The point of EDAS is to get a group of around 50 dancers and to work for three weeks as a large-scale company. Other than daily classes we have rehearsals for the several pieces we'll be dancing- some of which use all of the dancers and some which don't, which of course brings about the frightful word- auditions.
If you know you are physically going to an audition,you can sort of prepare for it. But here, we are watched throughout the day by teachers and choreographers, so it becomes a sort of Big Brother meets the X Factor which is very unnerving.
Two days ago, for instance, we were watched by several mysterious ballet teachers during our classical lesson with Jania Batista. Following that, some of the audience remained to watch our Pas de Deux class, and an even smaller number stayed to watched Men's Technique (I'm guessing women's pointe was more popular). After this morning of scrutiny, the cast of Carmina Burana was announced. As were the soloists in Les Sylphidesand Scrooge, Batista´s adaptation of The Nutcracker.
After lunch and Graham class (I still do not understand who thought of scheduling Graham after lunch) with Maggie Boogart (another open class, apparently) the cast of Balague, the Graham inspired piece was also announced. We were more aware each time of what was happening, and although we tried to remain cool, you couldn't cut the tension in the room even with Jason Voorhees' chainsaw.
The same goes for when we started rehearsing Duato's Assenblement. We knew the repetiteurs had arrived late so there was no time to play around with the material,so from the beginning we knew we had to do our best if we wanted to be in the piece. And boy did we want to. I loved the choreography but it was the most stressful rep workshop ever.
The situation remained like this until all the cast lists were up. Fo atrtunately I was dancing all the pieces I wanted to be in- including Don Q and even a solo I created for assessment at NSCD. We could finally relax and enjoy rehearsals and class.But this got me thinking that companies may well function like this, and if that is the case, we better start strengthening our minds as well as our centres.
Being scrutinized by a panel like this is not a pleasant situation, but it definetely is a very common one. I suppose we have to learn to dance under their critical eyes and perform with the same tranquility as if you were singing in the shower. I'm not naïve enough to believe I'll ever achieve this, but experiences like these do help to toughen you up.
And another important thought: regardless of the stress of auditioning, keep positive with your colleagues, be fair and supportive regardless of the competition. If you don't get the part, it's them who take you out for a drink afterwards.
