Teenage Tips

DANCE AUDITION EXPERIENCE

Audition Experience

Part 1: Preparation for Audition

Before you even step foot into that audition, there are certain things you need to do to fully prepare yourself for what can be thrown at you and how you want to arrive at the auditon.

You are representing a brand, a market, yourself. You want to represent yourself to the best ability and make the panel of people at the audition want to hire you for the job, and possibly future jobs.

· Your look: You need to create a certain look for yourself, this is taking into consideration your hairstyle, makeup and grooming and your outfit. Is your look going to be bright and bubbly, or maybe is it going to be dark and fierce? You need to decide on a look that best describes your personality and also how you perform when dancing. When you're younger, you want to have a young and fresh look, you don't want to look older because they aren't interested in older people, they are interested in young people. If you're auditioning for a more mature adult job, for maybe 18+ or 16+, you will want to look mature, but at the same time young. Wearing black is a good idea, but that doesn't mean you cannot incorporate different colours into your look.

· Your experience: You need to have previous experience in all aspects of your audition. You need to have taken class in the specific style, whether it's Broadway jazz, tap, ballet, etc. If you want to prepare even more, take some extra classes prior to the audition in the specific style, as well as technique classes to refine your technique. To be able to have previous experience of the audition conditions, it's a good idea to go to places like a big workshop or even a mock audition that have very similar environments, just so you can be used to the different mental and physical tolls the environment can have on your performance and nerves. It's also a good idea to know if the audition will require you to have skills in other assets such as singing, acting or acrobatics. If you think it may be possible, it would be a good idea to have a song ready, a monologue ready and to take some acrobatic classes to refine your skills. If you don't have any extra skills, its ok because not all auditions and jobs will require you to have them, but it's good to be prepared because they can throw things like that at you without you expecting or being prepared for it. Preparation is key, you need to think of everything they could ask and make you do before they throw it at you.

· CV and headshot- At an audition you will be required to hand in a CV and headshot. Your CV is like a resume that gives details of previous performances you have been in, dance experience, education, height, references and different extra skills you may have (e.g. singing, acting, modelling). Your CV should be easy to read and be very visual, so add a bit of colour. It should also be very professionally laid out and you should put the most relevant information on there (e.g. when you're 18, primary school productions are not really too necessary to put down when they were most likely 6 years ago). Your headshot should be done on a professional camera, or at least be of a very high quality. It's a good idea to get them professionally done, as you will only need to take the photos once and you can use them for multiple auditions rather than having to get new ones every audition. You should make sure you have not too much makeup on, so your shots look natural. You should also make sure you are wearing black or just a basic colour, nothing that brings away from your face. Your hair should be out, as it's very natural. You should also have some shots of your full body as well, as some auditions may want those shots. Getting them professionally done is a really good idea, but if you can't, get a friend or someone's camera and take a photo with good lighting, at a white wall. Your headshot should be about A6-A5 sized to staple onto the side of your CV.

· What to bring- you will want to bring a bag with spare changes of clothes and some different shoes for different styles (e.g ballet shoes, tap shoes, chorus heels). You will also want to bring plenty of snacks and a water bottle to stay hyrdrated and energised.