Everything You Need To Know To Nail That Callback

By Brian Henninger

So you made it all the way to the callback of your audition. Thats amazing!… Now what?  How do callbacks differ from the first several rounds of an audition call? What should your strategies be for a call back versus a first round cut? How can you continue to set yourself apart from the pack when it gets down to the nitty gritty? Lets tackle all of these questions so that you can go into your next audition situation with the right mindset!

First. How do callbacks differ from the first rounds of an audition? There are two big ways that callbacks can differ from the first rounds of an audition.

• The call back is either later on the same day as the first audition round, or on another day all together. This is important because the people judging the audition have a break from looking at you so they will be seeing you with fresh eyes which makes it extra important for you to remind them why they kept you through the first cuts in the first place.  Making a strong second impression is extremely important during call backs.  In fact I would say that anything you have done up to that point in the audition is irrelevent and you should treat call backs in some aspects as the first round of auditions. Make a big impression and make it last!
• They now want to see even more of your personal style and also work ethic. Even more then before the judges are going to be looking at HOW you work as much as they will be looking at your the over all product you are presenting. They want to see how you take direction, and how you adapt to changing circumstances. Often times they will pair you with different people to dance as they are trying to see what looks match up well together for the given job.

What should your strategies be for a callback? For call backs you need to be focused on just one or two main strategies. You need to make sure your being consistent. This means that every time that music comes on you are performing that combination full out ( there is NO time for marking at an audition when your on the floor), and that you are consistently giving a QUALITY performance (Your hitting all the correct details in the choreography etc.)  At a call back they are really looking to see how your movement quality improves with hours or sometimes days of time between the first call and second. So you need to make sure you PRACTICE!

How can you continue to set yourself apart? This gets difficult as you get down to the end because if you’ve been leaving it all on the floor every time and showing all of your skills in your freestyles then you should have little left in your bag of tricks by this point but here are some good tips on how to continue to set yourself apart when it gets down to the wire.

• Consistency at this point is KEY! you would be surprised how many people shoott themselves in the foot by trying to do too much in terms of performance and freestyle at this point and end up looking sloppy and desperate.  Have a game plan and stick too it. Don’t let what others are doing affect that game plan in your head.
• In my opinion it is alright to repeat tricks or repeat certain choices you are making if they are working and you feel confident. Again showing consistency while still showing that your quality of performance is improving the whole time is what the real goal is here. If you have a move or a choice that you’ve been holding onto now is definitely the time to let it out! just make sure whatever you do it doesn’t take away from the consistency in your performance.

So to recap. Callbacks are really about showing your improvement over time, your consistency along with that improvement, and finally your ability to dance and match well with other looks. At this point it really isn’t about your dancing anymore as much as it is about who you match well with. If you have made it all the way to the final callbacks then rest assured and feel VALIDATED in the fact that you are talented and capable of booking the job. Whether or not you will book it at this point is completely in the hands of the judges. This doesn’t mean that their minds cant be swayed on one direction or another but don’t stress about that as it is a waste of energy. Focus on you and be proud you have made it this far!  If you go into the callback with this attitude then you will find you are more relaxed and able to give a better performance which inevitably will lead you booking a job!

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