How to know if I have enough talent

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scottishdancer00
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How to know if I have enough talent

Post by scottishdancer00 »

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Last edited by scottishdancer00 on Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
jennifer1972
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by jennifer1972 »

Hello and welcome. You have definitely come to the right place. How good is good enough is the question we all ask ourselves. The only way of finding out is to go along to a few auditions and see what the outcome is. My DD did the rounds last year and is settling in nicely at Millennium. Bird was by far the hardest and longest audition in terms of dance. They all say that they are looking for potential but it would be crazy to audition with no dance skills. You have dance skills, so why not try? If you audition later on in the year you have a good few months to get your confidence up in ballet, which you will need (dd has ballet every day). They don't look at what dance exams you have, it's how you do on the day. With regards to the sports bra, my DD bought a lovely one in the sales at Victoria Secret, wore it under a plain black leotard, so just the top part showed and it looked like part of the leotard. So many people asked her where she had bought her leotard as it looked so pretty that she got sick of explaining that it was a sports bra under the leotard! :lol: :lol:
chivers61
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by chivers61 »

Most colleges as mentioned are looking for potential and for applicants to be trainable. I would say none expect you to be strong in all three disciplines. Often they are happy with strong in two and potential in a third. Some colleges are more dance focussed so may compromise less on dance.

Based on your name you may live in Scotland so "having a go" may be expensive given audition fees, transport and hotels but you probably do need to audition just to see what it's all about. Not everyone gets in at their first attempt so maybe one option is to have a go but prepare for a 2019 entry and get more dance under your belt?

Have you looked at funding? Do you need DaDa? Or does it have to be a degree with student loans? It's a bit of a minefield.
Last edited by chivers61 on Wed Sep 27, 2017 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
chivers61
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by chivers61 »

Meant to add in the previous post The MGA Academy of Performing Arts in Edinburgh has a good reputation if you are in Scotland.
scottishdancer00
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by scottishdancer00 »

Thankyou for the replies! Yes I was thinking maybe doing a HNC in dance next year then trying again for Musical Theatre in London if I don't get in this year but I'm scared starting at 19 would be too old when people start at 16. I'll definitely need a Dada as my parents won't support my decision to get a student loan as uni is free in Scotland so they don't understand why I would go to England. Also re MGA, it does look good but because its a private college it means there isn't SAAS or Dadas so I wouldn't be able to afford it - its also only a HND qualification and I'd like a diploma/degree just to be a bit more qualified.
scottishdancer00
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by scottishdancer00 »

jennifer1972 wrote:Hello and welcome. You have definitely come to the right place. How good is good enough is the question we all ask ourselves. The only way of finding out is to go along to a few auditions and see what the outcome is. My DD did the rounds last year and is settling in nicely at Millennium. Bird was by far the hardest and longest audition in terms of dance. They all say that they are looking for potential but it would be crazy to audition with no dance skills. You have dance skills, so why not try? If you audition later on in the year you have a good few months to get your confidence up in ballet, which you will need (dd has ballet every day). They don't look at what dance exams you have, it's how you do on the day. With regards to the sports bra, my DD bought a lovely one in the sales at Victoria Secret, wore it under a plain black leotard, so just the top part showed and it looked like part of the leotard. So many people asked her where she had bought her leotard as it looked so pretty that she got sick of explaining that it was a sports bra under the leotard! :lol: :lol:
Thankyou ! did your daughter tell you what the bird audition involved? I really would love to apply but I'm unsure if I could meet the audition standard
Robin64
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by Robin64 »

Hi
Bird do some short courses including a pre voc in musical theatre or try one of the audition preparation days that some of the colleges do. The Scottish conservatoire does a musical theatre degree which looks good but I think it helps if you play an instrument for their auditions. It is hard to know if you are going to get in before trying an audition but you are doing a fair amount of dance so I think you should try it. A good singing voice can get you through round one of GSA audition.
Don't worry about age, you are fine and lots of people go at 18 or older. There is a free year's course at Bodens for 18 or 19 year olds if you didn't get in straight away so maybe could be an option? My DD did the audition rounds this year and got a foundation course - the auditions are pretty tough but they do look for potential so you never know. If you are coming a long way try and book some auditions close together to save travel and accommodation costs if you can. You also need certain grades for some courses eg GSA
You can get a really nice leotard with built in bra called bratek and very discreet dance bras with clear straps - you can find them online.
For auditions it is good to have a black leotard and a coloured one. Some colleges favour more make up than others too. There is lots of advice if you look through past years threads on here or post and someone will help you. Try to keep up your ballet if you can but don't worry if you haven't got certificates. You will have ballet in auditions though.
Robin64
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by Robin64 »

Bird is a full day audition - dance including ballet and jazz plus singing and acting so you need a monologue. You need to send photos in 2 ballet positions when you apply.
jennifer1972
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by jennifer1972 »

scottishdancer00 wrote:
jennifer1972 wrote:Hello and welcome. You have definitely come to the right place. How good is good enough is the question we all ask ourselves. The only way of finding out is to go along to a few auditions and see what the outcome is. My DD did the rounds last year and is settling in nicely at Millennium. Bird was by far the hardest and longest audition in terms of dance. They all say that they are looking for potential but it would be crazy to audition with no dance skills. You have dance skills, so why not try? If you audition later on in the year you have a good few months to get your confidence up in ballet, which you will need (dd has ballet every day). They don't look at what dance exams you have, it's how you do on the day. With regards to the sports bra, my DD bought a lovely one in the sales at Victoria Secret, wore it under a plain black leotard, so just the top part showed and it looked like part of the leotard. So many people asked her where she had bought her leotard as it looked so pretty that she got sick of explaining that it was a sports bra under the leotard! :lol: :lol:
Thankyou ! did your daughter tell you what the bird audition involved? I really would love to apply but I'm unsure if I could meet the audition standard
Yes, as someone else has mentioned, it was a whole day with singing and monologue in the morning for her group and ballet and jazz in the afternoon. The dance audition there was much longer than in some other places (DD was dancing for over 3 hours) and they expected you to pick up the routines very quickly, that's why if people go with few dance skills they would flounder. It is an impressive place, extremely busy with lots and lots of students. DD did like it there, got an offer but decided it wasn't for her. The area around it seems fine too, with a high st and train station close by. Why don't you apply for NYMT or YMT to try to get on one of their summer courses? The auditions will open soon across the country and it's a good way of comparing yourself to others, getting to know like-minded people and getting audition experience. If you get chosen there are bursaries to help out with financing the experience and colleges will accept this as professional experience, so it looks great when applying. Best of luck!!
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Caroline A-C
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by Caroline A-C »

DS went to Arts Ed and I don't think anybody in his year was under 18 - in fact there were a few who were already in their early 20's so don't worry about your age. DS was 19 when he started.
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theMTAonline
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Re: How to know if I have enough talent

Post by theMTAonline »

scottishdancer00 wrote:I must confess before I start I'm 17 and not a mum but someone looking to apply for musical theatre training this year. However, my mum must be the direct opposite of a 'stage mom' and can't help me in the process so I'm just looking for a bit of advice.
How much experience is needed to apply to the top colleges. I LOVE the look of laines,bird,italia conti but I'm so worried its too 'dancey' for my level of experience. I dance about 10 hours a week but this is only a recent development and a few months ago I was on two hours a week. I haven't sat any dance exams since I was about 8 , however, my dance teacher is very positive about me applying ( for musical theatre not dance) and is writing all my references for me. I have done so many short courses at RCS and have truly just hated the style of training being more focused around acting so I think applying to these singer actor courses aren't wise for me because even though its currently my strength I want to be dancing. I would say I'm about an intermediate level although maybe not quite as good as that - Am I crazy to be applying to these places ? How likely is it for a person to be accepted with singing as their main strength and a lack of dance experience ? My main worry is while I'm strong in jazz I have done virtually no ballet.

Also just a quick second question - I am planning on wearing a leotard to these auditions (which I will need to buy as its top and leggings at my dance school) I really can't away with no sports bra is it acceptable to wear a leotard to an audition with the sports bra showing ?

Thankyou!
Hi
Firstly check out our new #auditionfromhome feature . . . as that might give you a free place to find out the answer (or at least from our perspective. . . and we usually send people off in the right direction if we're wrong for you).

Secondly there's a huge myth about how young you need to be. If you want to work in Musical Theatre there are people working right now that are in their 80's/90's. No age is too old.

Thirdly - if you were brilliant in all three disciplines you wouldn't need training. All of us know that. The right college for you will be the one that can get all three disciplines equal. Not all colleges are about the Dance training first e.g. Mountview, GSA, Central, us. . .just a few examples of places that are not all about the high kicks!

Fourthly. We would all rather you wear a sports bra and be healthy, then cause yourself an injury.

Finally. Good luck - go for it
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