So I currently can not afford dance lessons. I’ve started late and though I can learn steps fairly quickly when I’m in a show, I’m worried about dance auditions for musical theatre college programs. I’m very confidant about my singing and acting, it’s just my dancing. Does anyone have suggestions for how to at least work on it. I do have some dancer friends that are trying to help me and I have a job, but with that, school, shows, SATs…I don’t make enough and I don’t have enough time. Thank you.
Are you a senior? Junior? If you live in an urban area you might check to see if your city’s “recreation” entity offers low-cost dance classes at community centers. Sometimes even “adult-education” classes offer dance as a way to “improve health” for urban residents.
If you are a senior, your best bet may be to do private - or near-private - sessions with a friend who can teach you the “basics” you will need for auditions. Good dance skills cannot be learned in a few hours, but you may be able to at least learn basic steps, “barre” positions and general terminology in the short term. Online demonstration videos may be helpful. Perhaps look specifically for basic ballet positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) and terms like “plie”, “releve”, “port de bras”, etc. Wikipedia has a “glossary” of ballet terms.
If you are still in high school and male, many ballet academies offer reduced tuition for male students (50% discount) because they are scarce compared to female students.
Echoing what @mom4bwayboy said, look up youtube videos to learn basic ballet positions and terminology. These terms will be used during many dance calls. Then, do the same for Jazz but expand your research to include basic “across the floor” combinations. Like ballet, Jazz terms and combinations are commonly used in college theatre dance calls. By knowing the terms you will avoid feeling “totally lost” in the dance calls that throw terms, positions, and combinations at you at a fairly fast pace (there are not many that do that, but some do). Make a list of things to work on. Then, take your list to your dance friends and say, “show me how to do this.”
You can also order basic Ballet and Jazz technique videos from Amazon for about $20.
Thanks to everyone! I’m a junior girl btw I take any dance classes I can at school functions and such. I was in Hairspray at my community theatre and that helped a lot.
The comments above have great advice! I also recommend stretching everyday, because flexibility helps a lot. You are lucky to have friends who have experience with dance, and if I were you I would take advantage of that. Maybe ask if you could meet up a few times to go over some basics and work on simple technique. After you’ve established a primitive foundation for your technique, you could even ask them to make up combinations so you could practice picking things up quickly. Your natural ability to learn fairly quickly will help a lot too.Kathryn Morgan on youtube has some really good stretching, bar work and technique videos that I recommend checking out.
Above all, go in there and have a great time! I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but colleges are looking for someone they can work with, and often showing some personality through the dance call and combination can go a long way. Many colleges would prefer a talented singer/actor who tells a story through their dancing (even if their technique isn’t the best) to a well trained dancer that moves like an automaton. People often forget that the purpose of dance in musical theatre is to help tell a story.