Auditioning for Sept 2019

[Mammamia]

Thanks 2dancersmum, jasmine, smallbythesea,lbm1 & marissa.
Emil Dale sounds good . I’ve been hearing some great reports about it .
She won’t qualify for DaDa so it will be bank of Mum & Dad all the way

[Itsastrangeworld]

My top tip would be to research everything you can about each college and course content. My DD is Adv 2 for tap, ballet and modern and she although didn’t want to specialise in these she still wanted to keep up with classes. Some colleges don’t have weekly tap or pointe classes so were rejected for auditions. In the end she auditioned at 5 which cost approximately £50 each with additional travel and accommodation on top which with funding recalls really added up. It’s also a time commitment!! If your DC knows what they’re looking for then I’d recommend being a little more strategic in your approach. Also, go with an open mind as our ‘top 5’ list certainly changed after the audition process!!
I hope this helps, as others have stated this forum is a godsend x

[Mammamia]

Many thanks itsastrangeworld!

[Scarytimes]

My dd is planning to apply to Laine , Urdang, Arts Ed, London Studio Centre, Bird, Performers, Mountview , MGA , Millenium, Bodyworks & Italia Conti.
Are there any others that she should consider ? She is a very strong singer and dancer particularly Ballet . Has had no formal drama classes apart from acting for musicals that she’s been in.
Do the colleges give out places soon after the audition or do they audition everyone over several months and then decide on successful applicants once everyone has auditioned ?

Wow! 11 is a lot. Please bear in mind that most have first rounds and recalls and some even have a third round I believe. That is a considerable commitment in terms of time, money, energy and sanity!

My DS did 6 auditions and had 5 recalls and 4 offers. The only one he did not on your list is GSA (where we hope he will end up) and in retrospect he wishes that he gave one of those a miss. My guidance for him at the start was don’t apply to any unless you would accept it if it was your only offer and we could afford it (at a push). It is easy to have hindsight though and I had no idea whether he was good enough to get a single recall when he started but he was adamant that if he didn’t get into one of the six he would try again next year rather than go to somewhere he didn’t really want.

I would also agree that the process turns your ideas upside down. One place he was sure he would love and would love him and that was the only non-recall. GSA he tried just for experience and didn’t dream he would like it or get a recall and now it is his firm favourite.

I would also echo that there is no consistency in terms of audition requirements, application process, personal statement length, form contents, audition day structure, time to reply, response method, recall process...

Basically you have to treat each one as a whole new experience and just reuse bits where you can. Hence my comment about sanity!

Examples - in the first round Mountview get auditionees into rooms X factor style to announce results on the day, Urdang took three weeks by email, Laine took three days by post, LSC took theee weeks before a short email and follow up letter, Arts Ed cut during the day, GSA updated their portal with the result after three weeks. Go figure!

[Mammamia]

That’s good to know Scarytimes. Thank you.

[Sherbert]

You certainly have plenty to be getting on with there!
At £50 odd per audition I was glad we only did 3
Have a little look at Trinity Laban too
Good luck to your DD
Xx

[Fullmoon]

With risk of repeating what others have said, 11 is a huge undertaking! Given the schools you have listed maybe you should consider going to the CDET conference as they’ll all be there under one roof and you can chat to them more about their course content. Your DD can also attend master classes and then you can watch performances by them all in the afternoon, which is a great way to see their style and standard. This might help you to focus and streamline which ones really are worth auditioning for....Good Luck

[Mammamia]

Thanks Sherbert and Fullmoon . She’s currently researching all these places in depth . Audition requirements etc so I have a feeling that she’ll be reaching her own conclusions soon with regard to what’s doable !!
In addition , she has other performances to do so she’ll be learning the art of prioritization pretty quickly ( I hope) .

[islandofsodor]

That is a lot.

If ballet is important to her then there are definately some colleges that place more emphasis on ballet.

Laine is one, Hammond is another (they also offer generous bursaries for those who don’t qualify for a DaDA.) Urdang, Bird & LSC should be on the consideration list too along with KS Dance & Northern Contemporary.

I would definitely recommend going to the CDET conference.

[Mammamia]

Thank you for that islandofsodor!

[lyndahill]

Gosh, 11 college auditions is a lot!! If your DD is happy to go to any of the colleges if accepted then go for it. I'd also recommend going to the CDET conference and on to the showcase in the evening. We went last year and it really helped my DD choose the places she wanted to audition at - all be it that she was only testing the waters so only chose 3 colleges to audition at and luckily got accepted at 2. Happy to say that she is off to Performers in September and from the conference and showcase and watching performances at Move It over the last 4 years, it became her favourite college.At the showcase on the evening of the conference day, I got her to rate each performance without looking in the programme so that she didn't know which college was which performing - it was very interesting to see at the end how she had rated each performance and choreography.

[Mammamia]

Many thanks Lyndahill. Big congratulations to your dd and I hope that she will be very happy there .

[islandofsodor]

Gosh, 11 college auditions is a lot!! If your DD is happy to go to any of the colleges if accepted then go for it. I'd also recommend going to the CDET conference and on to the showcase in the evening. We went last year and it really helped my DD choose the places she wanted to audition at - all be it that she was only testing the waters so only chose 3 colleges to audition at and luckily got accepted at 2. Happy to say that she is off to Performers in September and from the conference and showcase and watching performances at Move It over the last 4 years, it became her favourite college.At the showcase on the evening of the conference day, I got her to rate each performance without looking in the programme so that she didn't know which college was which performing - it was very interesting to see at the end how she had rated each performance and choreography.

The showcase was eye opening wasn't it?

[beanie-bean]

Gosh, 11 college auditions is a lot!! If your DD is happy to go to any of the colleges if accepted then go for it. I'd also recommend going to the CDET conference and on to the showcase in the evening. We went last year and it really helped my DD choose the places she wanted to audition at - all be it that she was only testing the waters so only chose 3 colleges to audition at and luckily got accepted at 2. Happy to say that she is off to Performers in September and from the conference and showcase and watching performances at Move It over the last 4 years, it became her favourite college.At the showcase on the evening of the conference day, I got her to rate each performance without looking in the programme so that she didn't know which college was which performing - it was very interesting to see at the end how she had rated each performance and choreography.

Congratulations to your dd lyndahill. My dd has just finished her 1st year at Performers College and she has really enjoyed it. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions Xxx

[Mammamia]

Thanks beanie-bean, will do . Well done to your dd. Performers is one of the places my dd is v interested in!