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Robin Merchant started dancing at age 12. At the beginning, she danced solely in ballet. At 16 she started branching out and learning other styles. Now she is a trained dancer in over 15 styles of dance including hip hop, break dance, and jazz.

In 2003, she performed in the movie Honey with Jessica Alba. She's also danced for the TV show Smallville, and for companies such as Mountain Dew and Disney.

"I'd say dance is coming back into style right now. With movies like Step Up 2 and highly rated television shows like So You Think You Can Dance, I think more people are realizing the hard work put into this art form, as well as producers seeing the effectiveness of using dance to their benefit," says Merchant.

Fashionable or not, it is still hard for dancers to make a living from dance performance alone. "When I was younger my income was based on performing, now my income comes from performance, instruction, lectures and choreography," says Merchant.

Few dancers find full-time or permanent jobs in dance. Dancers must constantly compete for short-term work. Rejection is the biggest challenge for many dancers.

"It's really hard to walk into an audition and get rejected. It's not that someone doesn't like the product you're selling -- you are the product. Even if you know an audition called for all blondes and you're a brunette, rejection is still hard," says Merchant.

This career can take dancers around the globe. Merchant recently finished shooting The Cheetah Girls: One World. It's the third movie in The Cheetah Girls series and was filmed in India. It was an amazing experience for her to see the country and meet dancers from India and compare dance styles. She got to experience cultural differences first hand.

"I'd never been on a set where they had to stop shooting because a cow had wandered into frame! Some of the shoot locations were old palaces a tourist would never be allowed to enter," says Merchant. She also instructed a group of underprivileged kids when she wasn't shooting the movie.

"The joy those kids held was shocking, when you realize their families barely have enough money to provide two meals a day," she says.

Merchant says if you love dance, you should go for it.

"The best advice I can give is to be as versatile as possible. The more styles you've mastered, the more opportunities available to you. Don't try and copy other people's looks and styles; be you -- cause there's no one else that will fill those shoes better!"

Jennifer Abbey's big break in dance came when she beat all the odds and landed a role in the 2007 movie Hairspray with John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer. She crashed the audition, showing up uninvited, and beat out 2,000 dancers auditioning for the role.

"I was an up-and-coming dancer/choreographer with nothing special on my resume and nothing really to boast about until the day I got the call for the job. The most exciting part was working with people who had the same dreams and aspirations as I did," says Abbey.

Landing the part gave her a big boost of confidence and hope. She felt like her dreams had come true. "I would never ever think that one day I would be clubbing with Queen Latifah or going to the premier for a major motion picture that I was in and chilling with Zac Efron at the after-party," she says.

Abbey, also known as J-Beautiful, danced for rapper Flo Rida as he performed his hit Low at the Much Music Video Awards. Despite her impressive resume, she says hip hop and street dancers often get paid close to nothing.

"No paid rehearsals and no paid performances on top of that. Everyone wants the best, but yet they are not willing to pay for it. A lot of hip hop dancers just love performing so much that they sometimes don't mind -- at first," says Abbey.

"I cannot make a living on just dancing. I teach four times a week and usually have to work a part-time job in a mall or restaurant, just to get by," she says.

She began learning ballet and tap when she was six years old. As she grew, so did her interest in other dance styles. Now she mostly performs stylized jazz and hip hop.

"What makes me so passionate about dance is that I can express my feelings without saying a word. I've been dancing for so long that it has become a necessity. It's like air: without it I can't breathe," says Abbey.

She dances for at least an hour each day, making up routines or fooling around. She also teaches. If she's preparing for a show, rehearsals can take up a lot of time in addition to the actual performance.

"Knowing that I could be an inspiration to future generations of dancers makes me work harder to be a good role model in the dance studio and out of the dance studio. Meeting new people, working with celebrities, learning new things, these are all things that excite me about being a dancer," she says.

There are many difficult aspects to trying to make it as a career dancer. You have to be a real go-getter to find work for yourself. But Abbey says she never gets bored and enjoys every second she's dancing. "I'd rather do something I love and can do every day without dreading it than work at a place where I'm miserable," she says.

Another career option for dancers is to open a studio. John Munger is the director of research and development for Dance/USA and a long-time dancer. He has some solid advice for dancers thinking about opening their own studio. First you should learn something formal about financial management. You don't need a degree, but some college accounting courses would put you on the right track.

He is adamant that teachers should only teach what they know. "If you're a hot jazz and tap person ... teach jazz and tap. Don't fake teaching ballet or modern if you don't have the skill at it."

He says students of "fake" teachers must undo the damage when they reach a college dance program.

Munger also advises you to put together a full evening concert on your own before you open a studio. It is best to do this while you are young and have a good support system -- like the dance studio at your university. He says to do all the work yourself. That includes music, public relations, advertising, finding dancers, and the choreography.

"The experience of producing your own stuff will take you through so many things you'll want to know when you have your own studio," he says. Knowing how to put on a solid performance is important. It is a great way to show off your students and your studio.