<p>I am auditioning this Saturday and had some general questions that were not answered by their website. First of all, what do people generally wear to the dance auditions/what to they prefer? Tights and a leotard? Jazz pants and a leotard? If tights, will any color do? Full-footed? Are cover-ups allowed? I’m a dancer, so I have all of these items, but often teachers and colleges have clothing that they prefer…
Also, is sheet music within a binder still the norm? And would you suggest I bring several alternate songs and monologues and extra resumes? Has anyone ever needed these in the past?
Thanks so much for your help! This is my first college audition of many, so it’s a bit stressful especially because I’ve been rather sick lately :(</p>
<p>“Please bring clothes appropriate for dance” is all the web site says. I think a bit of color that says “look at me!” in your outfit would be a good idea, since you are a dancer. The schools that are strict about dance attire seem to say so on their sites (Point Park, for example, strick ballet pink and black, if I remember correctly.) </p>
<p>My daughter is going with a binder, only it’s thinner than usual, and she put some back-up tunes in there, just in case somebody wants to hear something from an old show that’s on her resume (this has happened before elsewhere)…her first audition is tomorrow at Shenandoah close to home. We’ll be out at Penn State in January. </p>
<p>Can’t believe we’re at this point. </p>
<p>Best wishes to you tomorrow!</p>
<p>All the best to the auditionees today! The first audition of the season made my daughter look back over the last year. What a journey it was! BAL to all who are beginning it. Trust that you will end up in a good place. Perhaps not where you expected, but for most, a great fit anyway!</p>
<p>Hope all of the auditionees had great auditions. It is a relief that we are thru this, but I know my D had a lot of fun with her auditions and met some great people. Relax and enjoy the time.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter made it thru auditions last year and was fortunate to be accepted as MT at one of her top choices, so I feel all of your pain and anxiety over the difficult process. just wanted to let you know that all of the schools we looked at (Carnegie, U Mich, Ithaca, Syracuse, Point Park . . . along with the usual suspects) treated all of the students and families as if they were trying to sell themselves. Polite, informative, respectful, hospitable, etc., with one GLARING exception, being Penn State. At both unifieds and on campus the process was rude, careless and with much of a “we’re doing you a favor” attitude. Not to say it isn’t a good program, but those responsible for the audition process could use a dose of humility, not to mention a crash course in manners. As you run the circuit you will see many of the same kids and parents, and last year PSU’s rudeness was much a topic of discussion and agreement.
good luck, everyone! it all works out in the end.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that not everyone’s experiences or their perceptions of the same events are the same. My D did not experience this at her Penn State audition nor had she heard of this type of experience from any of her friends auditioning for Penn State. And as a parent reading the CC posts… I must have missed the posts about Penn State’s rudeness. Had never heard this before and it seems very uncharacteristic based on my D’s experiences in the program.</p>
<p>I agree with stagedoor! My daughter auditioned at the LA Unifieds and was a walk-in. She showed up early (before the staff got there) and waited until they arrived. When she approached them, they could not have been more helpful! They took her immediately, even though they were not even completely set up, because they told her they were pretty well booked the rest of the day. They were attentive, took the time to talk to her about what she was looking for, answered questions, etc.- all without even having an appointment. She went back later in the day for the dance and was again very impressed. She came away with a completely positive opinion of the school and staff. She was impressed enough to apply after the audition, and was accepted. She chose PSU over her other acceptances, first because she felt it was such a good fit, but also because of the impression she came away from her audition with. </p>
<p>I have never heard the side that jerryg describes either, and in fact have heard only good things about PSU’s auditions. I am sure there are examples of bad experiences by many students at many schools; with PSU I don’t feel it is the norm.</p>
<p>I was trying to think back to the audition circuit D did last year. She did 7 on campus auditions and 4 unifieds auditions. I had lots of opportunity to talk with other parents about their kids’ auditions. I did not hear anything negative about Penn State’s auditions, especially about any rudeness. I will say, though, that the fact that Penn State uses a “callback” process whereby one knows they are no longer in consideration if one does not get asked to stay for the interview (at least on campus) was most definitely discussed between parents. But I wouldn’t put their process in the category of rude behavior. Out of the schools that employ some sort of “callback” process, I believe Penn State is the only one that will specifically state that that is their process. (Cary Libkin confirmed this process at the parent’s meeting I attended at the audition last year.). Other schools may have the same process but not explicitly state that no callback/interview means no further consideration. Different people have different feelings about this process.</p>
<p>we actually had the same negative experience at PSU, along with another student from our same high school who auditioned on a different weekend and a third student who my D knew from a summer program and who auditioned at NY unifieds. Glad yours went well, but the people we knew all gave it 100% thumbs down</p>
<p>That’s too bad. I wonder what made their experiences so different! The PSU audition was one of my D’s most fun because everyone was so friendly and welcoming! I truly hope that this year’s auditionees have the same experience as my D. And BREAK LEGS to everyone auditioning today!!!</p>
<p>Wow! We had a wonderful experience at the Penn State auditions. I really can’t imagine what jerryg is talking about. My husband and I loved it and so did our son. Another boy from his school auditioned another weekend and he also loved it.</p>
<p>I will say that we had less-than-wonderful experiences with two of the other schools jerryg mentions! So, I guess it’s like everything else: Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Everyone perceives experiences in a different way and also not everyone auditions on the same day and so the experiences may differ that way too. </p>
<p>My D auditioned at PSU on campus in 2005. It was a very pleasant experience in every way. She was admitted but chose not to attend. </p>
<p>I am just wondering if the fact that PSU actually does a “cut” and a “callback” on the audition day affects how people feel about the audition day. This was the only school we attended that had such a procedure. And I can readily see that those who are not called back later that day walk away likely feeling negatively. After all, our experience was positive and my D was called back. I’m wondering if those who were unhappy with the experience actually did the callback or not. I am guessing they were not called back and it left a bad taste in their mouths so to speak. Typically a rejection comes in the mail and it might be hard for some to have it happen on the spot. This might color their feelings about the day.</p>
<p>In any case, many had a pleasant experience and found it well organized and apparently some did not. This likely could be said at any audition day at any school. It’s kind of typical to get different reactions of the process. I don’t think this is specific to PSU.</p>
<p>I love that… “mileage may vary” LOL! So true. While D had good experiences at all schools, there were some that were more fun or “warm” than others. It’s to be expected. And agree completely with sooievt regarding the callback process. The reactions were wide in regard to the auditionees and their parents the day she auditioned on campus. Happy reactions of course for those who were asked to stay for an interview. Some of those not asked to stay were accepting, some were embarrassed, some really sad, some crying, some were angry and defensive. Unless you leave the building and go somewhere else to wait…you cannot avoid being an observer to that. So for anyone who has compassion and understands this process… this experience grabs your heart and squeezes it. Rejection is such a universal experience for our kids in this business. So we all know how it feels for our kids to be rejected. We all empathize.</p>
<p>D very much enjoyed her auditions on campus today- the weather was COLD but the people were warm. I appreciated that parents were given a generous amount of time to grill the director and a trio of current seniors. A very interesting new bit of info to me was that an especially strong “legit” singer might take lessons for a period with the Music Performance faculty if desired. Apparently there’s good cooperation between the MT and VP folks.</p>
<p>Just be prepared, if your student does get a callback, for what could be a good wait - the parents hanging out in the theatre lobby, and the students off in a green room. Snacks to get through the lunch hour, reading material to make the hours go by, etc were needed for both parties (parent and child). Every once in a while an MT student would drop by and chat with the waiting parents; all were friendly and full of good information which they willingly shared. The kids have a lot of love for the MT faculty, it was plain to see.</p>
<p>Although it had to be tough on those who were not asked to stay, it seemed to be a good arrangement for the remaining 1/3 or so who were called-back. (My feeling is that is not a rock hard percentage you will see at every call-back.) A current MT senior told us anything can happen in the call-back; it’s tailored to the situation. They don’t rush through the call-backs and there is no set time schedule for that portion (hence the wait), so bring your knitting and enjoy the lovely company of fellow theatre parents & practitioners.</p>
<p>We were told that we’d be notified of a yes, no, or “deferred” in about two weeks. It was stressed that they want to hear all the auditionees before making many “yes” decisions and that’s why they wait until the audition season is over to decide on a good amount of students (keeping in mind the class total of about a dozen).</p>
<p>Interesting to read the contrasts, although they sound nothing like the day we had and don’t change my opinion of my experience and others related to me. (I had previously voiced my opinion to the upper echelon of PSU – who knows, maybe they listened!).</p>
<p>Good luck to all. It does end eventually and before you know it they’re gone.</p>
<p>That’s the beauty of this board herpops! It’s very helpful to know the wide variation in audition experiences that people have. That allows people to be as prepared as possible. I’m thankful also that you made your thoughts known to PSU. Perhaps there was something they weren’t aware of that was happening and they did adjust. I can’t imagine, knowing what I know of the faculty and program, that they would not respond postively to that kind of feedback. I believe they would want to convey at auditions the kind of program it actually is… disciplined but warm and caring.</p>
<p>Glad you had a positive experience at the audition Classicalbk! My D did not audition on campus, so I’m sure it is quite a different experience than she had. It is nice to audition on campus in that you have the chance to talk to current students of the program; they usually are very honest and can give you a good idea of the over-all feel. Herpops- sorry you had such a negative experience. I am so glad that you voiced your opinions, as it gives the program the opportunity to review their process with a fresh eye and to improve it. It is very interesting to read how different people come away with such different impressions. In general, I would have to say that our experience was very positive with almost every school. My daughter did have different comments about various programs; maybe not as professionally run as another, or not as well-organized. There was one school at the LA Unifieds that had 2 people viewing the singing portion, and I do remember my D saying they never even looked up and didn’t react or acknowledge when she was done. She said it was very awkward. However, she did get an acceptance from them, so who knows? Anyway, hope everyone has good experiences everywhere this year!</p>
<p>Another audition question…I auditioned at Unifieds and didn’t get a callback. Is this an automatic rejection, or am I still being considered? The people at the sign in table told us it didn’t mean anything but obviously if you’re not being asked to come to the dance call it’s not a good sign. Not sure how it works for Penn State, I know other schools straight out tell applicants if they don’t get a callback, they won’t be accepted.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is some typing or prescreening going on prior to the auditions as my friend and I had totally different experiences at our Penn State auditions at NYC unifieds. She auditioned on Saturday and said they were very friendly and interviewed her before she sang or did her monologue. She received a callback and is a great dancer so I am keeping my fingers crossed for her as she really liked the school. When I went to my audition on Sunday they barely looked up when I entered the room and did not respond to my greeting. I just did my song and monologue and they said thank you and I left.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I’m pretty sure that not getting called back means that you’ve been rejected. However, there are no guarantees! :)</p>