Auditioning for Sept 2019

[lyndahill]

I have been following this fab website and amazing post for so long and FINALLY managed to set up my account so I can post myself. The information I have gained from here during my DD’s journey has been invaluable, she regularly tells me I should write my own blog from everything I now know that a year ago I had no clue about. DD is 17, just finishing Alevels and has been through auditions at Urdang, Performers and Bird in January, Urdang was first and a tough no but she was so lucky to be offered Foundation at both Bird and Performers and has accepted Performers. We will have all this to go through again next year but hopefully she will have another year’s experience and learn all the tricks she found she was lacking this year.

Any info/help re Pre-Vocational at Performers would be appreciated but she absolutely loved the place so can’t wait to get started. Now just need to receive the accommodation info and I’m sure the panic will start all over again. DD currently has best friend going through her auditions so is appreciating how lucky she is to know where she is going. Didn’t realise at the beginning how stressful and tough it was all going to be but like I said, this thread has been a godsend!

My DD is on Pre-Voc at Performers - she loves it and says it is in some ways more challenging then the first year on 3 year course - she has seen some classes. The accommodation list won't come out until May and you need to jump on it immediately as host families go quickly as does good student accommodation. My DD and all of the Pre-Voc students have their auditions this coming week for the 3 year courses but there is no guarantee of a place so quite stressful again.
Well done to your DD - even the Pre-Voc course is difficult to get on to.x

[MygirlsloveMT]

I have been following this fab website and amazing post for so long and FINALLY managed to set up my account so I can post myself. The information I have gained from here during my DD’s journey has been invaluable, she regularly tells me I should write my own blog from everything I now know that a year ago I had no clue about. DD is 17, just finishing Alevels and has been through auditions at Urdang, Performers and Bird in January, Urdang was first and a tough no but she was so lucky to be offered Foundation at both Bird and Performers and has accepted Performers. We will have all this to go through again next year but hopefully she will have another year’s experience and learn all the tricks she found she was lacking this year.

Any info/help re Pre-Vocational at Performers would be appreciated but she absolutely loved the place so can’t wait to get started. Now just need to receive the accommodation info and I’m sure the panic will start all over again. DD currently has best friend going through her auditions so is appreciating how lucky she is to know where she is going. Didn’t realise at the beginning how stressful and tough it was all going to be but like I said, this thread has been a godsend!

My DD is on Pre-Voc at Performers - she loves it and says it is in some ways more challenging then the first year on 3 year course - she has seen some classes. The accommodation list won't come out until May and you need to jump on it immediately as host families go quickly as does good student accommodation. My DD and all of the Pre-Voc students have their auditions this coming week for the 3 year courses but there is no guarantee of a place so quite stressful again.
Well done to your DD - even the Pre-Voc course is difficult to get on to.x

Thanks, I agree with it being hard to get on the Pre-Voc so I think we have convinced her how amazing she has done to get on 2, obviously she was disappointed not to be offered a degree place but thankfully (due to an inheritance from her grandad) she is in a position to fund this course and admits now that she probably has more to learn to be up to the dance standard of some auditionees who could flip and leap in positions that made my DD’s jaw drop lol.

Good luck to your DD this week for her audition, not looking to all that again next year!

[Chelsie68]

Really interesting to read your experiences, MygirlsloveMT. Although my daughter is fixed on the idea of Perfogmers, I have s feeling it’s not going to be for her - her dance is fine and she absolutely loves it, but not outstanding and she’s definitely not acrobatic. Singing is her strength, so I think she’ll need to look for somewhere where that is more of a focus. Hopefully summer schools will help her to find somewhere that’s the right fit for her.

[MygirlsloveMT]

Really interesting to read your experiences, MygirlsloveMT. Although my daughter is fixed on the idea of Perfogmers, I have s feeling it’s not going to be for her - her dance is fine and she absolutely loves it, but not outstanding and she’s definitely not acrobatic. Singing is her strength, so I think she’ll need to look for somewhere where that is more of a focus. Hopefully summer schools will help her to find somewhere that’s the right fit for her.

Summer Schools are great if you can afford them, my two went to Urdang and that was our summe holiday, hubby and I had a fab time looking around London while they were there, we only had to buy 2 of everything, it was great! This made Urdang the place my DD wanted to go but after the audition she wasn’t sure as she said they didn’t seem very organised (hubby agreed) but it was a no anyway. Bird she did really like too but she just fell in love with Performers, I guess they know don’t they? When she got cut on the day she thought that meant a flat no and burst into tears on the way home so was beside herself when she got the offer 2 days later.

It’s such a tough time for them and more so when they have friends going through it too and some get better offers than others. DD is a very good at everything but not exceptional at anything (if that makes sense) but as you said, my DD is not acrobatic at all and she felt this was really missing. Youngest DD has only just turned 14 and has now joined an Acro class so she has the benefit of hindsight!

[Chelsie68]

Dd is only 13, so we’re really thinking ahead (not good at quick decisions). She is hyper mobile, but not in any of the joints that are useful to dancers! She has very hyper mobile toes, fingers, ankles etc. In order to keep upright, she has to hold her muscles in her legs very tight and so her hamstrings tend to shorten. In order to do the splits she has to stretch and do physio exercises conscientiously every day. If she leaves them for a while, the muscles tighten up again. She gets very disheartened! Acro is never going to be her thing!

[Chelsie68]

I’m a single parent, so there’s definitely no summer holiday this year, in order that she can do Easter course at Master’s, Summer school at Performer’s and another Summer week at West End Stage

[Pearl]

Although tricks and flips look impressive in the real world of musical theatre are they really necessary!!!
My dd has left Urdang now and is working! She has never once been asked if she can trick in an audition so I wouldn’t get too hung up on it if it’s not your child’s thing! After all it’s dance not gymnastics!

[2dancersmum]

Wanted to echo Pearl's comment about flips and tricks and that it is dance not gymnastics. My DD graduated from a level 6 trinity diploma in 2015 and has been working as a professional dancer ever since. She has never been asked in an audition or required in a show to do anything more than a cartwheel and I'm not aware of any of the girls doing any flips or tricks in any of the shows she's done. The cartwheel seems to be necessary for shows including the can can. Boys however often seem to have some tumbling involved - again for the can can but elsewhere too.

[MygirlsloveMT]

I was only talking from my daughters’ point of views, my eldest who has been auditioning can’t even do a cartwheel and has never been overly flexible, her dance school concentrated more on the dance and less on the flexibility! Joining Acro since has helped her master a cartwheel and her flexibility which is helping her in her leaps so this is the angle I’m coming from. She found in the improv part of the dance audition that she didn’t have much to do to impress them and this is when she found everyone was doing their aerials or amazing split leaps and my daughter couldn’t. I’m not saying at all that you NEED to be able to do flips etc but when you watch the groups at Move It this is what a lot of them seem to be doing. Having said that, my DD managed to get a Pre-Voc place without Acro so it’s obviously not the be all and end all, just the area my daughter is lacking in. And hey, she’s also made friends with a lot of 10yr olds in the Acro class she joined, they love her

[Fullmoon]

I remember my DD being really concerned at her lack of flexibility when we were going through the rollercoaster that is auditioning Now, in her 1st year full-time she has rapidly learnt and realised that much more important than flexibility is strength and stamina. A great deal of time and emphasis is given to this, and it is through this that her flexibility has improved to a level that is right for her body. Those that are ‘blessed’ (in some people’s mind and opinion) struggle a lot more with both injury and control. Like everything else, it’s a balance.

[JayLou62]

Just to add that Summer Schools can be great but won't affect the end result. When my dd auditioned she had never done any Summer Schools except local Ballet ones. She also didn't do A levels or BTECs. From age 16-18 she went to a local private dance college and danced full time in her first year and then did a part time pre-voc and part time at dance college in her second year. She auditioned for 6 colleges and gained 5 Diploma places (she didn't audition for degree) and 1 foundation offer. She graduates this year.
Her favourite whilst auditioning was Laine but although she got a place, she wasn't successful in getting funding. She's been really happy at the place she chose to go to (she had 4 DaDA offers).
She has never done acro or gymnastics. She passed Advanced 2 ballet with distinction at 18 and was taking Advanced 1 Jazz and Intermediate Tap. At her dance college she did classes in flamenco, silks, ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, commercial, lyrical, singing and acting.

[Hilltop]

Apologies for jumping in here, my DD is 13 and is of the flexible, slim type. She has been told that she is hyperflexible and has had a few minor issues with various joints, etc. I do have concerns about this and I worry about injury and stamina/strength when she (hopefully) does dancing in full-time training later on. Do any parents of similar children have any tips about how she can get around this or prepare her body? Will the schools be able to support/advise her in this at all later on??

[Chelsie68]

Thanks for all the advice - she is never going to be a gymnast, although she can always increase her flexibility!

[MygirlsloveMT]

I agree Chelsie68, it is good hearing that all this doesn’t matter and can be learnt later, will certainly encourage my DD and I’m sure she will learn so much in her Pre-Voc year.

[Littleone]

Hi All - the posts re tricks etc are interesting -my feeling ( as very much a newbie to all this ) is that the colleges seem to be looking for a range of different skills/talents . My DD is doing A levels and attends her local dance school ... she has done v little singing and no acting Happily she has had some success auditioning this year and we feel this must be based on her dance ! She has done a lot of ballet but when she was younger also did a lot of gymnastics and still retains the ability to tumble having been taught over a number of years. She has been encouraged to show these 'skills/tricks' at audition and I can only think they are viewed as an 'added extra' and maybe make up for her lack of experience in other areas ! It is interesting to hear that post graduation, auditionees are not asked for tricks as the colleges do seem to give the opportunity for it in their auditions !
My daughter is lucky to have had sensible gymnastic training where strength was very much the focus aswell as flexibility and I wonder if practising gym skills/tricks without the 'background' training is more likely to lead to injury ?
So while I certainly don't think that tricks are necessary, in our case I suspect they have helped DD and its been v encouraging to hear that colleges give offers to people with a whole variety of skills / experience !

Good Luck to everyone still in the process and congratulations to those with offers since I last posted !