#auditioning tips

First things first, if you’re auditioning in America (or most other countries), you’re dancing for people that are trained to read from left to right. Because of this, the people in the front of the room will more than likely immediately begin scanning on the left (your right) side of the room. BUT most folks are also used to scanning a small page or computer screen, so if you’re too far to the left, they’ll skip over you until after they scan the whole room. So, general prime real estate is on YOUR right side of the room (their left) and not too far to the side.

Take into account the size of your audition room. If there is more than 6-10 feet of space that you can leave in front of the table of folks in the front of the room, the best place to be seen is in the front row. If it audition happens to be a smaller audition room, the second row of the room is better because people tend to discount things that are too close to them (try putting your face very close to a near stranger and watch them lean away). Trust me, if you’re cramped, the last place you want to be is rocking a Flashdance flashback on the production table.

If you are a slow picker-upper, whatever you do, stay the heck in the back of the room until you absolutely know that you have picked up the combination. It is just plain rude to your fellow dancers to be stopping and starting in front of folks that are performing perfectly. Particularly if you are a larger person. If you don’t consider yourself a person that should be followed, don’t block the view of a person behind you that may not be able to see what the choreographer is teaching.

If your choreographer is pressing play on their own music, another good place to be noticed (if the room is packed and you don’t have many options) is to stand near the controls for the music. While the music is starting, show your stuff with your pre-combination improv or offer help if they’re having trouble pressing play and then running to the front of the room.

Now, none of this is a substitute for good technique. And if the person teaching your combination or watching the audition is specifically interested in a person because of their resume, look, or anything else, they will look at that person first regardless of general human (dance) nature. BUT if you can potentially get a leg up (pun intended) on the other dancers in the room, I would highly recommend you take this advice and . . . get noticed!