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Things to look for in a dance group
Elsewhere in this column I have urged young dancers to follow their interests and passions when charting a course in dance. If your aim is to perform with a group, you will be spending so much time in rehearsals that you want to make sure beforehand that: 1) you really like the work, and 2) you really like the people. There's nothing worse than that sinking feeling after you have committed yourself to a dance piece, when you realize that this just isn't your cup of tea after all. A common approach as an enthusiastic young dancer is to audition for every job that might come up. While there is inherently nothing wrong with this approach (especially if you are trying to pay the bills), you will find that you soon tire of being in work that you just don't believe in, or of spending long hours in cramped dressing rooms with people you just don't click with. So how do you go about finding the right fit for you? The answer is to start by 'grazing' as much as possible. Go see every local dance performance you can, and take note of the work you really like. Most choreographers and companies offer classes or workshops to the public: take as many of those as possible. Take as many technique classes as you can as well, and don't be afraid to branch our into new styles (tap? butoh? folk-dance?) or other artistic fields (drama? voice classes?) as well, since there are many choreographers who make interesting hybrids of performance work nowadays. As you continue your grazing, start to notice what kinds of things you particularly enjoy and are good at. High-energy acrobatic work? Abstract formalistic pieces? Dance theater pieces that use your acting skills as well? Do you like the opportunity to contribute choreography, or do you prefer to just be directed? Do you enjoy group pieces? Solos? Complex partnering with lots of lifts? Pieces to live music? Pieces to no music? The list goes on and on, because the range of work created under the auspices of "dance' is endless. Once you begin to understand what you really like, you can specialize more -- and once you have identified a few groups or choreographers whose work really floats your boat, you can become a 'groupie'! Take every class they offer, ask if they have internship possibilities, in general make yourself known as someone who is interested in what they do. I know a San Francisco choreographer who makes such fascinating pieces that many dancers would love to work for him. In the meantime, he has long since given up on running auditions. So how does he find his dancers? They are all people who have studied with him in workshops and residencies he has taught -- he feels that this is the only way he really gets to know a new dancer and to see whether he or she has the qualities and skills needed for the work. In my own experience, as a company director I once organized an audition, and the dancer we selected didn't work out in the end. In the meantime, a dancer we had passed over came to every class we offered, for months on end. She was just terribly interested in the work we did, and she gave us the opportunity to really see what a beautiful dancer she was and how extraordinarily she fit in with our dancers and our company's goals. In the end, we hired her rather than auditioning again -- and she has been an integral and indispensable member of the group for years. So do take the time to find a group whose work really fits your interests, values and goals. You'll be a much happier and effective performer if you do! "this is a manila site 2" "get acrobat" "get quicktime" Copyright 2008 TeachingArts.org |