Thinking of auditioning overseas? Australian dancer Luke Aaron Forbes shares his experiences with Dance Australia readers.
DO
* Put effort into email writing; a badly written email could be costly.
* Find out what companies are in the area you're travelling to: you might have chosen to audition at the wrong one!
* Research the company's style and repertory. Interviewing finalists is standard practice and your opportunity to prove you're interested and informed.
* Keep your resumé concise. Companies spend only a short time reading each application and summer workshops and childhood RAD results are more often than not ignored.
* Consider the size of the company. Smaller companies require all dancers to be capable of dancing soloist roles.
* If you're interested in a particular company, read the dancers' biographies online and keep an eye out for any 'trends'. For instance, a company that performs contemporary repertory might only employ dancers with a strictly classical background. Conversely, a company may be referred to as a Ballett, yet not have a single balletic dancer in their ranks!
DON’T
* Apply before doing some research and considering if you're an appropriate candidate. Travel and accommodation costs add up quickly!
* Presume that private auditions are the only means to success. Your strength may lie in learning repertory quickly, or pas de deux, talents best presented at a public audition. In spite of possible advantages, auditioning privately on a company's regular working day limits the amount of time a director can spend working with you, so as not to disturb the day's schedule.
* Send classroom photos. Photos of academic poses rather than of stage performances creates an impression of inexperience.
* Take no answer for an answer. Competition is tough and a short phone call to the company you're interested in, especially if you're in the running for a position, could be the reminder a director needs.
* Send a showreel unless you have quality recordings of yourself in a soloist role, or if footage is specifically requested.
* Be overambitious. Smaller companies may lack an international reputation but are a great stepping stone for young dancers.
Luke Aaron Forbes attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and completed his dance training at the Ecole-Atelier Rudra-Bejart in Lausanne. He has danced with Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Ballet Dortmund and Aalto Ballett Theater Essen, both in Germany. He is now studying a Master of Arts Tanzwissenchaft at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Tanz in Cologne.
See more on auditioning in our AUDITION FEATURE in the June/July 2015 issue of Dance Australia.
