 The Work of Performing Artists in Dance in Montréal: Expressivity, Inconsistency and Deterioration 
The income and working conditions of professional artists in dance are particularly precarious, including those of the most renowned dancers and of most choreographers. Yet dance, as a profession, constitutes a typical example of expressive work based on a high level of self-fulfillment and accomplishment. This paradox—artistic expressivity going hand in hand with poverty and extremely precarious working conditions—cannot be explained through an essentialist conception of the artistic vocation, which would diminish the work of artists to non-work or to work so insecure that it naturally generates vulnerability. This article examines how the activity of professional artists in dance in Montréal is related to different socialization spaces, commitment to the work, and identity construction, which paradoxically link self-actualization and precariousness. Public policies that give performing artists in Québec legal status but include them only marginally in labour law, fail to reverse the precariousness of their working conditions.