Faculty dance auditions typically require college students to current a brief solo. Whereas this solo will be an excellent manner for aggressive dancers to point out their expertise, a school audition room isn’t the identical setting as a contest stage. How can dancers repurpose competitors solos successfully?
It begins by figuring out your viewers. “You need to analysis this system you’re auditioning for,” says Lindsey Klein, an affiliate professor of dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee who additionally teaches at Patti Eisenhauer Dance Heart in Franklin, Massachusetts. “The fabric you predespatched must align with the coaching on the college.” Think about what approach kinds the division affords, in addition to the place school members have danced—after which get to work adapting your solo to match.
Choosing a Piece
Jenny Hogan, director of Brava Dance Heart, which has areas in Rye and Port Chester, New York, says her college students usually select a contest solo from their junior yr for faculty auditions. “That makes it a chunk they’re very comfy with,” she explains. An exception to that rule is perhaps if a dancer’s senior-year solo highlights one thing significantly particular, or in the event that they’ve grown dramatically because the earlier piece was choreographed.
Whether or not you go for tried-and-true or one thing new, the solo needs to be one which makes you are feeling your finest. “You need to signify your strengths as a performer, mover, and artist,” says Amanda Kay White, an assistant professor of dance at Chapman College in Orange, California. “We will inform which college students really feel a way of possession over their motion. It’s partaking to witness that management and confidence.”
Making It Match
Most faculties ask college students to carry out a 60- to 90-second solo. In the meantime, many competitors solos are not less than two and a half minutes lengthy. As an alternative of merely chopping off the start or finish of the piece, “attempt to create a condensed model of the entire,” says Klein. “Do away with repetition and variations. Shave down transitions. Generally we’ll see loads of in-between steps, however not sufficient meat and potatoes. In 90 seconds, you don’t have the posh of a gradual construct.”
As you trim the choreography, you’ll possible must trim the music to match. Preserve these edits as clear as doable. One high quality faculty dance packages search for in an applicant is musicality, and if the music flows, the motion can too. Should you can’t lower the music cleanly—or for those who fear that the present track may result in the solo being taken much less significantly—it would make extra sense to decide on a wholly completely different rating.
Enhancing What’s There
Repurposing a solo isn’t solely a matter of slicing. You might also need to add materials. Take into consideration whether or not the piece reveals your full vary of expertise—however keep away from the temptation to insert each trick you already know. Your approach might be on show in the course of the class portion of the audition. The solo affords an opportunity to point out your artistry, versatility, and individuality.
Attempt to display dynamic vary. “Numerous aggressive solos house in on one motion vocabulary and do it rather well,” says White. “Is there a spot the place you would add the alternative vitality? As an illustration, for those who’ve bought a fluid up to date solo, are you able to insert some tight, fast, sure motion, as a distinction?” White additionally recommends contemplating the way you make the most of the area. “Competitors solos will be very performative, which may translate to frontal and downstage,” she says. “With the ability to use each quadrant of the room lets us know that you just’re excited about area differently.”
In Hogan’s expertise, it not often takes various additional one-on-one rehearsals to organize and polish the brand new model of the piece. Strive to not get hung up on good execution. As an alternative, work together with your lecturers on making the motion your personal. “What’s most vital is to point out who you’re as a dancer,” Hogan says. “Everybody who’s making use of to those packages is proficient. What else do you carry to the desk?”
“Enter the room as a singular mover, reasonably than making an attempt to suit a sure mould,” White says. “Present us the kind of artist you’re—and the sort you need to be.” Should you accomplish that, the audition solo could have achieved its job.
Video Submissions
If a college accepts auditions by video, comply with the directions to the letter. Test for necessities about apparel, background, and digital camera angles, in addition to closing dates and what needs to be proven. In sure instances, comparable to a pre-screening earlier than an invited in-person audition, you might be able to submit a recording from an precise competitors—however earlier than you press “Ship,” take a second to evaluate whether or not that video presents you as you need to be seen. “The glitz and glamour of a contest solo may not work for whoever is reviewing these movies,” Lindsey Klein says. “That’s why you need to do your homework.”
