What ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ taught us this week about auditioning

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June 10, 2015 by Nicole

One of the best parts of summer is back! So You Think You Can Dance has returned to our TV sets bringing a refreshed panel of judges and a new competition format. I love this show for the way it showcases dance on a weekly basis and brings high quality choreography and performance into our living rooms. But it can also be educational.

I saw a big lesson on this week’s episode (Detroit auditions). Gaby Diaz took her place on stage at the Detroit auditions, after being cut just one week earlier in the Dallas auditions. She came back, a week later, with a retooled solo and performed again for the judges to the best of her ability. But this time, Gaby made it – she got her ticket to Vegas. I thought her story was awesome for a few reasons.

#1
If we’re being honest, what really changed in a week? Did Gaby become a better or a different dancer? Probably not – a week is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. So, you can be a ‘no’ one week and a ‘yes’ the next without totally changing everything? YES.

It’s so easy to get discouraged after hearing no, especially if it’s something you really wanted. But it’s really important to remember that just because you were a no today, doesn’t mean that answer won’t change tomorrow. Sometimes no can feel like you aren’t good enough – but Gaby showed us that’s not the case. She was good enough to be a yes, it just needed slightly different circumstances to happen. Which brings me to….

#2
A multitude of factors go into auditioning. Sometimes small choices (like music or clothing) can make a difference in the overall opinion of your judges. In Gaby’s case, the judges did not respond to her solo. It was not the right piece to demonstrate her talents to them. Again, it didn’t mean she wasn’t good enough – it just showed that sometimes your intentions don’t come through in your performance.

But Gaby was smart – she took the feedback and reworked her solo into a piece that had a better chance of satisfying the judges. And it paid off.

#3
Dance requires courage and persistence. Gaby could have given up after her Dallas audition. But she didn’t. She persisted, knowing that she could make some smart changes that might dramatically affect her results, and it worked. She was also brave, getting back on that stage, face to face with judges who told her no, just days earlier. She wasn’t afraid to come back and that is necessary in the dance audition world.

What have you learned from watching dance shows on TV?