HOW TO? educational program series for dance artists vol.1 - AUDITION

The first event of ’HOW TO?’ educational program series was a great success. The evening was moderated by Levente Lukács in cooperation with Kristóf Várnagy who gave the participants all the relevant information one would need in order to apply&attend an audition well. Kristóf knows it all, he had been a jury/applicant several times during his artistic career. In this short article I am going to sum up all the valuable knowledge we heard from him during the event, so the next time we apply for a job hopefully we will do it keeping this helpful guidance in mind.

COMMUNICATION

Try not to overcomplicate it, but keep in mind that every letter, chat, phone call matters. A good communication will never directly lead you to a job, but i t will help you get into the flow of the community.

As scary as it seems sometimes to write/call someone keep in my they are humans as well. J

KNOWLEDGE

Often the biggest issue is not knowing enough. It can be that the reason you do not know where to apply is because you do not know enough companies/artists.

Start to communicate with each other, let the information flow. Your network base is your classmates/dancers around your age.

PREPARATION

Text:

- editors: Word, OppenOffice

- grammar check: Grammarly

- tip for the form: edit in .doc, send in .pdf

- note: be precise and accurate

Photo:

- editors: Photoshop, Gimp, Paint.net

- format: .jpeg (if taken by a professional photographer ask for a smaller-sized format)

- note: be visible, try to choose a picture fitting the company/artist you are applying to

- normally they ask for: headshot, full body pics, dance pics

Video:

- editors: iMovie, FinalCut, Vegas Pro, Adobe Pro, OpenShot, VideoPad

- format: .mp4

- ideal upload to: googledrive, youtube, vimeo

- common types : uncut video/ improvisation, showreel (collection from previous works)

note: good quality (720p min.), max. 3-5min (if they don’t ask for a precised length), be easily identifiable, keep the company’s profile in mind + an hint: try to catch the attention of the viewer in the first 10 sec, even if you edit it, don’t make it into a promo-video (no special effects /slow motion, 5 cuts/sec. etc.) keep in mind that they would like to see you and your dancing only.

CV

tip:

Have a CV for yourself where you put every information and you regularly update it.

Put your data in a way that they help you -> Don’t lie, but be smart.

- pdf

- regular font, readable, precised

- the header should include your name and contact

- the CV MUST include what they ask for

- it should include important data (e.g. Don’t write your teacher’s name in it, only if it is relevant for the company/artist you are applying for)

It could also include:

- date of birth

- nationality

- spoken languages

- special skills 

These were the most important do’s and don'ts in our first event. We hope to see you at our next program which will be held in the café of Trafó at 6 pm on the 29th of March before the performance of Máté Mészáros’s ’United Space of Ambivalence.’ If you register for our event, you can see the performance with a 30% discount. Come, let’s get smarter together!