The Road to Audition

Finding a Career in Professional Dance

hate auditions. Within only a few hours—or even a few minutes—directors and choreographers can make you feel worthless.” These words from a graduating senior in the University of Utah’s Ballet Department sum up the feelings of many young dancers across the country who are trying to break into the world of professional dance. Now is the time of year when ballet, modern and jazz dancers are racking up their frequent-flyer miles or embarking on seemingly endless road trips to attend auditions for professional dance companies or jobs in musical theater.

Earlier this semester, many dancers in the ballet and modern dance departments, the majority of them seniors, mailed dozens of audition packets containing resumes, glossy 8” by 10” black and-white photos and videos with classroom, rehearsal and performance clips to companies all over the United States and Europe. Many companies encourage dancers to send these audition packets as a preliminary audition, before the dancer spends a significant amount of money on airfare and hotel rooms to do an in-person audition. It is a cheaper form of rejection, but being rejected by mail isn’t any less painful than being rejected in person. (Yours truly sent out about 10 audition packets, only to be rejected outright by seven companies—so far.)

During breaks between classes and rehearsals, ballet majors can be found pacing the hallways of the Marriott Center for Dance, calling company managers on their cell phones to schedule auditions. Or they are in the computer lab researching companies on the Internet, updating their resumes or writing cover letters. During the Fall Semester of their senior year, all ballet majors are required to take a Job Search Seminar that provides guidance on preparing résumés, cover letters and photos as well as requiring participation in mock interviews and the creation of an audition video. The dancers are also given the opportunity to do a photo shoot to get full-body dance photos and headshots.

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