Yes, yes I did. I auditioned for SYTYCD season 5 in Seattle. It was kind of a quick decision. This was the last audition and I told myself if I had the opportunity to audition, I would. The opportunity didn't take shape until last minute to I decided to do it. Why not? The worst that would happen is that I wouldn't make it.
So, with plane ticket help from Trev and some detail research of where the audition was being held, etc. I began my journey.
Tom dropped me off at the Atl Airport Friday afternoon and I got on a standby flight to Seattle ( I even got first class which was a nice added bonus). I got to Seattle and took a cab to the Moore Theatre. I checked out the digs and met a few people already in line on the street. I checked into the Moore hotel right next door and got a European style room for the night. Eurpean meaning your room has a sink and there are about 5 rooms that share a toilet/shower (No, I didn't take a shower). Basicly everyone on my floor and in the hotel were there for the audition so I met and talked with a bunch of new people and made some friends.
I slept for a couple hours and got in line about 2am. The show camera's came out about 7am and the doors opened at 8am. It was FREEZING, WINDY and it started raining an hour or so before the doors opened. Thank goodness for my umbrella even though I didn't have the best jacket. I met some nice people in line who let me use one of their extra chairs.
Everyone piled into the theatre and sat down. They played music for a little while and everyone did the best they could to stretch in their seats and get ready (after sitting outside for hours). One of the producers talked to everyone and explained the process: just because you are the best dancer does not mean you will make it onto the show, etc, etc. This is a TV show so they are looking for so many different things: personality, look, ability, etc. Since this was the last audition spot, they've seen everything. They gave us some "do's" and "don'ts" and got started.
What you see on TV is not actually how it is at first. What you're seeing is the 3rd round of the audition process. The 1st two rounds are freestyle for the producers. If you get through those, then you dance for the judges for the 3rd round of your own choreography.
They break you into groups of 10 per the style you're dancing. I decided to do jazz. There were definitely more contemporary and hip hop dancers with a chunk of specialized dancers like bollywood, salsa, etc. You line up in two groups of five on either side of the stage....and you have NO IDEA what song you're freestyling to until you're on stage and the music starts. Each spot on the stage is numbered. When the music starts, number one goes first. The proceed to watch and say "next" until everyone has gone. Each person gets about 15-20 seconds to dance on the stage and show what you've got. Once everyone in your group has gone, everyone gets in one line and they either give you a yellow ticket for the next round or they let you go.
No one in my group went on. It was so interesting, fun and quite the rush of adrenaline. I haven't done an audition in a while and that type of freestyling is difficult. I was sooo glad that I did it and had no regrets. There were amazing dancers that made it through and amazing dancers that got cut. What was clear to me though, is that it was a total casting call. It's a TV show...hence the crazy dancers that get put through for viewing purposes.
After the audition, I hung out around downtown Seattle. I went to Pike's Market, ate lunch and walked around. I took a cab back to the airport late Saturday afternoon. It took me a long time to get a flight home since I was flying standby. A night at the airport and 3/4 of a book later, I made it home. Whew!
The trip was worth it and I'm so glad that I did it.
