Scared to Death and Nervous

[Pirouette30808]

The Ballet Company affiliated with my ballet school is going to be holding open auditions for The Nutcracker in about a week. They are looking for about 100 children to fill the roles from Party Children, Angels, Candy Dolls and about a half dozen other parts . They are expecting more than 150 people to try out.

 

I think I maybe want to try out to see if I could get a part. Problem is, I'm deathly shy and get stage fright quite easily . There's a good chance I might get a part, but if I didn't I think I would be quite crushed and disapointed. I'm hoping to get over my nervousness and just try to be brave and do it.

 

Does anyone have any advice for me, any at all would help. Since Nutcracker season is coming around is anyone else thinking about auditioning? Does anyone want to share their own experiences with auditions?

[Mel Johnson]

Look at it this way: They're looking for 100 kids. They expect 150 at the audition. That gives you a 2 out of 3 chance to make it.

[Victoria Leigh]

It is a lovely experience to do a professional Nutcracker, so I think you should certainly audition! If you don't try something, you will never do it. You cannot spend your life not trying because you are afraid you won't make it!

[dancingforlifex3]

I'm a shy peson as well so I can relate! I've gone to open auditions before and what works best for me is to just look straight ahead at the back wall or at/around the judges. I just try not to look at all the other people in the audience and it makes me feel better.

 

 

Just do your best and smile! Good luck!

[Fairy]

I'm shy too but I remember that the judges don't know you and your personality. You have to show them the outgoing side of you and how much you love to dance. Relax, breathe, smile, and have fun! Since you're auditioning for Nutcracker, they will be looking for facial expression so show them what you've got! Merde!

[Pointeyourfeet]

Ballet is a fun way to pretend you aren't shy even if you are! Let how much you love to dance show in your movement and in your face!! (our ballet teacher just lectured us on this last Saturday)............ GO FOR IT!!! yay!!

[ems]

Act. I think that will work the best for you! That is what I did in my first few months of pointe work. All of the other girls were cringing of trying to hold back tears. I was just going accross that floor smiling! They later asked me why my shoes did not hurt. I told them about my drama class!

[Pirouette30808]

Thanks to everyone who replied ! The advice really helped, I never would have thought of the acting thing! I decided that I am going to audition and I'm going to act confident and pretend like I've auditioned a million times before. I'm really not expecting to get Clara or anything (although, if it did happen it would be an absolute dream!) I'm kinda hoping to be a party girl or russian maiden, although I would be quite happy being a mouse, soldier, or angel. My audition is later today so wish me luck !

[Pirouette30808]

Okay, so I'm back from the audition and it was absolutely horrible ! I messed up so bad! The audition was about 4 hours long (alot of it was wait time) and more than people showed up. I went in and I was put in the advanced group (which was a big mistake!) I'm not even advanced, at all! I guess by Dolly Dinkle terms I'm advanced but definitely not pre-pro advanced ! The people just told me to try because they said everything was easy .

 

First was some barre work which was so hard, I didn't know what I was doing . Then we did some center which had so many steps that I haven't even been taught yet. To make things worse, I kept going in the wrong group. I tried to do the work but I didn't know what I was doing and I ended up embarrassing myself so bad (in front of the artistic director, too). The people in charge I guess, took pity on me and let me sit out of a bunch of things. The girls and guys auditioning were nice to me and sympathetic, they knew I wasn't an advanced student. I felt like crying and leaving early, but I didn't.

 

I should have listened to my gut reaction when it came to the Nutcracker. I knew I wasn't ready and should have just concentrated on my technique . But, instead I was swayed by your responses and I thought I could do it. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. I feel so sad now because I got my hopes up that I could get a role and now I know I definitely can't. I'll get my results in the mail next week but I already know what it'll say, unless by some miraculous twist of fate they liked me . At least I learned something from the audition: I'm always going to follow my gut reaction to a situation now. If I feel I'm not ready for an audition then I'm probably not.

[Victoria Leigh]

It is too bad that they put you with the advanced group, pirouette. But, perhaps they realized that and still might have something for you with some part they were not looking for in this group. Do you have any idea why they put you in the advanced group? Are you too tall for the childrens' parts? You might be at that inbetween stage, where you are too old and too tall for children roles, and not advanced enough for the other roles. If so, just hang in there, and you will get your chance when you reach another level of technique.

[sugarplum239]

Come on Pirouette3808, I know that it was an awful experience and you feel horrible, but stay positive! If you chickened out this year, what about next year? and the next? its like riding a bike, if you fall off when your five, unless you need back on and try again, or else you'll end up sixteen and to scared to try again. If you let that happen, when it came time to join a company, you would be scared and never do it or mess up because you were so nervous. Make it or not, know that you tried your best and you took a chance, which is hard to do sometimes. I am truly sorry that it did not work out the way you wanted, but just wait, your time will come. Good luck!

[Pirouette30808]

To answer Miss Leigh:

 

I absolutely have no idea why I was with the advanced dancers. I'm quite small so I can still do just about any child role. Maybe they did have a certain role in mind for me, but after the performance I did there's no way they do now . My dance teacher was judging and she kept encouraging to do my best and not to worry about it, there's a possibility that she could have some sway with the other judges and come up with a small part I can do, but I'm not really getting my hopes up. I'm trying to forget about Nutcracker and just stay positive . I will certainly try again when I feel that I am ready . By the time December rolls around I think I'll be able to support the dancers that did make it and watch from the audience. I think that would be really fun .

 

To Sugarplum239:

 

If I had decided to not try out for Nutcracker this year it would NOT be "chickening" out at all ! I already thought I wasn't technically ready for it and my experience confirmed what I thought. I had already sent you a PM saying I wanted to concentrate on my technique this year and you still sent me a PM about "chickening" out and how 7 year olds could do it. You are not the same person I am therefore you do not know what I think or how I feel about anything ! You may think that you know how I feel and shrug off my experience as something awful and move on. But you are not the one who has to live with my experience, I am. I am the one who got humiliated in front of hundreds of people, a Professional Ballet Company, staff from the studio, the judges (including the AD), and various reporters and photographers who were allowed to cover the auditions ! Also, if I didn't do it you would still have no right to call me a "chicken" however childish that expression is. The choice was mine and you have no right to pass judgment on me. When the time comes for me to join a company I will know that I am ready emotionally and my technique will be at the company level. Sorry if I come across as somewhat harsh or overreacting, but that is just how I feel right now.

[Mel Johnson]

Now, now. Something is immediately obvious if they were dividing groups by height: They are trying to fill costumes. Not knowing anything about the production you're trying for, I can't tell you much more than that. It's one way of sorting out people and making audition groups smaller, but tough on the the auditionees, because the agenda behind the sorting method is not apparent.

[Pirouette30808]

Sorry , if I forgot to mention but they weren't dividing us by height of anything. The guidelines for trying out said that you couldn't be shorter than a specific height because you would be too small and you couldn't be taller than a specific height because then you would be too big.

 

This was an open audition, so people from all over showed up. The studio was so crowded with parents and auditionees. You had to be a certain age to audition and you also had to have a certain amount of years of ballet to audition. We were split up by technical ability. Like the little pre-ballet students were all together, the beginners were together, the intermediates were together, and the advanced group was together.

 

I told them that I thought I was put in the wrong group , but they just said that it was very easy and to do my best. So the pre-ballet auditionees had the easiest audition and just had to do a few simple arm and leg movements and the advanced auditionees had the hardest audition and (of what I remember) had to do difficult barrework, petit and grand allegro, small and big jumps, some excerps of a few roles, and pirouettes and fouettes. They only said the directions once and demonstrated once, although I had to ask multiple times what we were supposed to do. But, I never quite caught on and I didn't know half the steps. All the advanced people though it was very easy and I was like the only one who never learned these steps yet. It was so embarrasing !

 

* Thank you to everyone who has replied to my posts. Also, thank you to everyone who's letting me vent here, it's making me feel so much better. I'm sure that in a while my situation won't seem as major to me as it does now. I love how this board can let you say what you need to say about anything ballet.

[Mel Johnson]

Well, whatever the casting decision, you seem to have found an appropriate goal for a student dancer - to become as well-grounded technically as possible. And furthermore, you seem to have reached this conclusion by yourself. That's a good thing.