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Dancers: Proactive Job Searching & Electronic Casting

February 7, 2013 by 4dancers

Are you a dancer that is looking for a job? Dance jobs are out there, but you may not be doing all that you can to find one that is a good match for you…

Rick Tjia is a Senior Artistic Talent Scout in the Dance Sector for the Cirque du Soleil Casting Department, and 4dancers asked him to share some thoughts on what dancers can do to connect with jobs out there. After all, there’s nothing quite like getting advice from someone who selects dancers for a living.

Here’s what he shared with us…

Rick Tjia, Photo by Michael Slobodian

I was a dancer for about 27 years, of which about 15 of it was as a professional. I have been a talent scout for dance at Cirque du Soleil for the last 9 years, and in my experience there is something that stands out to me about the way that many dancers approach job searches: dancers seem to wait until they see a casting call to act.  Their career management strategy is generally to wait for a role or a position to open up, to wait for opportunities to come their way.

General good management practices, however, dictate that leaving actions to the last minute are usually a poor planning choice for just about everything. Acting last-minute means that people end up having to go with the only choice available, instead of increasing the odds of obtaining the ideal choice. Dance career management often falls under this last-minute type process. Part of what talent agencies actually do is to manage this last-minute industry model.

Since most people tend to make choices that favor situations they know, many hiring choices will be made with the tried and true: if the hirer knows whom he’s hiring already and has a good idea at the outset what he’s getting into, he will have a tendency to go with that.

Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as having said, “Ability is nothing without opportunity.” I would follow up by saying, “Intelligence and vision create opportunity.”  One needs to create an environment where opportunity is most likely to visit. Part of that is being proactive and not reactive; letting people know who you are before a job opening even exists. There is the general impression among employers that familiarity means less risk. So let employers know you’re there.  The truth is, many times when a casting call is advertised—when an audition is posted—it is in actuality already too late.

But it is an art to let people know you exist and how you dance without harassing them. Overselling is as bad as not selling at all.

Since I have spent almost the last decade casting for Cirque du Soleil, let me put this into context with respect to Cirque du Soleil. Cirque has gone so far as to set up its entire casting system on this preparatory principle.  Most auditions (what we call “general auditions”) are done simply to get to know you and what you do—and to get the best of that on video. When the casting call comes… well, we too go with what we know: we pull out videos of people who have already auditioned.

Think about it: a very slow casting year at Cirque du Soleil would be to cast about 200 artists. If we were to go about casting in the traditional way – that is, post the casting calls as they come, then hold an audition to fill the call – we would be doing a minimum of 200 auditions per year. That’s more than one audition every two days. And with the reputation of having some of the best artists in the world in our casts, statistically the odds are not in our favor that the best artist for the job would always be available for an audition on the exact day of the audition. That is, IF they happen to be in the same country as the audition.

It doesn’t take an experienced casting agent to know that this does not make any sense, neither time-wise, nor economically. So we hold general dance auditions for every dance role possible all at the same time, videotape it for our electronic database, and make preliminary casting choices when the casting calls come using that video footage. That way we can hold one to three auditions per discipline family per year, instead of 200 or more.

And when no pre-auditioned dancer in the database fits the casting call? Then we look at the video demos of artists who are waiting for the next audition—hence, the importance of actually sending us one, not when you see a casting call, but as soon as you’re ready to show us what you’ve got.

But nothing can replace seeing people dance live, right? True. But a first choice by an artistic director can easily be made on video (no matter what a lot of them might say ;-)). After that, a follow-up audition would already be a first callback. Much less hassle and much less expensive for everyone involved, both for the company hiring and for the dancer(s) being considered.

Moses Pendleton, artistic director of Momix, was quoted by Dance Magazine as saying:

“Technology is going to develop in ways that could radically change the audition process. I imagine a time when there will be an international web registry of dancers. We could draw from a wider pool, and it would be more democratic. Right now, we are limited by who can actually fly to an audition. We would like to be able to hunt for talent much the way Cirque du Soleil combs the world for the best gymnasts. In the future we will be able to do that via the web.”

He’s absolutely right. I would just like to add that we hunt for all talent that way, not just gymnasts, and that our “international web registry of dancers” already exists. All you have to do is put yourself in it.

BIO: Born in Columbia, Missouri, Rick Gavin Tjia spent most of his youth in Gainesville, Florida, where at age eight he began studies in tap dancing. Over the course of the next several years, he branched out into professional studies of classical ballet, jazz and contemporary dance, eventually training with such teachers as David Howard, Finis Jhung, Christine Busch, Bruce Marks, Laura Young and Geri Houlihan, among others.

He also began training in music, spending nine years playing the trumpet which led to the beginnings of composition at age 14, eventual professional playing contracts, and, more recently, guitar studies. After having had an extensive career in dance and acting that includes performances with companies such as Ballet Austin, Boston Ballet and Delta Festival Ballet, as well as three years of work in film and television in Los Angeles (working with choreographers like Twyla Tharp, Joe Layton, and film directors like Mark Rydell, and James Brooks), Rick joined La La La Human Steps in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in1993. After an eight year stint with La La La Human Steps which ended in December 2000, Rick has returned to music composition (both classical and alternative rock) and choreography.

He has also been a Talent Scout at Cirque du Soleil since 2004.

Filed Under: Auditions, Career Tagged With: casting call, Cirque du Soleil, dance career, dance jobs, rick tjia, talent agencies

Global Dance Network

April 16, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jessica Wilson

Global Dance Network has just been launched after a two year build as a huge social networking site for all styles of dance worldwide, from ballet to street dance. In an incredibly powerful yet easy to navigate resource, GDN holds a multitude of dance-related articles, reviews, a jobs and auditions recruitment system, an online dance context, details of dance events, forums, discount coupons and more. The founders of GDN advocate the enormity of the site as partly social network, part information platform, part interactive dance contest, encompassing everything dance-related for the dance enthusiast, student and teacher.

As a virtual dance community, GDN has become the host of the ultimate features of a dance website through the evolution of a social networking site to provide more for its users. The website justifies a multitude of reasons for dancers to spend even more time communicating about dance on considerably more levels than has been achieved previously, without losing sight of the dance aesthetic. The huge achievement that has emerged as the result of the building of the GDN emphasises, now more than ever, the vast importance of keeping the dance spirit alive for now and the future.

A main feature of the new site is the incredibly interactive dance contest, the “Global Dance Chart” competition. Members of the GDN site can enter a video of themselves dancing in any of the fourteen categories, which immediately goes live on the site.  Other users and even the general public can then vote for videos, with votes displayed in real time. The player can be used like a television, allowing users to flick between dance channels, styles and videos whilst voting. The creators of the GDN aim to make this the best real time dance contest anywhere on the internet, representing their huge investment into the site. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Online Dance Resources, Organizations Tagged With: dance jobs, global dance network, social network for dancers

Dance Jobs: Instructor Of Dance, Central Michigan University

July 14, 2010 by 4dancers

Central Michigan University is searching for a full-time Instructor of Dance to work in the Department of Communication and Dramatic Arts. This is for the 2010-2011 academic year, and the position requires an MFA in dance or an MA with related professional experience. To find out more, visit the page where the job is listed.

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Filed Under: 4teachers, JOBS Tagged With: dance jobs, instructor of dance

Dance Jobs: Santa Barbara City College, Dance Instructor

December 22, 2009 by 4dancers

This position begins in August of 2010, and it is for the Department of PE/Health/Recreation at Santa Barbara City College. It is a 1-year temporary contract, and the application deadline is February 5, 2010. Might be the right job for someone looking for a little bit of sunshine. Can you tell I live in the Midwest?

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Filed Under: 4teachers, JOBS Tagged With: dance instructor, dance jobs, JOBS, santa barbara city college

Dance Jobs: University Of North Carolina, Ballet Faculty – School of Dance

December 12, 2009 by 4dancers

Since I just featured a school from the state, I thought I might add a job opportunity from there as well. The University of North Carolina School Of The Arts is searching for a Ballet Faculty member for the School of Dance. The appointment begins in September of 2010, and the review for the postion will start on January 15, 2010. If you are interested, see the job description for more details.

 

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Filed Under: 4teachers, JOBS Tagged With: ballet faculty, dance jobs, job, school of dance, school of the arts, university of north carolina

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