Casting Dancers - for the choreographer

Casting Dancers - for the choreographer

Finding the dancer that will represent your inner soul on a stage full of voyeurs is a very daunting task.  The dancer will execute your minds eye, which will show the audience exactly who you are with a particular musical selection. They will see how the music moved you and your capabilities as a choreographer. Your ability to set the piece on the dancer, offering him or her guidance on execution, emoting, staging will either rise or fall with the curtain.

Be sure to get a good nights sleep the day before the audition, and eat a high protein breakfast t help you from getting hungry, and keeping you full of energy and focus. A high nutrition shake with a protein shot is a great way to have a quick 2 minute preparation breakfast to go that will keep you rolling for at least four hours. For dancers only loves Shapeworks shakes, that are super high in macronutrients, delicious and flavor, and can be mixed up in 30 seconds in a blender to mix up flavors like: café latte, Dutch chocolate, pumpkin spice or custom shakes like white chocolate peanut butter cups or chunky monkey. Dump in a shot of personalized protein powder and you are good to go for hours without feeling sluggish or hungry.

Prepare an improvisational exercise. Improv is a great way to see different dancers interacting with each other, giving you opportunity to determine who may work well together. Also prepare a choreographed piece, no more than 32 counts, which best represents the project in which you are casting. You need to see that the dancers are capable at being successful with your project. You may have technical specifications, character specifications, acting or singing specifications that all maybe needed to be accounted for within your casting session, be sure to have enough material prepared to assist in decision making in the casting room.

During auditions, be sure to have a high protein snacks available for yourself and your dancers. Dancers may need a shot of energy at some point in order to perform exhausting combination repeatedly, depending on the size and technical difficulty of your audition.

Remember to look for dancers attitudes. Do they take direction, make corrections and able to sequence the progressions together quickly? How do they behave with the other dancers? Does the dancer have limitations or special abilities? Are they overly enthusiastic? Are they extremely talkative? Do they continue dancing after making a mistake? How is the attitude? If your project is not a top notch production such as a Boston Ballet performance, be sure to show your team you are concerned about choosing dancers who will bring positive energy to the project, so that it will be an enjoyable experience for all involved in promoting your piece.

You can teach anyone to dance your steps on a stage. You don’t want dancers who want to dance. You want to cast dancers who need to dance for their body and soul. You will find the emotionality of your piece will soar to places you could never imagine.