aesthetics for men

[tsavoie]

What do companies look for when hiring male dancers? We often hear about the girls and obviously it is different for the young men. Does anyone know? Also what age do the guys start seriously looking for jobs?

[Mel Johnson]

Guys start a desultory job search as early as 16. And the search starts in earnest as soon as they graduate from high school, or otherwise leave the education system. Men are usually qualified for employment by what the women in the companies look like. Are they tall enough to partner? In unusual cases, a very brilliant soloist may be hired for solo dancing alone, height or shortness being no object.

[dancersteven]

It has been my experience that men need to be able to do double everything (double tour, double saut de basque, double assemble etc.), as well as have a reasonably large amount of partnering and "modern" (aka non-classical) experience in order to have a chance to get a job, and to keep it. Beyond that, it has SO much to do with other things, like training style, height, luck, look, who you know, etc.

 

Most guys start looking seriouly for an entry level position in a company during their senior year of high school, and audition that spring will probably be for a position starting in August or September. That, of course, assumes that he started dancing at a younger age and feels he has completed his training at that point. If not there are several quality "post graduate" programs that will train a man intensively to prepare him for a company position.

 

Hope this helps!

 

S.