Although “making it” in dance has long been associated with a performance career, few dancers solely perform and many also pursue choreography and/or teaching. Considering these many ways of being a dance artist, the aim of this study was to understand (a) the psychological characteristics which are perceived to be facilitative of engagement and well-being in dance, and (b) the experiences that dancing itself provides that encourage engagement and well-being. Eight dancers in vocational ballet training and 17 professional dance artists, all of whom had performed and/or taught and/or choreographed, participated in semi-structured interviews which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Key themes of a) intrinsic motivation to dance, b) psychological characteristics in the dancer, and c) basic psychological need satisfaction in dance were found. It is important to equally nurture intrinsic motivation across dance training, performance, choreography, and teaching to promote engagement and well-being across the training and career span.