, leading to her success in the classrooms and lecture halls of UCLA. She added that the level of grit earned from a life in ballet will support her in any field she pursues, whether it be in finance, dance or fashion.
“Mentally, I can get through a lot, just from having done [so many] shows of ‘The Nutcracker Suite,'” Berwick said. “There’s nothing really compared to ballet, and nothing that is that intense.”
Between shows, rehearsals and ballet classes, Berwick is working towards a degree in economics at UCLA as a part-time student. Berwick chose to pursue higher education so that she could have another long-term career lined up after her time at ACB, since ballet is a profession that dancers age out of, Berwick said. She said that balancing a life in the arts with studying an academic discipline such as economics is a valuable exercise in diversifying how she thinks. Berwick also expressed that many of the lessons that she learned in ballet are applicable to a career in finance.
“They teach you the same mindset,” Berwick said. “Whether you’re an investor or a dancer, you’re looking for a long term outcome. What’s the next thing that you’re gonna do — that show that’s in two years from now, or that investment that’s gonna pay off in two years?”
After her professional ballet career, Berwick is looking to pursue a career in private equity or venture capital, specifically surrounding fashion, beauty and finance, she said. There is plenty of intersection between fashion and dance, Berwick said, as the two work hand in hand to deliver an impactful visual experience to an audience. Being in Los Angeles with ACB has allowed her to collaborate with different brands using her image as a dancer, Berwick said, which has contributed to her interest in the fashion and beauty industries.
From dancing and finance to modeling and fashion, Berwick carves her own unique niche. However, she is not unlike many students at UCLA in her passion and dedication to various interests across creative and academic disciplines. Being at UCLA has helped her strike a work-life balance while concentrating on an art form that can sometimes be all-consuming, Berwick said.
“Sometimes you don’t think you can do it, or that it might be too much,” Berwick said. “But if you want to pursue two things, you can. And UCLA is a great place to do it.”
