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37. Master Your Audition Mindset
120 Plays17 days ago
Audition season is here! And let’s be honest - it can be incredibly exhausting. The travel, expenses, strain on your body, constant scrutiny, and emotional toll of rejection can absolutely wear you down.
It can also lead to your dream job and the career you’ve been working toward for years.
So what’s the secret to getting to the other side of audition season (relatively) unscathed? Your mindset.
As dancers, we tend to focus primarily on our physical abilities. However, any seasoned professional will tell you that your mindset is just as vital to enjoying a successful career.
Tune in to this week’s solo episode for four ways to keep perspective and stay in a healthy mindset this audition season:
Links and Resources:
The Audition Hub: thebrainyballerina.com/auditionhub
1-1 Dance Audition Power-ups: https://www.thebrainyballerina.com/danceauditionpowerup
Dance Audition Materials Audit: https://www.thebrainyballerina.com/digital-resources/p/dance-audition-materials-audit
The Ultimate Audition Guide: https://www.thebrainyballerina.com/theultimateauditionguide
1-1 Career Mentoring: book your complimentary career call
Related Episodes:
22. Unlocking Authentic Confidence with Mindset Coach Kirsten Kemp
24. Your Burning Audition Questions Answered!
35. Cultivating Body Image Resilience with The Whole Dancer’s Jess Spinner
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Through this entire process, I want you to remember that you are doing an incredibly hard thing. There are very few people in this world who would keep putting themselves out there again and again to keep getting rejected like dancers. You're going to hear hundreds of no's in search of that one yes. It is not easy, but you are doing it and you do not have to do it alone.
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the brand new ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. I'm peeling back the curtain of the professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need succeed in a dance career on your terms.
Navigating Audition Season: Tips and Mindset
00:00:59
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina podcast. Caitlin here with a solo episode today, chatting all about how to keep perspective during audition season.
00:01:10
Speaker
In episode 24 of the podcast, I answered a lot of your audit audition questions that you had submitted on Instagram, and a lot of it was prep kind of things, like how to format your reels, tips for pre-screening auditions.
00:01:26
Speaker
how to save money when you're traveling for auditions, as well as some questions about when you're in the room as far as standing out in a positive way, what's like being cut in an audition, how to answer, what are your greatest weaknesses if you're asked that in a one-on-one. So I talked in depth about all these kinds of questions. If you're curious about any of that, definitely go back to episode number 24. I'll link it in the show notes.
00:01:52
Speaker
But today we're talking more about mindsets because one thing that I really see with dancers at this time of year is they're starting to get a little bit frustrated when I'm talking to dancers really in the prep stages of audition season. So maybe October, November, December.
00:02:10
Speaker
They're in the stage of getting all their materials together. They're refining their resume. They're filming their videos. They're writing cover letters. They're getting new headshots. They're planning their audition season. They're doing all of these things that are largely within their control. And so that feels really good as a dancer because you feel like you're being productive.
00:02:34
Speaker
the things that you're doing are moving the needle. Once we hit end of December, but really January, February, March, now you're fully in audition season. Now you're sending out your materials, you're going to in-person auditions, and now the focus has shifted, at least in our minds.
00:02:52
Speaker
from things that we're in control of to now putting the control in somebody else's hands. And so I see dancers start to get more stressed because now they've had this goal of getting a company contract and now they're essentially waiting for somebody to say yes, to give them that yes. Audition season is also really exhausting. There's a lot of travel. It's expensive. There's a lot of strain on your body.
00:03:20
Speaker
for dancers are off season, especially if you're in the professional world tends to be the summer. If you're training, you aren't really getting summers off at all because you're likely going to a summer intensive. But for a lot of professionals, summers are off season, but audition season is in the winter.
00:03:36
Speaker
And that is still during our dance season. So it's not like we're having some downtime to go do these auditions. We're adding it on top of everything else. So that's hard on your body. That's hard on your mind. You're also being constantly scrutinized. You're having people look at you and decide if they think, essentially, you are the right person for their company.
00:03:59
Speaker
The emotional total rejection can start to wear you down. Even if you know it's not personal, hearing no is never fun. But audition season can also lead to your dream job and to the career you've been working toward for years. So what is the secret to getting to the other side of the season? Relatively unscathed. It's our mindset. As dancers, we do tend to focus a lot on our physical abilities, which obviously are important in a dance career.
00:04:27
Speaker
However, any seasoned professional will tell you that your mindset is just as vital to enjoying a successful career. So today I have four tips for you that are going to help you keep a healthy mindset and just keep perspective as you go through audition season. The first one, and I say this all the time, but I want you to remember that auditions are a two-way street. You are not just auditioning for companies, they are auditioning for you too.
00:04:55
Speaker
And a lot of times we get stuck in this mentality of, I hope I get it. I hope they like me. I hope they want me. To the point where we don't even consider, do we want this? Do we want to be here? When you walk into an audition, you get to decide if the company is a good fit for you. You get to ask yourself, do I feel aligned with the culture, the leadership, the repertoire, the schedule, the location?
00:05:21
Speaker
all the different things that go into a career. It's so easy to get wrapped up in what a director thinks of you, but what about what you want for your career? What about what you think of the company? You have the power to choose what job offers you accept. And reminding yourself that you have autonomy puts you back in the driver's seat of your career. And when you're in the driver's seat, you have a much better energy in the audition. It's not a desperate proving energy.
00:05:49
Speaker
It's an iron energy based in your core values, where you are very cognizant of the fact that you get to decide what is right for you, what is not, and that if you don't get the job offer, that's okay. You are going to find the right place for you. You just need that one yes. One saying that I love from my colleague Jess Spinner, who was just on episode 35 of the podcast, she says, may it be this or something better? And I just love that because We can get so wrapped up in hoping that we get this exact job. But what if the no is leading us to something better? So as you go through the process, remember that it is a two way street. You get to decide you have autonomy, you have power, and you don't have to give all of that up in the pursuit of a dance career. The second mindset shift to make
00:06:39
Speaker
is focusing on what you can control. And I alluded to this earlier, but the truth is there is a lot out of your control during the audition process, right? You can't control if you're the type of dancer the company is looking for. They might need a specific type of dancer to fill a spot that is opened up. Maybe they need a certain height. Maybe they need a certain look. Maybe they need certain specific qualities. Unfortunately, you don't know a lot of the time what they're looking for.
00:07:07
Speaker
I would love to see companies giving out much more specific information when they are posting audition notices. For instance, Dio's Contemporary Ballet in Grand Rapids has just posted their audition notice and I absolutely love how they did this. They said, as a small company of just six professional dancers, we are currently looking for a female identifying dancer who is five, six or taller with a strong classical technique and skilled point work. Must be over 18 to apply. They are being so hyper specific on what they're looking for so that you know that if you don't fit that, you do not need to spend your time applying. They're really centering the dancer's experience in this.
00:07:52
Speaker
So much so that they go on to state that applicants who are being considered for the position will be contacted for an interview. And after the interviews, any final applicants will be flown to Grand Rapids and housed by the company.
00:08:05
Speaker
in order to attend an in-person audition. They will cover the cost of travel. They'll work around the applicant's schedules. They're making it so that dancers, A, are not wasting their time applying for this position if they do not fit the criteria. And they're also making sure that dancers are not going into debt to travel for this audition. You know that if you are being asked to go fly out there, you are being very heavily considered and they are investing money in you to see you.
00:08:32
Speaker
So you know that you have a very real chance of getting that contract. They also know that dancers should not include their age or their weight on their resume, which is something else that I.
00:08:43
Speaker
lot And I always tell dancers, you do not need to include your weight on your resume, but age is still typically asked for. And actually, I'm a little bit confused by that because you get to be over 18 to apply. So I think they're taking your word for that at this point. That's something I am curious about. But regardless, they are making it so they are going to find the best person for the job based on this criteria they have, and they do not want to know your age or your weight. They said that anyone who puts that on the resume, they'll be asked to reapply.
00:09:13
Speaker
Why did I go on this long tangent about this specific ballet company? Because I would really love to see the audition process move toward this system where dancers are not being completely put out financially, emotionally, physically for audition season. And to come back to my previous point, this is a rare thing to see. Most of the time you do not know what the company is looking for, unless you know somebody on the inside you can ask, you might get a sense of that, but they're usually not being so specific. So a lot of times you're going through an audition, not even knowing if the type of dancer you are and just generally your physical attributes are going to match what they need. You can't control if you're the type of dancer the company is looking for. You just can't control that. You can't control the combinations that are given. You can't control if the director likes you or if you're the quote unquote best dancer in the room.
00:10:06
Speaker
If you fixate on all these things, it's going to lead you right down into a negative thought spiral where all you're doing is just ruminating about if you are the best dancer, if you're the right person, if they like you, if they're watching you. It's not going to help you dance your best. Instead, let's focus on what you can control.
00:10:26
Speaker
In this moment, you can control how you're working in your classes and you're training ahead of time to prepare yourself for auditions. Are you wearing your pointe shoes during ballet class? If you're not, you need to start, especially if you're auditioning for professional ballet companies. They will ask you to put your pointe shoes on in the center. Center adagio in pointe shoes, we all know, is way harder than pretty much anything else you're gonna be asked to do in pointe shoes.
00:10:54
Speaker
So if you're not wearing them, put them on now. You can control how you're training. If you're auditioning for more contemporary companies, are you paying attention to their rep? Are you maybe watching their YouTube videos and seeing if you can learn some of their rep and get it in your body, right? How are you working ahead of time so that you're preparing yourself for your auditions?
00:11:15
Speaker
This ties into this, but you can also control how you do your research on companies so you have an idea what to expect. Watch their YouTube channel. Look at their social media channels. We have so much information at our fingertips now to be able to see what their rep is like.
00:11:30
Speaker
What kind of things they're doing? Asking around to your community to see if anyone you know has been to this audition. And so you know, what will they ask of you? Is it just a ballet class? Will they ask you to do rep? Will they ask you to do partnering? Before you go into it, having an idea what to expect is super helpful. And of course, that could change. They might throw you a curveball and that's out of your control.
00:11:52
Speaker
But you do know that you're a smart dancer and that you can deal with those kind of things, but just going in with an idea is super helpful. You can also, to a certain extent, control getting a lot of rest and properly fueling to sustain yourself. I know that when I would audition, I would be very nervous and I would find it very difficult to eat because I would be almost physically nauseous. So I would oftentimes skip breakfast before audition because I really didn't feel physically well. But then in the audition, I would completely crash because I didn't have any fuel to sustain me through the audition. So making sure you find something that you can eat, even if you're like me and you have sort of a weak stomach around these things.
00:12:32
Speaker
You have to eat, you have to get rest. Of course, like I said before, your schedule is not necessarily slowing down, so doing what you can control to make sure you're getting enough sleep and then eating enough fuel. Focus on knowing your strengths and sharing the unique talent that only you have to offer. I ask dancers all the time to tell me their strengths and I am often met with a lot of crickets.
00:12:57
Speaker
Dancers are very comfortable listing their weaknesses and things that they want to improve. And there's nothing wrong with having things that you want to improve and work on. However, you have to know your strengths. You have to know what you offer when you go into a room. If you don't feel like you have anything to offer, that's going to show and that's going to wear in your confidence. So take some time, get out of journal and start writing down your strengths.
00:13:23
Speaker
What do you bring to the table? What do you hope to show when you're in the room? And not just technical things. I mentioned this in episode 22 with Kirsten Kemp, and that's another great episode to go listen to.
00:13:35
Speaker
if you're looking for some support with confidence on auditions. But she was talking about this same topic of knowing your strengths and what you want to share. And I was saying how I would have always said my strengths were petite-legro, grande-legro, jumps. And so I would always just be crossing my fingers hoping that I didn't get cut before that. But we all know that's at the end of class.
00:13:56
Speaker
often I would get caught after a dash or after pirouettes because in my mind I didn't have anything to offer in that area. I was almost trying just to hide in the back as much as I could. So they maybe just didn't see me during that part and I could get to jump so I could really wow them. But that's not how it works. They see you no matter where you are and fixating on a specific technical strength like that did not help me at all because like I said, I didn't even always get to show that. and Obviously they want to see that you have all the technical strengths. So instead thinking about strengths you have to offer that you can show throughout the entire audition. So maybe it's your musicality. Maybe it's your passion, your artistry. Maybe it's just how you use your upper body. Maybe it's your attention to detail. All of these things that you can use from the very beginning all the way through to show the audition panel what you have to offer.
00:14:50
Speaker
So if you don't feel like you could name at least, at least five strengths in the next couple of seconds off the top of your head, I really encourage you to get out pen and paper and take some time to do some work on that topic and get really clear on what you have to offer. Another thing that you can control is showing that you are resilient and able to recover from mistakes in the moment.
00:15:15
Speaker
I hear all the time from dancers that are so upset and worried if they make a mistake and I was the same way. I would completely beat myself up. If I made one mistake, I wanted to run out of the room. I wanted to just leave. I was chasing perfection so tightly that any mistake was completely unacceptable in my eyes.
00:15:36
Speaker
But the fact is that no one is perfect. You've heard me say that before. You're going to make mistakes in rehearsals and auditions on the stage. It's not about the mistake. It's how you recover.
00:15:49
Speaker
If you fall down, it's how you get back up. If you forget the combination, it's how you get back on to the counts quickly. And honestly, those moments are going to show more about your character than doing everything perfectly. So yeah, would it be nice to always nail every combination? Of course, but it's not always going to happen. So use those moments when you have a mistake, have a slip up as an opportunity to show that you are resilient and that you can recover and keep working through any setbacks.
00:16:19
Speaker
All this to say that there is so much more in your control than you realize. In these moments, do what you can, control what you can, and do your best not to fixate on all the other things that you have no control over.
Balancing Dance and Life
00:16:35
Speaker
The third mindset tip that I have is to make time for life outside of dance.
00:16:42
Speaker
If you are a loyal listener to this podcast, you have probably heard just about every guest I have on here talking about the importance of being a whole person and finding things you are passionate about outside of dance. And yes, even during audition season.
00:17:00
Speaker
I know this season of life can feel completely all-encompassing. You're not getting an off-season, you're not slowing down, you're keeping up your regular training, plus school, plus auditions, plus your part-time job. It is a lot. Be realistic about what you can handle. When I talk to dancers about how many auditions they should go to, it's not a cut and dry one-size-fits-all answer for every dancer.
00:17:26
Speaker
right We all have different schedules, we all have different limitations about how much travel we can really do, how many emails we feel we can truly send, what we can get done in a given day or a week. Just because your friend is doing something doesn't mean that you have to do it the same way.
00:17:43
Speaker
They may have access to support that you don't have. They may have a different physical ability, different emotional mental ability than you. That's okay. Get realistic and make sure when you're scheduling your schedule that you are putting in your calendar time to schedule with friends and family or even solo time if you are Like me and you're an introvert and you need that solo time to recharge, put it in your calendar and make sure that you are taking the time to do the things that you enjoy doing outside of dance. Don't just put them off for the next few months because you're busy. Taking time away will not make you fall behind. I've seen it time and time again and truly the opposite is true. You will come back to the studio, back to your auditions, more focused.
00:18:30
Speaker
more energized when you give your brain and body a break. And again, I know that being able to do that is full of a lot of privilege and there's a lot tied up in how much time you have for all these other things. So do the best you can, but just know that giving yourself time for things outside of dance will make you a better dancer and you will have a more successful audition season because of it.
00:18:59
Speaker
The fourth thing on this list is the schedule time for reflection. You're going to have major ups and downs during audition season. If you're finding yourself ruminating over that pirouette that didn't go well or the choreography that you messed up.
00:19:14
Speaker
it might be time for some intentional reflection. So after each audition, I encourage you to get out your journal and reflect on these three things. Number one, what went well? What parts of the audition did you feel really good about?
00:19:30
Speaker
Where did you shine? And not just outside feedback you got, although that's great. Not just the director saying good job, not just peers saying good things, but what did you feel internally that you did really well? Where did you feel aligned? We all have those moments when we're dancing where we feel like everything is just working.
00:19:49
Speaker
And we feel so embodied and just really at home in ourselves and confident in what we're doing. What were those moments that you had? Even in my worst ballet classes, I could find at least one moment that I felt really good about. And it can be something really small. Like I felt like I used my apoman really well the entire audition.
00:20:07
Speaker
okay It can be something very small like that, but just find places that you felt like you really, really stood out in a positive way. Next, think about what didn't go as well. What areas do you need to work on? Maybe there was a lot of contemporary rep that you didn't expect to have.
00:20:26
Speaker
in your audition and you feel like I need to get in some more contemporary classes if I want to be competitive in auditions. Maybe you feel like you're really getting in your head when you're in the audition room, even though going into it, you're feeling really good. Maybe you feel like you're playing the comparison game too much and looking at the other dancers instead of focusing on what you're doing. So get really clear on what areas you need to work on and formulate a plan and seek out help to make those improvements.
00:20:52
Speaker
Figure out a very concrete way that you can improve on these things so that you can feel better going into your next audition. This whole process can become a learning experience, which leads me into my last question. I want you to write down what you learned.
00:21:09
Speaker
What did you learn from this audition that you can take with you into future auditions? Every single room I've stepped into audition I've gone to, whether it was good or bad, I learned something. I learned I need to be wearing my point shoes in the center more. I learned that my nerves got the best of me. I learned I need to eat breakfast, even if I didn't feel like it. We can get so focused on the end goal of getting that contract, getting the job that we forget.
00:21:37
Speaker
that a dance career is really about the journey. And maybe there was a correction that you got that really helped you that you'll take with you for the rest of your career. Maybe you made a really good contact with a new friend that you met in the dressing room before the audition. Whatever it is, you've learned something, you gained something from this, and now you can take that forward with you throughout your journey. Ultimately, through this entire process, I want you to remember that you are doing an incredibly hard thing.
00:22:07
Speaker
There are very few people in this world who would keep putting themselves out there again and again to keep getting rejected like dancers. You're going to hear hundreds of no's in search of that one yes. It is not easy, but you are doing it and you do not have to do it alone.
Support and Resources for Dancers
00:22:25
Speaker
If you feel like you could use some more support during this audition season, I have a few different options that I know make a big difference for dancers that I've worked with.
00:22:36
Speaker
The first is I'm offering one-on-one dance audition power-ups. These are shorter 45 minute mentoring sessions to get individualized audition coaching from a former pro ballerina. Okay. I've been in your shoes. I know exactly what it feels like. And I also know how amazing it feels to come out on the other side of audition season with your dream contract. I share a lot of general advice on this podcast, on my social media, but sometimes you just have very specific questions that you want answered.
00:23:09
Speaker
And that's what these one-on-one sessions are for. So wherever you are in the process, these power-ups are just a great way to get some insight in one-on-one specific help without committing to a full six month, eight month coaching package. Support for some things that have come up in your first couple of auditions.
00:23:29
Speaker
or even if you get to the end and you're having a couple of offers you're trying to decide between, or you're trying to decide what to prioritize, if you only have a few places you can travel to, any of those kind of things that you wanna talk about, or even just things like, what should I wear? How do I know if this company is right for me? What's going to happen in the audition? Anything like that that you just have some specific questions about, this is a great opportunity to get your questions answered. I will put the link for the powerups in the show notes, and I do have very limited availability for these, so I always tell dancers, if you look at my calendar and you don't see anything that is open that works for your schedule, please reach out to me. Just send me an email. We will figure out a time. That is not a problem.
00:24:14
Speaker
The other resource that is very helpful for dancers around this time of year is my dance audition materials audits. So this is more specifically about just your basic materials that you are sending out to companies. So your cover letter, your resume, your headshot, your dance photos, your audition videos, anything like that.
00:24:36
Speaker
You send me your materials and I'll send you back a 30-minute video of my personalized feedback based on over a decade of working in the professional dance industry. I do consider it one of my superpowers to be able to look at materials and give very specific, actionable advice to take them to the next level. To make your resume streamlined, easy to read, exactly what directors are looking for, to help you choose,
00:25:02
Speaker
between specific photos to help you decide what clips to put in your videos, what's extraneous, what you need to write in your cover letter so that they are noticing you. So if you would like some very specific feedback on your materials before you start sending them out or even if you have already started sending them and you're not getting the best feedback, this is a great option for you. And if you don't know which one is best for you, just again, reach out to me and I'll help you decide what resource will be the most helpful for you in your journey. Just remember that you do not have to see the end of the staircase, okay? You just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Trust that the work you're putting in is going to pay off.
00:25:46
Speaker
If you are struggling with finding that next step, reach out to me. I am here to support you. I'm rooting for you and I know that you've got this.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:25:57
Speaker
Thank you for tuning into the Brainy Ballerina podcast. If you found this episode insightful, entertaining,
00:26:04
Speaker
Or maybe a bit of both, I would so appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating and hit subscribe. By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode. And you'll join our community of dancers passionate about building a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. Plus, your ratings help others discover the show too. I'll be back with a new episode next week. In the meantime, be sure to follow along on Instagram at The Rainy Valorina for your daily dose of dance career guidance.