Bloc-ed from Being Seen

I have a lot to update on but I'm going to go in order. Last week was my Spring Break and I planned on using it to figure out what I was going to be doing with my life, corporate wise. Meaning...getting my resume and cover letter ready to send out to different companies. That didn't really work out. I did look for places and set up a temp agency profile(which for some reason isn't activating right...) but I was still on my "I love to dance" high that I focused more on finding auditions to go to rather then focus on those "office jobs." That's a problem because I have less then 2 months til graduation!

Well..I can't change the past so lets jump to Saturday. Oh, Saturday..what a crazy day. I woke up really early and took an In the Heights workshop/random open class, I really don't know what to call it, at BDC. Luis Salgado taught and it was great. I originally felt out of my element having had no prior training in Latin dance but the more he talked about letting go and having fun, the more I was able to actually do so. What a great class it was! We learned part of the "Club" scene. Latin dance is no joke; it is by no means easy. We even did a little partnering section near the end. I had a lot of fun. I definitely plan on expanding my versatility and jumping on the Latin bandwagon. Luis spoke about dance classes from Eddy Torres that are offered in the city. I looked it up and once I end school I will be able to test out the beginner classes. Before that, though, I plan on trying the Latin Jazz at BDC with Maria Torres.

After a great class at BDC, I headed over to Ailey to audition for Bloc Talent Agency. There is so much to say about this day, I don't know where to begin. From the outside some might say it was a complete waste of time but from the things that happened to me I can say that I'm really satisified with how things turned out.

First of all. No matter what anyone says, maybe because I'm a newbie in the business, typecasting sucks. Yea you get out early and aren't misled to thinking you have a shot but, unlike what the coordinator said, IT IS personal..and you do feel bad, lol. The morning audition was for contemporary/musical theater dancers and there were A LOT. We all packed into LLC and were broken into groups to be typecasted. It felt more like a model call then a dance call. When my group went, we stood in 2 lines while they pointed and commented on us(with music blasting which wasn't for dancing but to cover their voices). It was awkward for me because it was unclear whether or not we should smile and acknowledge them or just stand there. Well, needless to say I was typecasted out aka CUT. It was such a surreal feeling because you intially think, "thats it?!?!" I almost would have rathered stayed the whole way thru and actually danced and then got cut. I didn't even move for them. That's the tough part when you are a DANCER. Well, after encouragement from friends I decided to wait around for the hip hop call. Now, I wouldn't call myself a hiphop dancer but I figured maybe I had the look for that one.

I'm really happy I stayed through the madness and long lines for that one because I would have never hung out with my friend Daniel and his friend Corey who was with his friend Tamikko. (did that all make sense). Well I would describe both Corey and Tamikko as veterans slash the know more about the business then newbies. I learned so much about the business from them, specifically Tamikko. From the moment she started talking, I immediately thought in my head that she would be a great person to interview. She's an undeground freestyler who is single-handedly fusing the world of touring and clubbing. Yes, I had to ask her to define both because I had NO idea what she was talking about. From our conversation, she sounds like a beginner legend. She's worked with so many people in the industry and has her own group of girls that she books for gigs. The only thing she is lacking is an agent...which is why she was at the audition.

One of the reasons I was so interested in her story was because, in terms of dance, we are complete opposites. She admitted her weakness was learning choreography and my weakness, that I think EVERYONE knows, is that I cannot improv/freestyle. Her claim to fame is freestyle. The part of our conversation that I can never forget is her talking about how she doesn't understand how people can just reproduce choreography that was just given to them. My response was that I don't understand how someone can turn on music and she can just start moving. I don't know, it was just a really cool conversation. I learned so much. I'm trying to figure out if I will write my final freelance article on her because it was such a fascinating experience.

Back to Bloc. They hiphop call was ridiculous there were like 1000 people there and then told us around 4:30pm, when it was supposed to start, to come back in an hour because they weren't ready. When we came back there was a line outside of Ailey and then were basically hurding us like cattle to walk up to the 6th floor to get looked at and then walk all the way down if we were cut. Well, I was type casting again. Lol...all I can do is laugh because after the entire day it wasn't worth sulking over. I get that that's just the way the business works but jeez it's annoying. I will still apply to them and other agencies because it's just something that can be an asset for dancers looking for dance and commerical work.

Looking back, I'm glad I went to the audition because I was able to get a glimpse of the industry and the competition. Like most people say there will be a thousand No's to the very few Yes's. All I can do is work on my craft and try to increase those Yes's.