As students prepare for the college auditions for musical theatre programs, there are three disciplines to focus on – acting, voice and dance. Many students feel they are well prepared in at least two of those disciplines and may feel that one of those disciplines are their “weak spot”. Let’s talk about how to bolster your dance training so that your dance portion of the college musical theatre audition can be a strength to you.
First, it’s important to know that you don’t have to be the best dancer in every room in order to be in serious consideration for excellent college musical theatre programs. If you have focused for years on acting and voice training and feel that it’s just too late for your dance training, don’t give up too quickly. Many musical theatre programs take the number of years you have trained into consideration when they are evaluating your dance audition. They are looking for potential, so if you’ve only had one year of dance training but show potential for growth in dance, that may serve you very well. If you’re in high school and have just now started your dance training, there are specific things you can do to maximize the benefits and growth of this short window of training.
One of the most important classes you need in your dance training for college musical theatre auditions is ballet. Ballet is the basis of dance technique, strength and flexibility and training in ballet will improve your performance in every other genre of dance. Think of ballet as the scales singers use to strengthen their vocal technique or as the vitamins we take improve our overall health. A beginner ballet class that is focused on form, alignment, flexibility and strength is crucial to your dance audition. Your lines (the visual shapes and alignments your body creates while moving) will improve the gracefulness and picture you create in jazz, musical theatre, tap, hip hop and modern dance. It is best to be in a ballet class at least two to three times a week. The muscles and joints of the body will respond much faster to repetitive training throughout the week and the body’s ability to “remember” (muscle memory) the coordination and flexibility will improve dramatically with weekly repetition. In addition to the technical improvement that ballet gives a dance, the vocabulary of dance is based on ballet, so you will learn the language of the dance world in a ballet class. When you are in a dance audition and the choreographer uses words such as arabesque, attitude, battement, coupé, chassé or fouetté, you will know exactly what that choreographer is referring to or asking for because of your time in ballet class. Do not discount the confidence this gives you in the dance audition, in addition to the fact that now your brain can focus on the artistry of the dance audition instead of worrying about what those words even mean and trying to follow other dancers in the room to figure it out. Ballet class should be your first priority. You will be so grateful for the time you invest in this training.
Once you have some ballet fundamentals down, you can add into your training a jazz/musical theatre style class. Jazz class is an opportunity for you to add style and artistry to the technique you’ve learned in ballet class (although style and artistry are certainly a part of ballet training as well). It will give you an opportunity to explore different expressions and styles of dance and even incorporate your acting skills into your dance. Another important benefit to jazz classes is that it strengthens your ability to pick up various choreography faster and with increased attention to detail within a short period of time. This comes in handy when your college musical theatre dance audition and the choreography is taught very quickly. Your ability to consume, organize and remember that choreography will help you stand out in your college auditions as well as free your mind from stress so the focus can be on the storytelling and artistry of the dance.
Other dance styles are great to add into your dance training if you have resources and time. Some students love hip hop or tap and those are great skills to develop, but keep in mind that neither of those dance styles are a significant part of college musical theatre dance auditions. Think of them as the cherry on top! In a dance audition, the choreographer may ask if anyone can tap and if anyone replies that they do tap, they are given an opportunity to show an eight bar tap routine. Most of the time, dancers are not even given time to put on their tap shoes, so it is performed in jazz shoes or character shoes. Hip hop training may come in useful when the choreographer announces that at the end of the choreography dancers will be asked to improvise the last eight bars of music. Those are two very common scenarios in the college musical theatre dance auditions, so be prepared. If you don’t have tap training, don’t raise your hand if the group is asked who can tap. If you don’t have hip hop training, use your jazz training to improvise the last eight bars. We love tap and hip hop, but only add this training on top of your already established ballet and jazz training.
Make sure that you are giving time each day to your flexibility and stretching. Setting aside even ten to fifteen minutes each day for stretching can remarkably improve your extensions, kicks, leaps and lines in a dance audition. Stretching can produce measurable results in as little as two weeks and will be a part of your daily routine as a musical theatre performer for your entire career, so build that habit now.
In every dance audition, no matter your level of expertise, you must bring your acting and storytelling skills with you. You can miss a step or stumble, but if you tell the story, if you are fully engaged in the acting of the dance, your acting can cover a myriad of flaws. Keep your eyes up, use your facial expressions and be fully invested in the storytelling of the dance.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to be the best dancer in the room, but any dance training in ballet and jazz and benefit you in your dance auditions. Have confidence in that training, tell the story and stay in the moment for your potential and abilities to really shine through your college musical theatre audition process.
