Can You Dance 2016

Can you dance is a touring dance convention around the UK which was created and lead by Matt Flint and Tom Shilcock. So me and my friend Anna Payne applied for the Norwich UEA sportspark one a couple months in advance as that one is closest to us. We purchased the silver ticket which basically allows us to take part in the workshops and watch the showcases. We weren’t in the same group so it allowed us to watch each other.

What it is, is basically a bunch of UK choreographers teach routines to groups across the whole day. Each person takes part in 3 workshops, 1 jazz, 1 contemporary and 1 commercial. Each workshop, the tutor hands out 1 t-shirt and 2 other prizes which this year where Capezio love heart stress balls I believe. Dance colleges are also their promoting their colleges and also scouting and giving out scholarships. There is also a showcase at lunch for dance colleges and also one at the end of the day for local dance schools.

My Day

• When we first got into the building we headed straight into the main arena and brought some Can You Dance T-shirts and also had a look around the colleges and went to Evolution Foundation College’s stand as that is where I’m going in September.
• Then it was time for my first lesson. We headed to one of the inside courts and my first lesson was with Tom Shilcock doing a commercial routine. The routine was to One Republic’s song Love Runs Out. I absolutely loved this routine and wish I went too the front but I stayed at the back so that my mum could film me aha. #dancemum You can find the video on my Instagram but it’s very blurry.
• Then we headed to the squash courts so that Anna could take her first lesson with Dominic Lawrence and then before that ended, I went to find my next room and class.
• I was in the Dance studio next with Matt Flint for my Jazz workshop. This time I stood in the middle but Matt kept changing the lines over and put us into smaller groups near the end which meant I ended up at the front a lot of the time. But that didn’t matter because it’s always about standing out and I really enjoyed the routine. The routine was to The River of Dreams/Keeping The Faith/Only the Good Die Young from Movin’ Out The Musical.
• After the class finished I went to see my mum at the back to get a drink of water and Matt started to hand out the prizes and he gave this amazing little girl the t-shirt and then he went to give it the hearts and he was like ‘I’m going to give my heart too…’ and he couldn’t find who he was looking for so my mum decided to nudge me forward and he looked directly at me and was like ‘you’ and I was not expecting that at all. It was very kind of him and I was very happy to be chosen out of 40 people and be in the top 3. Then we headed to the main arena again so Anna could have her class with Matt.
• At lunch we then watched the college showcase which featured Masters, Tiffany Theatre College and many more. I also went to Evo’s stand to meet a girl called Carla who was going in September as well and also going to be in the same house as me. I also got a picture with Matt Flint (which I can’t find anywhere, but I will post immediately after finding it).
• After lunch I was ready for my last lesson with Dominic Lawrence, who is the most amazing choreographer and really pushed me. I did a different routine to Anna’s. Our routine was to a remix of Say My Name by Beyoncé. I think this is my favourite routine that I’ve learned from a professional. You can see footage of half of it on my Instagram. It was then time for Anna’s last lesson at the inside courts.
• We stayed to watch a few of the performances of the dance colleges but not too many as we were really hungry and wanted to get that McDonalds!

I really enjoyed my day at Can You Dance and hopefully I will be there again next year!

 

Auditions: Tips, Tricks an Advice

From previous experience and also advice for future me, I thought it would be a good idea to write up some ideas for both you and me.

Auditions vary so much. I’ve auditioned for a dance companys, dance colleges, musicals and plays which I will go into detail on another blog for you guys. After auditioning for all these, I have come up with a list on tips, tricks, advice and preparing. Some stuff may be repeated but at least it will stick with you and remind you.

Dance Company’s

I have had two different experiences with this so I’m just going to do an overall sum up.

• Keep hydrated – Drink plenty of water : Whether it’s a full day audition, half a day or just a couple of hours, always ALWAYS have water on you. You are going to be dancing full out so keeping hydrated is a very important thing.
• Make sure you understand what you are auditioning for – Research : If you auditioning for a more ballet/contemporary company make sure you have basic technique and understanding of that specific thing and if it’s more of an all round dance show company then make sure you have an understanding of all dance types this may include tap and hip hop. Things that you may not done much of.
• Personality : Make sure you have something that’s going to make you stand out above everyone else. This may be just being really friendly and you get on with everyone, this makes you a team player and shows you can get on with everyone or it could be something unique about the way you dance. Make the choreography your own and give it some emotion. This is difficult for some to do so you may be able to stand out against others.
• Food : If you are at a full day audition definitely bring some snacks to keep you going. This includes smoothies, fruit and veg. A little bit of chocolate is good but not too much.
• Improvisation : Every dance audition I have done, at the end of the already choreographed piece, they have asked for improvisation. As you know this now, you can already start thinking of something that is going to make the panel say wow. Maybe it’s something out of your comfort zone but the panel won’t know that.

Dance Colleges

I have auditioned for two dance colleges. One professional and one just normal college.

• Preparation : One college wanted a song prepared and the other wanted a dance prepared. If they ask for something specific to be prepared, it will either be a song, dance routine or a monologue. If they do ask, make sure you have learnt it. No college likes someone is unprepared. This shows that you are not reliable. If you want to be really prepared make sure you have to of everything. Songs: Musical and one contemporary. Dance: A jazz piece and a contemporary. Monologues: A contemporary and a Shakespeare.
• Keep hydrated!
• Personality : Make sure you stand out!
• Triple Threat : A triple threat is someone who can act, sing and dance. Even if your auditioning for a dance college, the chances of having to do acting and singing workshops are very high. Both colleges I auditioned for I had to do all 3, even though I am mainly a dancer.
• Food : Keep eating those healthy snacks.
• Dress to Impress : Chances of everyone wearing black leotards? Very high. Wear a different colour to make you stand out against everyone else. If you only have black leotards, make sure it’s not plain. Maybe it has detailing or lace. Make sure it’s something different.
• Improvisation : Once again, you may be asked to improvise so make sure you’ve got some tricks and moves to make you stand out.
• Technique : Nearly every college is going to have a ballet everyday on their timetable. If you turn up to an audition with a ballet workshop and you’ve never done it. That’s okay but the panel will be able to tell that you are struggling and will probably ask you to get some training in it (from experience).
• Rejection : You have to have a thick skin. Not every college is going to want you. You could have the same technique and looks that someone else who has already been accepted has and they you could be rejected and other colleges could be waiting for someone just like you. It all depends. If you get rejected, you come back 10x stronger next time.

Musicals/Plays

I have auditioned for one musical and one play during my year west Suffolk. Both auditions lasted over 3 days and all 2 hours a day. There’s not much to these as they vary so much.

• Keep hydrated!
• Prepare : I had to learn a monologue for the play with a friend and make sure you learn it. I forgot it and felt like an idiot so I’m warning you guys to not make that mistake.
• Listen : Make sure you understand what they are asking you to do and you get on with it because if not they will pick you out and you won’t get a role.
• Rejection : Once again, each role has a specific personality and look and if you don’t fit that then you probably won’t get that part but make sure you really want it because they may change their minds.
• Personality : Stand out!

 

So this is just an overall look on auditions and I will do a more detailed blog on just the auditions I have done.

Move It 2016 – Saturday

Day 2 of Move It was just as amazing as Day 1. We headed to London in the morning, including a little starbucks break and then we went to the Double Tree Hilton Hotel just outside the Excel where we just got everything out of the car as we were staying there that night. P.S they give you free cookies. How could the day get any better?

Once we were sorted with the Hotel we walked straight over to the Excel and headed into Move It.

I pretty much spent the whole morning showing my parents around everything and watching a few performances on the main stage. My parents also treated me to some new dance clothes which you can see me wearing in the Ryan Jenkins masterclass on my Instagram. I also bumped into Ryan again while he was doing his meet&greet and grabbed a quick #WerkIt picture with him. (which i’m totally doing wrong but oops oh well)

I wasn’t going to the Evo meet up until just after Lunch so we quickly grabbed some lunch from the Bagel shop and then headed back to their stand. It was so lovely meeting everyone that had been accepted so far and I had already made friends with one girl called Sophie and my parents went back to the Hotel and I spent the afternoon with her. We watched a few main stage performances and then we jumped in the queue to meet Abby Lee Miller and Brynn. It took us about an hour to get to them and in order to meet them you weren’t allowed to take pictures and had to of brought merch so I treated myself to a t-shirt which they both signed. I also had a really nice chat to Abby about my name and she was just so lovely.

After that it was time to head to the showcase stage to watch Evolution Foundation College performance which was so amazing and has got me even more excited for September.

Then I rushed off to get the Ryan’s Masterclass which you can find on my instagram and that concludes Day 2 of Move It. Next year I’m so excited to be there with Evo and I’m definitely going to vlog it.

Move It 2016 – Friday

Move It is this amazing dance convention that takes place over 3 days at the Excel Center In London. All of the top dance colleges and dance wear brands all come to the excel with stands to give you out information on their colleges and with shops. Proffessional dancers and colleges also hold workshops that you can pay for when you buy your tickets previously to the date. There is also a main stage where the colleges perform and professional dancers perform and there is a freestyle stage where you can also perform. I had the most amazing two days at this convention and it was also my first time going so I was very excited.

On the Friday I went with the college (West Suffolk College) and we all got to college for 9am and the off we headed. Just for started the coach trip was amazing so we were all buzzing. As soon as we got there Me and Anna made a leg for it. It was quite a walk from where the bus dropped us off so we like speed walked to the entrance. ^Picture above. We got our stamps and headed straight to the main stage so we could watch a few performances before going around the exhibits. I can’t remember what we watched but we definitely watched Circus by Wilkes Academy and masters and performers college.

As the majority of us are auditioning for colleges the next year, me and a few others went to have a look around. I’ve already successfully auditioned so I was just looking at 3 year courses. While looking around I bumped into Lukas Tyrell who was the winner of Got To Dance and also my favourite dancer ever so obviously I had to meet him and get a picture and obviously Jack, Anna and Jordan wanted in as well.

       

After this we carried on looking round and got ourselves some Move It merchandise which you will see in my Saturday blog. We also looked around the dance wear brand shops like Bloch and Capezio but I thought I’d wait until I was with my parents and then I went to Evolution’s stand so that I could say Hi to Miss Jacqui and also to meet some other students for next year although our meet up was on the Saturday. Then we headed back to the main stage to meet our tutors and we quickly grabbed a picture with Jennifer Ellison from Dance Mums UK.

The college had planned some other things for us so we didn’t stay the whole day at move it but I was already so excited to go back the next day with my parents.

We headed back onto the bus and into London where we went to Covent Garden to get some dinner. Our wonderful friend Jordan booked us a table at Fire & Stone which is a traditional pizza/Italian restaurant in Covent Garden. Those of us who went were me, Anna, Laura, Grace, Jack, Jordan and Shane. I had never been before but I highly recommend it as we had such a lovely meal and wasn’t to highly priced.

As us girls are all dancers and we were in Covent Garden and we had so much free time before the show. I decided to show everybody Pineapple Dance Studios as no one had been their apart from me.

What we didn’t expect is too bump into Ryan Jenkins. Our dance teacher at college has been trained by him and I absolutely adore his choreography. We asked for photos and he happily said yes. Ryan was so lovely to us all and as it was quite dark outside, he invited us inside to have more photos and he even asked us if we wanted to watch his class that night but unfortunately we had to head back to the theatre but he was so lovely and said he would make sure to say Hi to me the next day at Move It.

 

Once we were done there we headed back to the theatre, where we watched The Play That Goes Wrong, which was hilarious. And that concludes my Day 1 for Move It.

The Dance Tag!

 I thought this would be a fun little tag to start with!

1. How long have I been dancing?

I started dancing when I was 5 with Modern Theatre and I’m now 17 so 12 years.

2. What are my least favourite styles of dance?

I like everything but I would choose not to do ballet any day. Definitely over the last year I have started to enjoy it more but I would definitely prefer to do a different dance style.

3. What are my favourite styles?

Jazz/Commercial/Musical Theatre. These are definitely the ones that I can show off more in and that’s because I’ve been doing those longer than anything else. I also really enjoy tap. Tap is so free and so clever and just something that I love doing.

4. Am I a competitive dancer?

No.

5. What is one dance flaw that you have that you would change, or a flaw on your body that would help you with dance?

Flexibility! Not that this is a vital part of dancing but there are some amazing moves you can do with flexibility and unfortunately I don’t have any 😦

6. Favourite dance steps?

Kicks and Jumps by far. They’re so fun to learn and then putting them into routines makes everything so much better.

7. What do I want to improve on?

Tricks. I did a little work on them this year but I would definitely love to learn more and improve the ones I already know.

8. Barefoot or dance shoes?

Depends which dance style I’m doing.. Probably shoes because foot thongs are life and I love wearing trainers.

9. Tights or No Tights?

Footless tights all the way!

10. Favourite Dance Wear Brand?

Capezio!

11. Dance Styles I currently do?

Ballet          Tap        Jazz        Commercial/Street/Hip-Hop          Contemporary/Lyrical

Musical Theatre      Modern Theatre           Choreography

12. Is dance my favourite sport? 

Of course

13. What dancers do I look up to?

There are so many talented dancers that I look up to and I am so lucky to have met so many incredible people this years and to have actually danced with most of them. This is from professionals I have met at CanYouDance, MoveIt, People on youtube and even the older girls at college.

14. What styles of dance to I find difficult?

Ballet. I just can’t get my head around it and commercial is also a bit challenging but I love that.

15. Why do I love dance?

The main reason I love dance is that I have this amazing support from all my family and friends. If I didn’t have their support then I definitely wouldn’t be doing what I love. I also get the chance to express myself doing so many different styles from ballet to commercial.

I hope you enjoyed this and if they’re any other questions you’d like to ask, Please leave a comment below.

 

Dancing W/ Darby 1st Post

Hey Guys. This is now my second attempt at a blog. The other one kind of failed and I never updated but now I’ve finished college, I can definitely keep up to date with this one. I was going to start a vlog this time round but I’m going to wait a couple more months when I start my new college and have moved house. This blog is specifically going to focus more on dance and I really hope you enjoy this! Please follow x