Not even a month into the Flare semester calendar, and we're already holding auditions! Gosh, we're busy. :P
While this week's classes are going to be focused on casting for our upcoming Night Market and Cocktail Night performances, feel free to still treat them as casual classes and support those who are auditioning!
And for those who plan to cast, and especially those who are new to Flare / auditions, here are a few tips from regular Flarians, the committee, and choreographers. Hope these help! Good luck. :)
While this week's classes are going to be focused on casting for our upcoming Night Market and Cocktail Night performances, feel free to still treat them as casual classes and support those who are auditioning!
And for those who plan to cast, and especially those who are new to Flare / auditions, here are a few tips from regular Flarians, the committee, and choreographers. Hope these help! Good luck. :)
- Don't be shy to ask the choreographer questions! (It shows you've taken the time to reflect and practice, which means a lot to them). They're not there just to teach you choreography and clean it up for the performance, they're also people who can help you improve aspects of your dancing in the long term, and people who can support you as you continue to develop in dance.
- Ask others about the choreography too, if you want another opinion. Met some new people in the class? Maybe even practise together! More minds means more perspectives, more feedback, more ideas, more support, more friends. :D
- Pay attention to what the choreographer's priorities are in casting. If they make a long text post or go on a long train of thought in class on what they're looking for, don't tune out. This is for your sake! Do they want more expression? Individuality? Timing? Technique? Or your commitment? Then focus on these areas. (But don't forget the rest!)
- Practice. And film yourself practising too. Sometimes, what you think you look like isn't the same as what the audience is actually seeing, so get a head-start on the choreographer's point of view (your audition will be filmed, btw), then compare yourself to the choreographer's demo, and tweak if necessary!
- When practising/drilling, don't focus completely on remembering the steps while forgetting about execution. You can save quite a bit of time (and energy) if you're regularly reflecting on how you can improve on the next run.
- Listen to the song a few times without practising, to get a feel of the musicality. The more familiar you are with the music, the easier it gets to know when to hit which beats in what style, which'll help with cleaning details of the choreography.
- What's musicality, you may ask? It's not always just dancing in time to the music. It's being able to understand the layers in the music (eg. bass, beat, melody, harmonies, adlibs, etc) and reflect them well in your performance, maybe by making some moves super sharp, others extra slow, some arms real big, and others more low-key. If you wanna read more, check this out too!
- Get enough sleep, or at least, make sure you have a good amount of energy. You'll most likely be performing the choreography at full energy more than once, maybe even with no breaks in between.
- Get your mind ready! Casting usually involves the rest of the class watching you and a few others audition- that's a lot of eyes on you. Don't stress, they're all fretting about their own auditions too. Figure out what makes you most relaxed and at ease to perform- is that engaging the audience to boost confidence, or just focusing on the music to stay in the zone, or something else?
- HAVE!! FUN!! In the end, this is a performance, and even if you don't think you've got the angles or the footwork or the timing right, believe in yourself and have confidence. Flare is an avenue for everyone- beginners or advanced dancers- to improve. Mistakes are expected. The choreographer will be there to help you get even better!
- If you do have a mind blank/make a wrong move during casting, don't worry, just groove or freestyle it out until you can catch up! People who can pick themselves up and move on, instead of giving up halfway, definitely stand out. Fake it till you make it is real.
- If you really think you could've done a lot better with your casting, but it's after class, don't forget that you can submit a video- as long as it's before the deadline.
- Ultimately, YOLOOOOOOO~
In the case that you don't make it into the final cast,
- IT'S OK!!! It may be frustrating and it'll probably hurt a little, but please don't feel too bad about it, and especially don't take it to heart. Keep in mind that the choreographer probably had quite some difficulty deciding who to let into the cast (especially if there were a lot of people auditioning), and that it can be a little frustrating and tough for them as well. Take this experience as an opportunity to grow and take what you learned from it to make future castings/classes even better.
- Ask for feedback. This is arguably the best part of casting, because the tips you get from this give you insight on what potential others see in you and advice from peers on how to get even better. You can even ask for the casting video so that you can watch yourself and reflect on how you felt during the audition, vs. how you feel now.
- You did well. Auditions are tough, and require quite some courage and bravery. Be proud of yourself and the effort you've put in to do this, regardless of the outcome!
- Don't stop. Your journey doesn't end because of a rejection, it only ends if you let it. Keep going, and try again soon!
Hopefully you got something new and useful out of these 900-ish words (Thanks for reading btw!) See you in class, and perhaps, see you on the stage~
(Tips paraphrased from Herson, Christine, Ashley I, Jericho, Kaeden, Witsqa. Thanks y'all!)