How Not to End Up in My Trash Folder, or Gentle Suggestions of What NOT to do When Applying for an Audition
This season, I became the rehearsal director for a company, crossing over the daunting void of the audition table and becoming “one who judges.” With audition season upon us, I am receiving more and more emails every single day from dancers looking to promote their talents and catch my eye. And trust me, many of you do, but unfortunately, not always through positive means. I would like to help you (and me) out. The following is a list of suggestions to make sure that someone like me, who must read hundreds of CVs and watch hundreds of videos during my “time off,” does not roll his or her eyes at your careless mistakes, and immediately send your application to the Trash folder:
Do Your Research:
Before sending out emails to every single company you find on a list, figure out to whom you are sending your materials. Watch videos of the repertoire and read the biographies of the artistic staff and dancers. Although limiting yourself can be stifling, you still need to be honest with yourself about who you are, and what you are looking to do. If you are applying for a contemporary company, do not only send video footage of Ballet variations. Do not send photos of you in pointe shoes and a leotard doing grand jètés joyously out in the woods. (I am not exaggerating; I have received this.) Similarly, if you are applying for any sort of repertoire company, do not send only footage of improvisation. To make it simple, learn who we are!!! If I need to ask you for additional video footage to have an idea of your full range of capabilities, you have not promoted yourself well enough to be considered seriously.
Be Personal:
(This adds on to the “do your research” suggestion.) Never start your introductory email or Cover Letter with the words, “To Whom It May Concern.” Use the internet to figure out who is making decisions. Feel free to go overboard! Address your communications to the artistic director, manager, rehearsal directors, etc…, go crazy! Just remember you are addressing another human being whom you wish will treat you with the same respect in return when considering you for a job.
Be Thorough:
Include your CV, photos, AND a link to video footage. This is 2018; engage actively with technology to promote yourself.
Edit, Edit, Edit:
Before pushing “send,” please edit your work. I know full well that there is a tremendous amount of copy/paste going on in this process. Nevertheless, when I receive an email, or even a Cover Letter, addressed to another company, it is insulting; moreover, it demonstrates that you do not possess the attention to detail I expect from my dancers. Remain consistent. If you address your communications to one company and mention a different one in the body of your email, this is also insulting. Edit your work, and feel free to ask a friend to proofread it, too. (And please, please, please, spell my name correctly!)
When NOT to Edit:
In your video footage, you want to demonstrate several talents: technical proficiency, performance quality, and the fact that you can actually execute an entire phrase of movement. If you cut and paste, only showing me bits and pieces of steps to show yourself off, it merely betrays a weakness. If you do not show me at least one minute of movement material without a cut, I will assume that you can only do tricks, and do not possess the sustained strength and quality to last an entire performance, regardless of how well you can flip or whack your leg.
Show Me Who You Are, Literally:
Although we certainly do not ask you to “bear it all,” we do need to see your body. It is your primary instrument. Please do not send only video footage of you dancing in baggy clothing in silhouette: great artistic statement, lousy advertisement. Cover up, wear leggings and a turtleneck, but please, let us see the outline of your actual body. Yes, it is mostly about how you move, but if your pants are so baggy I cannot tell whether you can straighten your leg, there is a problem. (On a side note, if you send footage of a group piece and do not clarify who you are, you’ve just given up all together.)
I fully acknowledge this is a rant from someone who is exhausted and overworked. But really, if you were in my shoes, would you want to spend your “time off” looking at materials from someone who can’t even take a moment to ensure the spelling of the Artistic Director’s name is correct? Applying for work IS work. With the same amount of attention and energy that you invest in your art, promote yourself with professionalism. To survive in the dance world today, you need entrepreneurial ingenuity and self-promoting acumen. But if you truly feel this isn’t worth the time, you will have a lot of company in my Trash folder. I wish you all the best. Toi Toi Toi and Merde, job-seekers!
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Photo by Adam Littman Davis on Unsplash
Really? Thanks, it’s all true but I think someone should make a list of how to make a proper open call when you actually looking for a dancer and how to invite people for auditions that you might consider hiring (especially if your audition is set up anyways). Nicy try, quite insulting though. I wish my name would be spelled correctly in the next answer from the “one who judges.”
Hello from the other side.
Rafał
Way to attack vulnerable young artists with this aggressive article. This information can be useful but this hostile tone is unproductive. Have you considered questions of accessibility when talking about “attention to detail” and “professionalism”? Not everyone knows how to approach these situations and you could be a bit more compassionate in your response to inexperience.
^ No, sorry. There is a tonne of articles floating around the net containing information about “how to audition” written in a polite/gentle way. I find it nice personally, for someone to speak up about the harsh reality which is auditioning as a dancer. Sometimes the truth in black and white can be the wake up call some people need to get there act together.
Dear Mrs. Holmes,
Thank you for your detailed and clear message. The information regarding how a dancer should apply and promote himself/herself is very agreeable but there might be some misunderstanding from your side.
If 8 out of 10 applications you receive via Email are your so-called “trash-can”- candidates you should maybe ask if all dancers nowadays are ignorant and stupid OR if MAYBE the education system and enviroment where dancers are trained and prepared for this profession might have not prepared and educated them well. I do understand that the application process changed a lot due to technology, but i also see that the structure of dance school only adapted what (!) they teach and not how (!) they teach.
I am sure with they way you approached this topic, you did offend many dancers out there fighting and surviving as dance artists.
If you see the problem of the application procedere so clear, be the change and update the educations system! Write to dance school and find a closer connection between with education institutions, to tell the what you need, so they can teach and prepare!
One last point, you spare time should be your free time. Tell your boss to let you do your duty in working time so you get paid for your duty. . .
All the best,
Chris
Poor you, having to do your duty in your free time. Let change the procedere!
Send offers out to a dancers platform and let dancers who are interested to choose from the offers.
Then you will have more spare time rehearsal director!!!! 😉
The points are good and actually useful for a dancer to remind him/herself about applying “mistakes”. Sure the tone is provocative, but hey, that’s just A type of journalism. After reading I feel just simply sorry for you that you are so overworked and have to work on your free time – I would get angry too and often do when working conditions, which also in auditioning, are inhumane. Those auditions eg. that are held just for gaining prove to fundraisers are the worst. Dancers paying for flights, accommodation, food and lost time hundreds of euros when the audition was never even meant to actually open doors for new dancers. I don’t say that this is the case in your company, but I just don’t understand why the field is so full of unpaid hours and unfair conditions: seems like we all need to work for free on our “free time” on both sides, production and performance. Hope this could change but I guess it’s in the end about “How much you bare for yourself is What you get”. So let us bare less shit and get less shit. Good luck to you and try to have fairer working conditions!
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