Freestyling At Dance Auditions by Ryan Heddik

Auditions show everything. You'll have dancers who will have the choreography amazingly well and then fall into obscurity when it's time to freestyle. There's dancers whose ability at routines are pretty average but say 'freestyle' and you see a different creature altogether and they can really step it up.

The great thing about freestyle is that anything goes. So is there a way to be successful at freestyle during auditions? Because we've all been to auditions and the best freestyler hasn't got the part. In fact you can say that for all dance auditions �" it's not always the best dancers that get the part. And that's the biggest clue.

When it comes to freestyle just like with choreography you want to give the choreographer or whoever's making decisions exactly what they want. It is not always possible to know what they want. But often they'll give a clue. If they don't want high jazz kicks then don’t give it to them even if yours are the best kicks in the world.

Sometimes though it may seem unfair a choreographer will be biased towards certain dance styles. It will usually be the dance styles that the choreographer is good at. You'll find that they'll usually choreograph in the same handful of genres.

So if you know that the choreographer is a big fan of hip-hop dance then freestyling at hip-hop will probably get their attention more than other dance styles. This is a general rule of course. If you're not amazing at the styles they do then by all means do other styles that you are better at in your freestyle.

I'd also recommend only doing dance styles that you're really good at unless there's not that much competition. For example if you can do some poppin but there's the USA's number one popper in the room then you might do yourself a favour by not poppin'! Unless you know you're amazing or can offer something very different.

So often I've been to auditions and there'll be bboys and bgirls who can barely do a freeze incorporating breakin' moves into their freestyle all while there are about 10 world-class breakers in the room! They just won't take notice! Versatility is great but know when to keep quiet about your skills until you're at a high standard.

Of course if you're at a high standard at a number of dance skills then it may make sense to showcase your versatility. But only if you're good and you know the competition.

If you're not that versatile just make sure that you go out and freestyle at what you can do �" and if you're what they're looking for you may just get the job!