MY FIRST JAZZ AUDITION
PRE AUDITION SHOT WITH ELLA…
This was the first audition that I completed and I had a huge amount of contrasting emotions throughout this experience. This was an incredibly last minute trip, however, the spontenouety of it distracted me from getting pre-audition nerves for days in advance. I decided to book a train ticket to Devon the morning before we left, and booked the hotel on the train which was a very pivotal moment in the weekend. It really made me question how much planning auditions need. In the future, I will try to have more time to plan in advance, in turn, eliminating the stress of travel and other arrangements, allowing me to focus solely on the audition in front of me.
We arrived the night before, meaning when we got to the hotel, we prepared our bags ready for the morning and had a few giggles which distracted us from any anxieties we had about the audition. Before getting into bed, I had to upload my audition music onto a USB stick whilst in the hotel room as I hadn’t yet had time to do this. As this was so last minuet, I began to worry but I was incredibly thankful for Ella who helped calm my nerves and make sure I had done it correctly.
The next morning, we woke up early to give ourselves time to get ready without the worry of being late. We chatted over a cup of tea whilst doing our make up, discussing how we were expecting the experience to turn out. Being ready, we went to have breakfast which we were able to have with time to spare as we tried to plan how we would geet to the venue. We decided that a taxi would be the fasted and most direct transport, however we arrived extremely early as it didn’t take as long as we had originally thought.
When we arrived, we were shown to a waiting area where we were able to prepare and chat to fellow dancers who were auditioning also. This made the experience feel hugely more relaxed and later on made it very enjoyable when we were watching each other dance, and cheering each other on.
We began the audition with the director of the agency giving us a talk about what they do and what they are looking for. This was presented in a very relaxed way and we were able to ask any question we had prior to starting the audition process. We then started with our 2 minuet solos that everyone had to do individually, showcasing personal strengths. We had to perform these on a carpeted stage infornt of the other auditionees and the panel of judges so my nerves were heightened at this point. The carpet initially threw me off as I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to perform my routine to the highest execution having only practiced on a sprung floor. However, I soon got use to it and was able to hide my nerves and channel any other feelings I was experiencing through my dancing. Being able to see Ella perform her solo made me extremely proud as I was able to watch her hard work pay off. Knowing that she was in the audience when I performed made me feel very comfortable as I knew there was a familiar face to push me through the nerves.
Moving onto the second part of the audition, we had to sing a solo. I was extremely worried about this part as I haven’t had much experience with singing in front of an audience. From watching people in front of me, I decided that it was very important to keep moving when on stage and to not hold the mic to close to your mouth as it created a muffled sound. I was very fortunate to have people highlight these issues so I could learn from the experience before I had to sing myself. Contrasting from my previous thoughts, knowing Ella was in the audience made me have increased anxiety at this stage. I think this was because her opinion matters to me and as i wasn’t as confident with singing as dancing. Therefor I was concerned I would mess up in front of her, even though i knew she would be supportive regardless. Despite this intense fears, I was pleasantly surprised with how this part of the audition went and extremely proud of myself for pushing out of my boundaries.
Moving onto the third part of the audition, we all learned a short jazz piece which we later had to perform in smaller groups. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the audition as we were able to show our individuality as well as showcasing proper technique. When performing it in small groups, I found that there was often times were i forgot the exercise due to nerves and having learned it very quickly. However, I feel as though the performance qualities that i coincided with correct technique masked any mistakes made.
To conclude the audition, we had individual interviews were we were able to tell the director why we wanted the job and how we believe being a part of their agency would benefit our career. This was, again, very relaxed and we got to have a friendly chat about our personal lives to show the director what we were like as a person, not just a dancer.
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and was very grateful that my first audition was relaxed and enjoyable. I have learned many things from this process such as needing more time for planning and preparation, as well as techniques to manage my nerves. I will continue to audition with these aspects in mind and hopefully continue to have supportive friends by my side throughout the audition season to make it even more enjoyable.