Tag: casting

Dear Katie: Why Am I Always Overlooked for Lead Roles?

In our “Dear Katie” series, Miami City Ballet soloist Kathryn Morgan answers your pressing dance questions. Have something you want to ask Katie? Email [email protected] for a chance to be featured! Dear Katie, I’m always getting overlooked for lead roles. I think I’m one of the better technicians in my class, but it’s clear that […]

How Dancers Can Bounce Back After a Tough Rejection

In her senior year at Butler University, Jennifer Sydor auditioned for more than a dozen regional ballet companies—and got a string of “no, thank you” responses. “I have an athletic build, and my movement quality isn’t the typical ballet aesthetic,” Sydor says. “But I’d been laser-focused on ballet. When I didn’t get a ballet contract, […]

"Dance Moms" Wants You!

These could be your new BFFs! Calling all comp kids! Are you dreaming of making your small-screen debut? If you think your leaps are as strong as Maddie Ziegler’s, your shimmies are as fierce as Asia Monet Ray’s and your pirouettes are as sharp as Chloe Lukasiak’s, now may be your time to shine! Here’s […]

The Role That Got Away

Anyone who’s seen A Chorus Line is familiar with the high-pressure, “I hope I get it!” process of a musical theater audition. Out of hundreds of hopefuls, you have to be the one whose skills are strong enough to catch the casting director’s eye. Then comes the callback, the workshop—and, most of the time, the […]

How to Be the Ultimate Understudy

Boston Ballet’s Lauren Herfindahl is a dance-world rarity: an artist who actually likes understudying, a task most dancers see as a chore. That’s a good thing, since it’s an important part of her job as a corps member. “I choose to focus on the fact that every time I get to explore a role, even […]

Dealing with Casting Disappointments

As a young ballet student, Jonathan Porretta dreamed of dancing the Prince in Cinderella. But as he began his professional career, he realized his short stature might make that dream unreachable. “Ballet princes are expected to be tall, long and lean,” says Porretta, now a Pacific Northwest Ballet principal. “I had to come to terms […]

Newsies Meets Peter Pan on NBC

Less than two months until Peter Pan Live! on NBC! So far, we’ve been pretty excited about the cast: Christopher Walken as a tap-dancing Captain Hook? Obviously. Allison Williams (“Girls”) as Peter Pan? Yes, please. But OMG, you guys, it gets so. much. better. This week, NBC made the full casting announcement, and Newsies alums […]