DanceLife Blog

Whether auditioning for Mary Poppins the Musical, Fame the Musical or any of the other abundant Australian productions this week, one thing is certain, few other industries ask as much of their job applicants as the entertainment industry demands of performers. High hopes end in disappointment for most auditionees in just minutes. "Thank you. That's all we need for today." is the dreaded kiss off performing artists hate hearing.

Recently, with the release of films like Every Little Step which documents the plights of audition hopefuls through the casting process of Broadway's revival A Chorus Line production, triple threat performers are winning the respect of people on a global scale.

Tonight Channel TEN's The 7pm Project reported on this week's Mary Poppins Auditions. "57 auditioned today. 5 got call backs". When asked "Can you tell when someone walks in the door if someone has it?", associate choreographer Geoff Garrat shared that he has an instinct, and that there's a part of him that gets a feeling about it. This gut feeling is exactly what can make or break an audition for the under prepared artist. I talk about how to overcome this in the Audition Guru workshops. It's important to pitch yourself inside the range of what the audition panel are looking for. What you wear has a massive impact on that. One of the key strategies we discuss at the Audition Guru workshops is, how to create an image that has you looking like you suite the show, without looking like you're desperately trying to look like you could step onstage to perform the show.

Unfortunately there's exceptions to many audition rules, and it's important to know which rules can be broken, and which must never be broken.

Keep training to bring you closer to your goals, and celebrate your achievements every day.

Tia Jordan
www.auditionguru.com
www.facebook.com/tiajordan
http://twitter.com/AuditionGuru

After several years of unreliable rumours, casting is finally under way for the highly coveted 50th Anniversary World Tour Production of West Side Story. As I visualise the 1994 - 1997 production of West Side Story I Dance Captained, my heart is filled with the perfume of mixed memories.

Being responsible for dancer casting and the maintenance of Jerome Robbins original choreography induced the most unbelievable growth spurt of my career at the time. Dancing that choreography is like going to your favourite place on Earth. You have to keep going for visits, and sometimes you cry when you leave. My chest still jumps with excitement remembering the score played by Australia's ace level musicians, with the scream of the horns as they played the intro to Dance at the Gym, and Dave Newdick's impossibly high F notes.

Work was like play with wonderfully spirited show folk like Penny my dresser, Billy ‘Mamma' Roach, and Ray Wilson in wardrobe, Kevin ‘Handbag' Hanily our company manager (RIP), the lovely VSO/ IMG producers, and a stunning cast including Caroline O'Connor, Marina Prior, Kelley Abbey, Sharon Millerchip, Leonie Page, Todd McKenney, Adam Marchant, and especially Penny Martin and Cameron Mitchell who both kept me laughing from dusk to daylight.

Those four years were a precious gift and I'd like to pay it forward now. Here's a head start to your audition preparation research. I warn you however, you are bound to fall deeply in love with this show as you become intimate with the material. So pucker up for some background loving. Shshs...this is just for you.

Jerome Robbins West Side Story choreography amped up a new standard of dance in musicals when it first played in 1957. The 2009 production, directed and choreographically recreated by Joey McKneely, honours Robbins' original choreography once more in a reinvigorated adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet inspired story.

Hopeful auditionees should prepare themselves dramatically for this dance audition, as well as familiarising themselves with the choreography if possible. "If you remove Jerome Robbins's choreography, you lose significant plot, storytelling moments, and you lose characterisation elements that are set in the dance," McKneely said in an interview with the NY Times' Julie Bloom. "It's rare that shows have dance as that kind of signature. It's the emotional glue."

West Side Story calls for a cast of quintessential Triple Threat performers and the Broadway creative team will come with incredibly high expectations of their auditionees. McKneely who worked closely with Robbins for 10 years before his death in 1998 attests that Robbins' felt the "choreography never changed for an individual - the individual changed. But what I learnt from him is so ingrained: Never accept mediocrity. Maintain your integrity."

McKeely has been uncompromising in his recreation of Jerome Robbins original choreography, and one would imagine he will be seeking absolute attention to detail in the audition. Style as well as steps are important. Try to get the nuances of the style. Practise them into your muscle memory now.

Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in the 1961 film version asserted: "I don't think [Robbins] was happy with a dancer unless their feet bled." When Robbins finally finished with the song Cool, the dancers burnt their battered kneepads outside his office.

Consider doing more for this audition than you've done before. Go the extra mile to train for this one. Mark Byrne, Natalie Bassingthwaighte's manager, recommends you "Train and work hard in your weaker ability areas, and you will be rewarded with better job offers"

Auditions take place in Melbourne and Sydney in November with a six month Australian tour set to kick off in Sydney in July 2010.

Join me for the Audition Specific Preparation Workshop focusing on West Side Story. Learn the original choreography and gain elite level insight into this show.

DATES AND VENUES

MELBOURNE -
Wednesday 18th November
9:30 - 3pm
The Space Prahan

SYDNEY
Monday 23rd November
2:30 - 8pm
City Venue TBC

Cost $99 cash on door, or $77 advanced sales

Email tia@auditionguru.com to book. Due to space restrictions there are limited places.

Tia Jordan, Audition Guru, are independent educational facilitators and are in no way associated with the producers of, or the show West Side Story.

By: Tia Jordan

Performers are passionate peeps and there's no doubt that anyone with a passionate heart and a mind for success will have rung up some major wins last year. You'll have taken stock of your 2009 experiences, income, health and opportunities, and now you're asking yourself, ‘How can I make 2010 even better?'

As you answer that important question, can you also put up that well trained arm of yours and say you have written down your 2010 life goals? What's that? You don't yet HAVE specific goals for 2010?

Don't worry. You are not alone. But if you do write your goals up, you are statistically much more likely to achieve them, increase your income, enhance your experiences, and bring your wishes to life. In fact if you have someone who you report your progress to, your success is dramatically more likely to happen... sooner!

The first thing I ask when people come to me for career coaching is ‘What do you want?'. " I want to be in Musical Theatre" comes the reply normally. Which makes sense seeing that's my specialty. It's from that starting point that I've helped many people get their foot in the stage door, as it were.

But one of the most important steps you can take in your career, is to design exactly the kind of lifestyle you want your work to interlace with. These lifestyle goals need to be specific and fun to create. Remember this isn't supposed to be a prediction. It's more like a target.

By now, many of you know my personal mission is to help as many people as possible reach their full potential and live the life of their dreams. So get ready to rip this gift below, and paste into your blog or facebook or wha-eva. It's especially for you, so be sure to use it please. You are welcome to share it with family and friends. Don't be tight. Share the love. That's the first step to getting what YOU want in life.

The 4 Moves to More - Tia Jordan's gift to you

Move #1. Prepare To Win. Put your favourite up beat music on - something that juices you up. Stand up and feeling FANTASTIC put a smile on that dial of yours! Dance if it increases how AMAZING you feel. Now you're in touch with what really matters and what you really want.

Move #2. Get Clear. Feeling AMAZING ask yourself: What do I want for my career? What job opportunities? What challenges? In what areas of the industry? Ask questions like: Who do I want to work with? For what kind of income? Where in the world? Now write those answers up.

Move #3. Storyboard Your Future. The brain organises in pictures and symbols. So a picture really does says a thousand words to your mind. Go through magazines or the internet to find pictures that remind you of the goals you've written up. Create an inspiring montage on your favourite coloured cardboard by pasting the pictures on it in a way that makes you excited when you look at it. Glue at least one pic of you into the montage so you feel connected to the goal.

Move #4. Give Thanks. Be grateful for your future like it's already happened. Give thanks to a higher power. (eg. your angel, your creator, the universe)

The Secret Move #5. I absolutely believe in the law of attraction, like in that film and book The Secret. But that's only ONE of thousands of laws. Use the law of Cause and Effect too. The ACTIONS you take(or don't take) CAUSE a RESULT or EFFECT. Meet your angel guides half way, and TAKE ACTION TOWARDS ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS. Goals won't show up by looking at your storyboard alone.

For more information about Tia Visit www.auditionguru.com

Tia is running her successful Scene It! Believe It! Live It! Workshop on Sunday 21 February. Get all the info HERE! Register today, places are limited.

By Tia Jordan

Last month a young aspiring triple threat actress asked me this question at
a NIDA Musical Theatre intensive: "If I go for a role in a film, TV show, or musical, and hundreds of others are going for the same role, how do I make the casting team remember me?"

Wanna know what I said? I said exactly what all experienced teachers would say - I go "That's a very good question". (We say that to buy time while we figure out the answer.) But in all seriousness, it was a golden question. And her success, and your success is dependant on being able to answer it.

Here's what I told her next ...

The answer is presence. Most people are worried about WHO, when they go into an audition? Yes! They are focussed on themselves, worrying about what they look like, how their hair is holding up, what they sound like, and whether or not they are doing a good job. People actually stand in self - judgement like an observer. How present can you be to other people (i.e. the audition panel) when you are virtually watching YOURSELF?

In order to cultivate your x factor, shine your star quality, or be THE ONE, you must have complete presence ... always. That's, kind of, the point of presence. To be present in the NOW... ALWAYS. Because NOW is ALWAYS here.

Presence means noticing what's going on in any moment, from your perspective, looking out to the world. So instead of thinking about the past, or the future, or how others perceive you, you notice what is going on for others, and what is being said - without necessarily judging what any of it means.

Presence also describes the effect of noticing how you feel in each moment and being OK with it, even if that feeling is debilitating nerves...argh! This presence is one of the greatest skills we can have as performers. This skill is also known by the term ‘Confidence'.

Presence doesn't run away from its nerves, or it's insecurities. Presence sits with whatever is going on inside. Choreographers are infamous for saying ‘no...not that way'. (I know this because I do it almost every day.) The most wonderful people to work with are the ones who respond with "OK then, how about this, this, or THIS?" as they demonstrate some new ways of executing the movement. This kind of presence and resilience is what our industry, and it's employers ache for.

You already know the names of hundreds of experts at this because guess what? - many of them are famous! Being expert at this means people want you in their projects, and are willing to pay top dollar.

But being present isn't always easy. In every day life there are TV, mobile phones, email, Twitter, Facebook, homework, rehearsals, meetings, and literally hundreds of other distractions competing for your attention all day, every day of your life.

In an audition you've got a room full of strangers watching you. There are new lines to deliver, new lyrics to sing, and perhaps even an actor with whom you're expected to do a love scene (even though you've never met each other before but whose face is familiar because they happen to be a national household name). No pressure there!

The antidote? It's SIMPLE. Be interested in the people you are with...yep, even the strangers on the audition panel, who are freaking you out. Do your audition preparation research and work, and then forget YOU when YOU walk into the audition room.

Instead of thinking "How can I hide my nerves from these people?" Ask yourself "How can I feel happy about being exactly as I am?" And "I wonder how THEY are feeling right now?"

Hurry to register for the Audition Workshop - Hairspray Focus for an opportunity to get more star quality, more presence, more x factor, more WORK!!! This workshop is being repeated following the recent success of the last ones in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Central Coast. If you missed out before, please don't miss out again.

Click Here for workshop details!

BY TIA JORDAN

Australian dancers are known for their excellent training and ‘hard work' ethic. The reward? Aussies have been gigging the world including LA, Broadway, and London's West End for decades.

Clearly we're blessed to have a country full of passionate teachers in the cities and rural areas, who have been well trained themselves, and who are committed to passing on their skill and love for the craft.

Why then do some people get gig opportunities, while others with exactly the same training miss out? Hmmm?? Most people are loath to admit the questions they have about this frustrating situation... [Insert thought bubble here] "Umm am I too X, or not enough Y, and basically do I just suck at this?!!"

The truth is it takes a winner's mindset to endure the training you've already come through on your road to being a pro dancer. If you didn't have a strong success psychology to start with, you simply would have dropped out miles back. So forget your limiting questions. Those questions are what suck! Instead ask yourself how you can benefit from the following ideas.

See most people are focused on discovering a great big groundbreaking difference that will win them the career of their dreams. What's required though is rarely huge and obvious. Instead it's the subtle nuances that will put you on the path to a future so bright you'll have to wear shades!

Put it this way: Have you ever watched an elite sporting race final like in the Olympics? The winner gets the medal, their national anthem played, product endorsements worth millions of dollars, TV gigs, and they'll be loved forever as a national hero. But think about it, there's often no more than a few nano seconds between first and second place. That's the nano nuance you need to discover to be a winner in your circle. That nuance is the difference between being excellent and being extraordinary!

So if you want to make your training pay you in dream job opportunities there are a few tips I recommend:

1. Be a dance artist - Style is becoming a forgotten art. Often the emphasis is on amazing hip hop moves, classical technique, and athletic acrobatic tricks. All of these are important elements to study for sure! However dancers risk becoming stylistically stuck because time is not invested in getting cross genre styles into their body. Those who can switch gears from the innovative 2010 ‘feels' to the class of the 40 ‘s styles, for example, will endure and be the most valuable dancers on agents' books.

2. Be a dance-ologist. Dynamics is a mystery to most dancers - but even worse, they don't realize it. The way you interpret time will have a MASSIVE effect on how watchable and dynamic your dancing is. Time precision is an absolute must. Use your ears first and then your limbs. And work with a time cop teacher (there are a lot of us out there) to test your musicality, and condition in exciting dance habits.

3. Be a beginner again. The one thing that is most likely to stop your raging success is being unable to step back into the shoes of a learner. Once you're accomplished at something it can be hard to see the tiny little lessons your teachers are wishing to illuminate for you. And it's doubly hard because often students are looking for the huge lessons like I mentioned before, when what is needed is almost unperceivable actually. This is when people plateau and eventually fall off track.

To be a nuance detective ask yourself questions like: What are they doing with their face, mouth, and eyes, breathing? Where is their weight? What part of the body do they lead from? How do they use time?

And remember no two people dance exactly alike so the great news is there are literally millions of ways to become extraordinary. So always put a little bit of your uniqueness into your work and ‘own' the choreography.

Go invest time working with experts who have already done or are doing what you want to do. There is a subtle difference between someone who knows the work in theory, and someone who has ‘done' the work in the industry. Be sure YOU make that distinction. And always have fun doing it!!

Please join me at my next Audition Guru workshops. Join the www.auditionguru.com newsletter and the Facebook Group. And be sure to visit the DanceLife Events regularly to keep in touch with what's going on near you.

Check out Audition Guru's next workshop for Rock Of Ages HERE.

With the FAME and MARY POPPINS AUDITIONS coming up next month it's really important that you're prepared. I was chatting with an icon in the musical theatre world last week about auditions and how some performers go into an audition with a "if it's meant to happen, I will get the gig". He completely disagreed with this way of thinking and believes you are either under prepared or not right for the role. Why not get one of those objections out of the way before you walk in the door and be PREPARED. For this reason we have some information below about the workshops that Tia Jordan is running to assist performers who are going for Mary Poppins and FAME. If you want to make the most out of your audition check out Tia's workshop.

Tia's Point Of View (POV)
With SYTYCD auditions underway, and Fame and Mary Poppins auditions about to begin, October is shaping up to be an audition fest. It's a time of excitement, but for many performers there's no escaping the nerves and anxiety that go with it.

CONFIDENCE vs VULNERABILITY
The words and actions of accomplished people are like an elevator towards success . No-one needs be told the importance of confidence in our industry. But if you don't allow your vulnerability to shine you'll be stuck in the basement. Listen up below because the door to your success elevator is now open.

MAX LAMBERT, Musical Director on the upcoming FAME, is like an encyclopaedia when it comes to Musical Theatre. He really understands dancers' minds, and shared this exquisite jewel of information at the 2008 Audition Journey Workshop hosted by Audition Guru.

"Curiously, the more insecure people were, the more they gave of themselves. If you're bulletproof you miss out on giving the exchange. - Max Lambert

Tia's POV - As Triple Threats we are conditioned towards looking and sounding perfect. The problem is, most audience members don't really care about perfect people. And if the
audience doesn't care, the show won't work. My tip when auditioning for Max is BREATHE, big, deep, low breaths, (air is power to singers) and be YOU.

GENEVIEVE LEMON, who played Mrs Wilkinson in BILLY ELLIOT, is an instinctive genius of her craft. Here's a dollop of the delicious advice she offered at the Audition Specific Preparation Workshop hosted by Audition Guru in Melbourne in June 2009.

"Over confidence could be just nerves masked in another way. Everyone gets nervous. The trick is to acknowledge the nerves and perform your best in spite of them." - Genevieve Lemon.

Tia's POV - The world's most loved performers reveal their flaws, and the chinks in their armour. This is how we come to care about them. Be confident in your imperfections.

Cultivate powerful relationships with your peers but be careful about taking on their advice. Instead seek the help of mentors who are working experts in your chosen field.

AND have FUN! Chookas!

Tia Jordan

Audition Guru is hosting Audition Specific Preparation Workshops this week.

MELBOURNE
Saturday 26th September
Fame Focussed Workshop
ADULTS $57
2pm - 6pm

Sunday 27th September
Mary Poppins Focussed Workshops
KIDS $37
9:30 - 11:30am
ADULTS $77
12 noon - 5:30

SYDNEY
Monday 28th September
Mary Poppins Focussed Workshops
ADULTS $77
9:30 - 3pm
KIDS $37
3:30 -5:30pm

Wednesday 30th September
Fame Focussed Workshop
ADULTS $57
10am -2pm

DANCELIFE SAVING!!
Do both the Mary Poppins & the Fame focused workshops. Pay only $107 for
both & SAVE $67 ($174 full price***)

Please email tia@auditionguru.com for more information

Hairspray auditions are coming, and sooner than soon. This news is like many industry bites, unofficial. But we can officially state the following: Aussie performers have been cracking their wigs back in preparation for this audition for yonks. So if YOU want to be remembered by the audition panel, get cracking NOW.

The show is set in Baltimore, USA, in the early 1960s. There are roles for all types of people so if you'd like to shine in the audition, follow these foundational steps...

There are great coaches offering this kind of training all over Australia. Consider signing up for a workshop or lessons to get an edge, and sharpen up your skills before stepping into your audition. Right now you can:

1. Train for stamina. This show go go goes! You'll need to be physically fit to keep in the game.
2. Choose your songs NOW, and get your 16 bar, 32 bar and full length versions rehearsed with intro and outro. For details of singing teachers check the www.dancelife.com.au directory or email me on tia@auditionguru.com for teacher suggestions.
3. Work to a higher standard. Professional experience is not compulsory (everybody has their first job sometime). But showing you have worked harder to prepare than your competition is a must.

Statistics show less than 1% of auditionees will attend a specific preparation workshop. That's still more people than there are roles. But of those that attend workshops, approximately 5% *will be successful in being offered a role in the show. * Based on statistics from recent Audition Guru preparation workshops for West Side Story.

Be Prepared... SIGN UP FOR THE WORKSHOP!

AUDITION SPECIFIC PREPARATION WORKSHOP - HAIRSPRAY FOCUS
This independent one day workshop is designed to help you be more successful in the audition process for this and other shows. Your coach Tia Jordan who has been to Broadway to research HAIRSPRAY, will be your coach. Whether you intend to audition for HAIRSPRAY or not, this opportunity should not be missed by singer dancer actors.

Read all the workshop details HERE.