Falling at an audition

[notathome]

I've been lurking for awhile and this is my first time posting so I hope I'm doing it right. My DD just called, very sad. Towards the end of an audition for a prestigious college program she fell flat on her face. I think she finished the audition (the story was a bit jumbled), but now she's sure she won't be accepted. My question: Is falling (hard!) at a college audition fatal to your chances of acceptance?

[Momof3darlings]

It is not as important as what they saw her do before the fall and after it. One would assume it would show is that she was "going for it". Good luck to her!

[vagansmom]

My daughter fell at a college dance audition and still was accepted; in fact, she won their dance scholarship. She also fell really hard at a cattle call type audition for Sacramento Ballet (they stopped the audition to see if she was alright), and was one of two female dancers, out of over 100, kept through to the end and asked to send in more info.

 

I agree with Mo3D: It's what you do before and after that count. MANY artistic directors love it when dancers go all out and take chances. I think it depends on why you fall: if you're dancing full out, that's great, if you're dancing tentatively when you fall, then that could be the cause of the fall, and wouldn't be looked on as a good thing. And sometimes there's just the dumb luck of a bad floor or collision with another dancer, or trying to avoid a collision with another dancer. AD's understand all that.

[notathome]

Thank you both for your quick and cheering responses.

[pal]

My daughter had an unfortunate cd/music issue at a well-known college conservatory program, her solo piece required her to be ready on pointe as the music started. The auditioneer's cd player had a strange delay, so the music didn't start right away. The auditioneer (while my daughter was still waiting on pointe for the music) began talking to her that maybe she brought the wrong CD with her and my daughter came off of pointe thinking they turned the CD player off when suddenly the music began. However the auditioneer just sat down and waited for her to begin dancing. She was completely off the music and even improvised by eliminating the number of turns she did, etc. to try to dance with the music. But she continued on as if nothing was amiss. After the audition she came out and announced to me that without a doubt she would not be accepted as her audition was a complete disaster and they must think she has no idea of how to dance.

 

Well she was very surprised to receive an acceptance 2 weeks later. My feeling was that they had already seen her technique during the class portion of the audition to select her as one of the dancers to perform a solo in the first place and it was obvious that she was unable to begin her piece as planned - so it turned into a test of her ability to perform under poor conditions, was this a dancer that would be stopped dead in their tracks during a performance snafu or someone who could perform to the best of her ability regardless of any difficulties. I don't think a fall during an audition affects their decision, rather it's what they see in the dancers technique and how they deal with the audition after the fall that counts.

[Guest giselee]

In my opinion, I don't think it will affect her chances at all! I fell flat on my face while going across the floor ALONE at an audition but I just got up and kept dancing, although was a tad bit embarrassed. I still was accepted to the program!

 

I agree with pal, I think they look to see if you recover and go on, and if you do, it just shows them you're that much stronger.

 

Good luck, I hope she's accepted!

[RaisingTheBarre]

I've been lurking for awhile and this is my first time posting so I hope I'm doing it right. My DD just called, very sad. Towards the end of an audition for a prestigious college program she fell flat on her face. I think she finished the audition (the story was a bit jumbled), but now she's sure she won't be accepted. My question: Is falling (hard!) at a college audition fatal to your chances of acceptance?

 

 

If it was in the Southwest, I was there, and it was NO BIG DEAL at all! She got right back up and kept dancing, and she was a beautiful dancer (I had noticed her earlier in the audition) and I really don't think it was a big deal at all. So don't worry!

[balletbooster]

Falling in auditions is not uncommon and absolutely NOT a deal breaker. If a dancer hits a slick spot, bumps into someone, over rotates, etc. a savvy auditioner can still assess their dance ability. These are common mistakes that can and do happen to anyone. Falls happen in performances by dancers all the time. Ask any pro dancer if they have ever fallen in a performance and you'll find out just how common this phenomenon is (including the very famous and most beautiful dancers)!

[notathome]

Everyone who replied was so kind that I thought I'd give an update. My dd received her acceptance letter to this program yesterday! You were all right. Falling on her face made no difference to a great outcome.

[dancemaven]

And a BIG Congratulations to her!!!

 

Once upon a time,as we non-majors timidly crossed the diagonal with a combination, our tap teacher said with great gusto: "If you make a mistake, make it BIG and with CONFIDENCE! That way everyone thinks you are the ONE who did it properly and it was everyone else who messed up." That one comment has stuck with me all these years--and in many situations other than a dance class--and has helped me not hold back despite my natural tendencies.

 

In reflecting upon her admonition, I realized that it is really so much more HOW one deals with mistakes than the fact that the mistake actually happened.

 

Brava to your DD! Thanks for letting us know how it all came out.