So yesterday I had the final rehearsal for the piece I'm setting on UW-Milwaukee dancers before they go off on a long winter break, come back, tech and to the show. So it was an important one. What did I do instead of running the piece 8 times? I spent a good amount of time (an hour!!!) talking to my dancers about what it's like out there in the real world of dance. I told them about how hard auditions are, the realities of Artistic Directors, the realities of pay, how much class and technique they actually need, and shady situations to avoid. They were like, "do you have any happy stories?".
I couldn't think of any. But I know I have a ton! They just didn't come to mind. But I did say I love what I do, couldn't imagine doing anything else, and if you love it, it's all worth it.
I did pass on what has helped me stay "real" about auditioning:
Becoming what you want to be - read the dancer bios of the companies you like. Do what their dancers did.
Filtering out "total embarrassment" auditions - Again, read the bios of the dancers before you audition for a company. If your background aligns with theirs, go for it. On the other hand, if your total dance background is 4 years taking Somatic-based modern as a BA at a small private liberal-arts college, don't buy a $500 plane ticket to audition for a company whose dancers all went to conservatory program for ballet and have at least one ballet company on their bio. Some companies are super helpful and cues like "bring your pointe shoes" on the audition notice (which would weed out those of us who don't use the damn things), and some do not. Do your research.
As it happens, I got turned on to another blog that has more dancer stories of the real world (probably happier than some of the ones I told them ;-). This shall be my way of balancing out the slightly dark stories with some good neutral to hopeful ones. Check it out and pass it on!
http://www.dancingwords.typepad.com/life_as_a_modern_dancer/
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