What to Expect at Your First Dance Audition

As the curtains close on yet another amazing competitive dance season, dancers everywhere are preparing to audition for their next year of dance.

If you’ve never been to a dance audition before, the experience can be incredibly nerve-racking. To help ease some of those nerves, here’s an idea of what you can expect from your first dance audition…

• Sign in: At your sign-in, you will be given a number so the judges will be able to easily identify you during your audition. Depending on the size of the audition, sign-in can start as much as several hours before the actual audition time. At Boogie Down, we suggest that all dancers arrive at least half an hour before their audition to allow for ample warm-up and prep time.
• Combinations galore: Most dance auditions will include a series of brief dance combinations. First, the main instructor will teach the entire class the same combination. Then, dancers will be split into groups and you’ll be asked to perform your combinations in those groups. These combinations help your ‘judges’ determine how quickly you pick up choreography and if you will mesh well with your fellow dancers.
• Improv: In some auditions, dancers are given a piece of music to improv to. Why? It lets your ‘judges’ know what type of choreography you’re used to and allows you to show off your best moves!
• Skills: At some point in your audition, the instructors or judges may ask you to demonstrate certain skills. This is your time to shine! Make sure you’ve practiced all your pirouettes, jumps and kicks beforehand!

The most stressful part of your audition comes after it’s all over–waiting for your results! Every dance company is different when it comes to response times. At Boogie Down, we send out offers for our competitive team within two weeks of your audition.

Auditions for Boogie Down’s 2015/2016 competitive season will be on May 31st. If you plan to audition, be sure to register in advance (either let us know in the studio or send us an email). This will help make sure our sign-in process goes smoothly! Please wear appropriate dance attire–no baggy clothing!–and style your hair neatly. You may be asked to perform more than one type of dance style, so bring both jazz and ballet shoes. Not sure what age group you’re in? Check the times below:

• Elementary (6-9 Years): 5:00-6:00pm
• Intermediate (10-13 Years): 6:00-7:00pm
• Senior (14+ Years): 7:00-8:00pm

Good luck to everyone auditioning! We can’t wait to meet you 🙂