“Audition” is hardly ever synonymous with “fun.” And bad auditions can mark some of the most

unpleasant points in a dancer’s career.

Unfortunately, you’ll have bad auditions. But you can recover, and learn, from even the most disastrous tryouts.

During the Audition

You’ve fallen flat on your face. But you’re only halfway through your piece. Now what?

Now, it’s time to save your audition.

Recover From Your Mistake

Ignore the urge to apologize or explain your mistakes. Just get on with your audition. The panel members will see your apology or explanation as an attempt to excuse your mistake. You’ll look unprofessional and irresponsible.

Act Like it Never Happened

After making a mistake, just focus on your transition into the next step. If you keep moving as if the misstep had never happened, then the mistake will also be less memorable for the judges.

When you finish your audition as planned, you’ll get to demonstrate the range of skill and technique that your audition was meant to show. And, recovering from a mistake will show that you’re a calm and focused dancer.

After the Audition

The moment the music ends, the dancer inside of you probably starts screaming about your failure. Don’t listen.

Staying calm and confident after finishing your piece is the best way to begin repairing any damage that your mistake may have caused. Your attitude is important at this point.

Accept Criticism Gracefully

Criticism always hurts your feelings–it hurts even more when you know you could have done better. But even in a good audition, you must learn to listen gracefully and absorb criticism constructively.

If you’re criticized in an audition, remember that these judges have seen thousands of dancers. They’ve seen lots of falls and mistakes. They’ve probably seen plenty of tears. You’re not the only one to ever fall in audition, and they understand that mistakes happen. But, they want to see dancers who learn from those mistakes and confidently improve. In criticizing you, judges explain what you have to do in order to be better than all the other dancers they’ve seen. You should listen.

Don’t Let a Bad Audition Ruin a Good Audition

Now you’re offstage. You’ve packed up your tights and shoes, and you’re heading home wondering if you’ll

ever face another audition. In your head, you relive your mistake. Now, the hard part about overcoming your bad audition: don’t beat yourself up.

After a bad audition, it’s easy to dwell on your mistake. But if you don’t get over your disappointment and anxiety, you risk carrying those feelings into the next audition, which will make you distracted, nervous, and uncomfortable.

Even though you’re angry, and you think you’ve missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime role, and you think the judges were unfair, get over it. If you don’t, you’ll approach every audition with an ingrained feeling of defeat.

Prevent Audition Nightmares

In a perfect world, each of your auditions would run beautifully. But most dancers won’t attain this ideal. However, there are certain things you can do to prevent bad auditions.

Know Who You’re Working For

When you prepare for a job interview, you learn about the company and its history. If possible, you learn about the people who will actually conduct the interview. When preparing for an audition, try to do the same.

Research the company you’re auditioning for, the artistic director, and the company’s history and repertoire.

If you need to reserve an audition spot, at that time you can politely ask questions about the audition and the panel.

Be Patient

If you’re attending an open audition, you’ll have lots of company. Allow plenty of time in your schedule that day for the audition. If you try to rush through the process, you’ll be anxious, nervous, and short-tempered. These feelings won’t help you win any roles.

Calm Your Nerves

Dancers can often blame their audition mistakes on nervousness, so do what you can to conquer butterflies. Read our post on how to calm nervousness before a performance. When you prepare properly–have your dancewear ready, get enough sleep, arrive early, eat well–you won’t feel so stressed.

Do you have any other tips for overcoming a bad audition?

What has your worst audition experience been?

Image sources:

• massdistraction on Flickr
• V’ron on Flickr