Character Performer Audition
Hello friends! I just wanted to update everyone on how my DCP character performer audition went yesterday! I auditioned at the Ann Arbor location at a dance studio called Central City Dance. It was a very nice/cute little studio located in Canton Michigan. My audition was scheduled for 11:30, with check in being at 11 so I woke up around 8 to make sure that I allowed myself plenty of time to get ready. After I applied my makeup, chose an outfit, and ate breakfast I headed out the door at 10:30 since the audition was only about a minute from where I was staying. I got there shortly after 10:30 and there were already SO many people there. There was about 150 people total at the audition. After waiting about 15-20 minutes we got called back into a room, and we got assigned a number as we walked in. I was number 71! I got into the other room at it was filled with around 30 people, who were all extremely nice! I had tried to do research about the audition and everyone always talked about how incredible the people were and they were definitely right. I made friends instantaneously, I even ran into 2 people I knew! So while we waited in the room a Disney casting director walked in and had us all pull out our phones. It was here that we did the sign in process. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. They gave us a website to go to and it was there we typed the location, our names, our number, and our email! It took about a minute haha. After that we continued waiting for about a half hour, and then they brought us into another room. It was there we began learning a simple dance and a small animation. The dance was very easy, trust me I'm not much of a dancer, and it was easy to pick up! The first animation that we had to do with the dance was just a simple meet and greet with a guest. We acted like we were a character having an interaction with a guest of any age we chose. The key here is just to be as big as you can, and SMILE! After we learned everything we needed they lined us up in groups of 5 and we did the dance as a parade performer would. We walked toward the casting director and did animation, then the dance 3 times! I was nervous but it honestly was so fun. We danced to the song "Good is the new Bad" from the new Disney movie Descendants. After everyone got through that part of the audition we all sat down on the ground. The casting director informed us that if our number was not called then we were no longer in consideration. They called "71" and I was so surprised that I practically screamed that I was there! They cut around 100 of the 150 people who came to the audition. It was crazy to see how quickly they did everything too. So after the first cut we waited in another room for about another half hour. We were called back in and that is where we were measured, and learned a harder dance and 2 longer animations. The dance was definitely a struggle for me. It was super fun, but this dance was more technical. But PSA it's not about the dance so much as it is about being big and smiling! I can't stress that enough. While we were waiting to audition there were so many helpful people in the room helping everyone practice the dance. Like I said the people were so wonderful, it really did not feel like we were competing against each other. When I went into the room to audition they had us split into groups of 5 again based on our numbers. We did the dance and then the animations. I messed up the dance a lot...both times haha but I think my animation went okay! The casting director told us that he could tell that we were a little afraid of the dance so he had us come back after everyone was finished to do the animation again. When we came back in to do the animation again, I honestly think mine went about as good as the first time. So it could've been better but it was kind of hard trying to come up with different and creative movements. Once the audition was finished we stood in a line and smiled, and then we were free to go. We received a paper instructing us on what would happen next and we left! I did my best and now I'm just waiting and hoping for the best! I'm still in submission so I'm not sure how this will all go down but I guess we'll just have to see what the next month brings! This wasn't beautifully written lol but I hope it helps someone else out with their audition! Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me!