<p>Hello. I'm auditioning on March 8 for the BFA Acting program. I was wondering what qualities you are looking for in Acting majors. With musical theatre, there are obvious things to look for like experience in voice, movement, etc. Thank You!</p>
<p>LAactress47,</p>
<p>I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. School started this week, and I've been pretty busy.</p>
<p>I get asked some variation of this question all the time, and I'm never quite sure how to answer it. I understand why you would want to know. But the problem is, even if I could give you a direct answer, what would you do with it? Suppose I said that we want actors with an "orange" quality--would you then try to become more "orange" for me? Or go out and find "orange" monologues? Or color all your monologues "orange"? Even if you could, would it be a good idea?</p>
<p>You see, acting is not about turning yourself inside out to try to become what you think someone else wants you to be. (Women have been doing that for centuries, and it needs to stop.) Acting is about bringing yourself to the work, about being confident in yourself as you are, and about allowing others to see your insights about the human condition through the way in which you perform. Does that make sense? </p>
<p>What I want to see on March 8 from you is LAactress47 in all her glory. I want George to be George and Martha to be Martha and you to be you, and all of you to have a great time onstage! </p>
<p>Hope this helps. I look forward to seeing you in March.</p>
<p>doctorjohn,
I'm a little confused about what to prepare for the dance auditions at the unifieds. Should I prepare a combination, or do you want to see turns and leaps, or...? Just a little anxious about how to get ready for this part of the audition. Thank you! =)</p>
<p>DoctorJohn, thank-you so much for your eloquent, encouraging, and insightful post to LAactress47. Your students are so lucky to be in your program.</p>
<p>Ditto what TXKatsmom said--- Dr. John, thank you for being approachable and willing to give answers, suggestions, and encouragement to all of us- especially to the hopefuls who are trying to satisfy audition requirements. You seem aware and appreciative of their efforts--- I guess you remember what it is like to be in their position! Your students truly are lucky to have you!</p>
<p>TXKatsmom & mesmom: Thanks for the kind words. It's not so much that I remember what it was like--I switched from Physics to Theatre simply by asking if I could--but rather that I believe that theatre artists, of all people, ought to have empathy. I hope we're educating our majors to be compassionate human beings.</p>
<p>letscrshtheparty: If you're auditioning in NY or Chicago, you don't need to do anything. In NY, I'll have two of our senior MT/Dance majors give you some steps that they'll ask you to repeat. In Chicago, Stella Kane, our director of dance, will do the same thing. In LA, since I'll be alone, I'll ask you to improvise some steps for me to put on video for Stella to see. But you don't need to choreograph a dance to music, or anything like that. Does that help?</p>
<p>That does help. I'm auditioning in LA. Will there be music provided for us to improvise to or should we bring some, or will we have to improvise with no music? Or do you mean you will ask for specific steps to be improvised (i.e. double pirouette, jete, etc)? I'm a bit worried because I am a strong dancer, but to be honest I'm not very good at improvising my own steps (I'm much better at following choreography) and I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself. Sorry to ask so many questions, I don't mean to be bothersome, I just want to be 100% prepared. =)</p>
<p>I'll just be asking for specific steps. Stella has in the past provided me a list of things she'd like to see. Let me see if I can find it and post it for you.</p>
<p>Oh wow, thanks so much!! I feel so much better now, sorry to be so annoying, haha.</p>
<p>I hesitate to post this, because I don't want those who haven't had dance training to freak out. Read this carefully: What follows is not the routine that will be taught at the dance audition on campus, or at the Unifieds. </p>
<p>On campus, Stella will teach everyone a fairly simple jazz routine. Trained dancers will be able to do it easily; untrained dancers will find it challenging but fun. It is designed to let us see how everyone moves. After she's seen each person do the routine, she will ask dancers who have had previous training to demonstrate one or more of the following steps. We will do something similar in NY, Chicago and LA. We will not ask students without training to do these moves. Are we clear about that? I don't want anyone going out and trying to learn to do a pirouette in the next two weeks.</p>
<p>So if you are not a trained dancer, you can stop reading now, except for general interest. If you are a trained dancer, however, and plan to audition for our BFA in Musical Theatre with a Concentration in Dance, then what follows should look familiar and not too difficult. And if you're concerned that this doesn't look difficult enough, please understand that we can discern a great deal about your training from the observation of basic technique. (It's like voice teachers listening to scales or piano teachers listening to Bach 3-part inventions.) </p>
<p>OK, now that we're clear about this, here's the list:</p>
<p>Ballet
From 5th- tendu devant, to 2nd, and *retir</p>
<p>THANK YOU! You are by far the most helpful person I've ever talked to in my entire life. I'm looking forward to the audition and meeting you!</p>
<p>Glad I could help!</p>
<p>Thank you for your earlier advice regarding acting auditions.
You answered sarahlsmom's question earlier about how many students you expect to see for your auditions this year. Are those the figures for on campus auditions or nationwide as a whole?</p>
<p>Those are the total figures. We saw 182 on campus and 158 at the unifieds.</p>
<p>Do Otterbein notifications go out all at once?
My D is expecting a big, fat reject. She says she did not do well in her audition. I'm so proud of these kids for the courage they have!</p>
<p>I just perused threads about this (acceptances, and well, not!) from a few years ago and it sounds as if doctorjohn and his team send the letters out in mid March, usually. I trust that our friend doctorjohn will let us know if this will be the case this year. So our kids have about a month to wait, folks! We're heading into the home stretch. :)</p>
<p>My D and her friends auditioned at Otterbein in January - and found out 2 + weeks ago that one is on the wait list, one is not being considered and 1 is being considered for a BM in music. My D is the one not being considered, but while disappointed, it was not unexpected as it was her first audition and didn't feel that it went great. She is going to callbacks at Guthrie (Univ. of Minn.) so that was nice to get some positive news. But this is stressful!!!! Good luck to everyone!!!</p>
<p>Hi UAMom- is that U of Alabama, by chance? Roll Tide, I say.
Anyway, thanks for the info. How were these students notified of their standings? I'm sure your D will get into a wonderful program and be very happy. I do believe we've got to trust these schools know what they are doing as far as who they feel will do well in their program.</p>
<p>"On the wait list"? You mean she is being considered? I assume that a "wait list" is compiled when acceptances go out. . .</p>
<p>I'm not Dr. John but maybe I can help clarify the situation at Otterbein . . . about 2 weeks after their auditions kids are notified if they are still in consideration for one or more programs - BFA in MT, BFA in Acting, BFA in MT with a Dance Concentration, BA in Theater or BA in music. Each kid's letter will list which programs they are still being considered for. Kids who are not in the running after their auditions will be notified, also, so that they can move on.
This is not a waitlist situation, rather, Dr. John and his staff wait 'til everyone has audtioned and then they look at all the kids who are still in consideration and make the offers from there. Otterbein does use a very short waitlist. I'm not positive, but it seems like for every kid who is offered a place there is an alternate on a waitlist. If the first round offer kid declines the place then the kid on the wait list is offered that place instead. My S is a sophomore at Otterbein and I know that some of his classmates were originally waitlisted.</p>