<p>Just curious as to where the “year of short belters” came from. My daughter is one of those tall, leggy blue-eyed blondes. When we go to an audition we see a big mix of every shape and size, but what I try to look at is any current students at that school. Take Michigan for instance, this years freshman class has many smaller men and women. It would make sense if the gentlemen auditioning seem to be running a bit on the taller side that they could afford to pick up some taller women, but if the men are shorter then the leading ladies may need to be smaller as well. I think that each school will be looking to fill spots in their potential casts based on physicality, but bottom line will be about the talent level.</p>
<p>@noatasoccermom…if you read my post, where I mentioned “a year of short belters” (so I guess I may be guilty of the made-up phrase!)…I had hoped that people could read and virtually see my tongue firmly in my cheek – my point is that no one knows what a school is looking for as they cast their class, and there’s no reason to try to figure out what “type” a school is looking for. I’ve got a 5’8" girl with a tangle of curls…but what matters more to her is that she’s a PREPARED girl going into an audition. We try very hard at this house not to stress over that which we cannot control (such as my kid’s height) but to work at what she can (how well she knows her material and what makes each school on her list special to her). Yes, the talent level is critical…but what we’ve seen on the tour, besides every shape and size and coloring of auditionee, is a lot of talent…can she control the other students’ levels of talent? Nope…and it’s not worth stressing over. Can she (should she) change who she is in order to meet her IDEA of what a school is looking for? Again, nope. I believe an honest presentation of a student’s best “me” is what a school is looking for…and let them draw their conclusions as to how they will pick their class on their own.</p>
<p>We need an emoticon that shows “tongue in cheek”…lol. I completely agree with you about teaching the kids that there are things that they can not control (height, hair, etc) and they need to focus on what they can control…the biggest is being prepared. The amount of talent coming to these auditions is frankly very intimidating…but if you find yourself up against someone equally talented…it may very well come done to “did you follow the audition recommendations to a T”</p>
<p>If nothing else comes from these auditions, my daughter will have learned organization skills and how to prepare for the unexpected. If you think about it…our kids are basically going to job interview after job interview…most of us would be pretty stressed by now. I applaud all of the kids for their perseverance.</p>