Last week I had the privilege of sitting in on an audition for CORPUS, a theatrical dance company with a studio in Toronto’s Dovercourt House. I wanted to see for myself whether the reality of a dance audition bears any relation to what we see on TV and in movies.
There was a lot riding on the try out – the chance to join the company for a tour of Western Europe, Japan and Korea this summer. More than 130 dancers/actors threw their hats into the ring, all vying for just two spots, one male and one female. Obviously, the odds were not in anyone’s favour and yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of resignation or fatalism about the group of 25 performers I watched go through their paces.
Actors and dancers are a unique breed, confident and courageous enough to keep coming out fighting no matter how slim their chances of actually grabbing the brass ring.
“I don’t know if anybody ever really gets used to being passed over,” says artistic director David Danzon, left. “After awhile you become a little immune to it. Probably there’s always a bit of disappointment when you don’t get called back or when you don’t get the role but as an actor you know it’s part of the game; you’re going to get some and you’re going to lose some. You have to believe in yourself and believe that you’re talented enough to keep going.”
Last week’s auditions were structured as a series of group exercises led by CORPUS dancer Michael Caldwell, below right. The first test was deceptively simple; each actor was asked to walk to the centre of the room and introduce themselves by saying their name, then repeat their name while making a physical gesture of some kind, anything they cared to do to animate their moniker.
“It’s very simple but it’s also a bit terrifying,” suggests Danzon. “You can tell a lot just by the way they hold themselves, whether they’re looking at you or not, whether they claim the space or sort of hide and try to get it over with. Some people want to shine but then there are some who shine too much. You can see a lot in those few seconds.”
Danzon was seated at a table with former CORPUS dancer William Yong (Zata Omm Dance Projects), below left, who was recruited to help him narrow the field. “It helps to have a second set of eyes,” Danzon tells me at the end of the day when the parade of talent has come and gone. “Sometimes a big crowd actually helps to make someone stand out,” he says. “Even in the first exercise about their names we could tell that some of them had something special, for sure.”
Next, Caldwell taught the group a series of steps and movements, which he then strung together into a short routine. I was amazed at how quickly the performers picked up the choreography; within a matter of minutes the large group was moving in unison as if they’d been practicing the steps all morning.
“We were looking for people who could pick up the choreography quickly,” explains Danzon. “It’s a lot to take in at once; even if sometimes they don’t get it right away, I can still see if they have potential. I have to judge, first, if I can work with them, second, how quickly they’ll be able to pick up the part, and third — and this is the most important consideration — whether they have the necessary presence and focus, as well as basic talent. You can teach certain things but not others; I’m looking for good training, charisma, strong presence and focus, and some technique.”
Once the group appeared to have the hang of the routine they were asked to perform five at a time in order to give Danzon and Yong a better look. With that done, the “judges” compared notes and selected five performers to stay on for another test while the rest were thanked and dismissed. I followed the larger crowd out and noted a slight drop in energy but no long faces.
Having to think on their feet and perform under pressure is great exercise for an actor whether or not they get the part and I got the sense that all of the hopefuls were just happy to have had the chance to strut their stuff for 30 minutes, to see how their peers performed and assess how well they measured up.
The remaining five were given a more complex exercise, which required tighter choreography and a bit of speaking. And then the field was narrowed again with three performers being thanked and dismissed and the remaining two — Jillian Peever, left, and Masuyo Higashide — being coaxed through a little singing exercise before being invited to a call-back the next day. All told, Danzon and Yong called back six men and 10 women.
“A performer might be terrific but they might be too tall or whatever and that’s the part they can’t do anything about,” says Danzon. “I’m looking to build a cohesive ensemble and one of the considerations has to do with the composition of the group. In one of the pieces, A Flock of Flyers, we are representing the 217th Canadian Flying Squadron so the makeup of the group must reflect the multicultural, multi-ethnic make-up of the country. So I’m looking for that on top of everything else.”
By day’s end Danzon was clearly wrung out but also somewhat buoyed by the prospects. “Overall, I thought there were some strong performers today,” he said, “not many, but some. Tomorrow we’ll have a much better sense, we’ll do some more exercises and then we’ll cut a few more and then it will come down to one-on-one interviews. I’m going to be touring with these people for a long time so I want to make sure we can all be in the same minivan together for two months.”
Watch for a new CORPUS production to be staged in Toronto next fall, tentatively titled The Wedding Machine.
Photos by Christopher Jones
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My 2 year old daughter loves watching Corpus’ Les Moutons almost everyday. We first saw them at the AGO and she is now captivated.