Office of Admissions Blog

by Patrick McGuire, M.M. Cello

It’s been five years since I auditioned for the undergraduate program at Juilliard but I still remember the intense excitement and nervousness that I felt that day as if it were yesterday. It was the last of five college auditions I took that year and, having been practicing the repertoire for almost nine months, a climactic moment at the end of many hours of hard work. It was exciting to think that I’d be able to show the fruits of my labor in that audition, but also nerve-wracking to think about everything that might go wrong in my playing. My audition was back-to-back with a good friend of mine from the same high school. What if he got in and I didn’t? And, after preparing for so long, what if I had a memory slip or made a careless mistake?

Looking back now, I realize that I was too concerned with the outcome of the audition in the moment and not concerned enough with having fun and making music. Fortunately, a bizarre and unexpected experience in the audition room helped me to get outside of my head and into a normal mental state to play music.

Three days before I’d played an audition at a different school, and it was BAD. Even though I felt totally fine in the moments leading up to the audition, as soon as I walked into the audition room–a computer lab, strangely enough–I panicked. It felt like my arms were playing the cello and my mind was in a completely different place. One of the panelists starting dozing off, and another got up and sat down at one of the computers. After it was over, I nearly ran out of the room and hoped I wouldn’t see any of the panelists again for awhile. Then I realized that one of them also taught at Juilliard, and that he might be on the Juilliard audition panel.

Three days later I walked into the audition room at Juilliard and, sure enough, he was there. I chose to ignore the situation and hoped that he wouldn’t recognize me. I sat down, adjusted my endpin, and took a deep breath. I was about to start with a Bach allemande when I heard from across the room, “Are you Patrick McGuire?”

Yes. It was really happening. I said yes and hoped for the best. But then he went on to ask, “Are you Irish?” Well, yes, I am, so I said so.  “You don’t look Irish.” I’m also Italian, and I said so. Everyone else seemed content with that answer, but then he said, “You don’t look Italian, either.” I didn’t really know what to make of the situation, but it was pretty funny. I would have never expected to have had that conversation in my Juilliard audition and, for whatever reason, it helped me loosen up and to stop thinking about everything that could have gone wrong. My advice for anyone auditioning at Juilliard and other schools is to get out of your head and just let yourself be you.

by Arianna Körting, B.M. Piano

Hello fellow Juilliard applicants! It is less than a week until  auditions begin!  It is such an accomplishment to have made it this far into the audition process, and you only have one last big step left to go. It seems only yesterday when I felt the exact same way as all of you do right now: stressed, nervous, excited, etc. Although acceptance to Juilliard is mostly dependent on the audition, I would like to take some time to give you a bit of audition advice so that you might find your audition experience at Juilliard much less scary and death-defying than you thought.

The moment I walked into the audition room, the Piano faculty members were sitting at a long table. We graciously greeted each other with smiles and I immediately made my way to the piano and sat down. At that moment, one of the jury members told me to begin with any piece I preferred. The best part of the audition process (for Piano) at Juilliard is that applicants are given the opportunity to choose the first piece to play. When I heard of this, I felt relieved because I knew I would be able to put my best foot forward with a piece that I was fully comfortable with. For me, the first couple minutes of any audition are very crucial because I am still in the process of adapting to the feel of the piano. I advise audition pianists to take some time to choose a piece out of their audition repertoire that is the most comforting to play; I decided to play my Bach Prelude and Fugue. Some of you may be thinking that the showiest and most difficult piece in your repertoire is best to begin your audition. If you feel it is your strongest piece, go for it! If not, then I would suggest starting with the piece you feel you will play the best.

After playing through a bit of my first piece, they stopped me and requested for me to play another piece from my audition repertoire list. The rest of my audition was solely based on what the faculty decided to listen to, as will be the same for your audition. The jury may stop you and have you play whichever pieces they deem necessary to get the full glimpse of your artistry. To my surprise, the jury asked me to play the beginnings of each piece in my proposed repertoire except one. What they choose for you all to play is based on the combination of the pieces you have prepared for them along with what they feel like hearing from you. Be prepared for anything!

Here are some additional tips about preparing for your audition that you might find useful:

Make sure to get enough rest two nights before your audition date. For me, it is nearly impossible to get a good night’s rest the night before auditioning. That is why it is best to catch up on sleep two nights before so that you feel fresh and ready to go.

I always make sure to eat a banana at least an hour before my audition because it contains Vitamin B and potassium to help calm my nerves – just a thought!

Lastly, play with much confidence and from the heart. Whenever I perform in front of a jury, I keep in mind that I am there to produce beautiful music and the jury members are there to soak it in and enjoy. Take the faculty on a fantastic journey through the various contrasting pieces you have in store for them. Showing your passion for this great art is definitely a crucial part in winning the interests of the audition jury.

Carpe diem and best of luck to you all!

by Elliott Hines, M.M. Voice

Greetings and congratulations on your invitation to a live audition!  Your hard work has already begun to pay off and you should be excited about the opportunity to get up and perform the music that you love.

That being said, sometimes you get up to perform the music you love and you bring dishonor and shame to the composer who wrote it, and possibly your family, friends, and neighbors. ;D

My name is Elliott Hines and I am a first year M.M. Voice student studying with Ms. Edith Wiens and a native of Houston, TX.  The majority of my undergrad experience was very extensive in choral and early music.  Coming to Juilliard was, and has been, an exciting opportunity to be pushed out of my comfort zone which, in effect, has pushed me to be even better than I thought I could be.

My Juilliard audition was my very last audition.  This was right during tech week of the opera at Oberlin and I had just sung another audition two days before.  I was…exhausted.  There would be no tears shed for the end of traipsing across the country and figuring out creative ways to keep my suit unwrinkled in my carry-on bag.  Nevertheless, I was very excited about this audition and had prepared the LARGE repertoire list to the best of my ability.

The morning of my audition, I met with the wonderful collaborative pianist who would be playing my audition (ADVICE: If Juilliard says, “You can meet with your pianist beforehand”, DO IT. PAY THE 30 DOLLARS AND DO IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT).  I brought him a separate binder with all my music, double sided, no bass notes chopped off, and clean.  We spent about 30 minutes just setting tempi for the 9 pieces and, more specifically, working out the fancy fireworks I was going to do on my Handel aria, should they pick it.   Now I was just ready to go and sing my face off and get into Juilliard!

Most of the other guys around were super friendly and supportive of one another, which was great.  I got out on stage an opened with Duparc “Le Manoir de Rosemonde” which went splendidly.  They then asked for Grieg “Zur Rosenzeit” which went ever better!  I had done my 2 pieces and if I didn’t get it, then at least I know I had sung well!

The panel began to speak amongst each other and was debating a 3^rd piece for me to sing: a Stravinsky aria or an obscure Handel aria.  They decided on the Handel after me describing the aria to them.  This is where I started to sound TERRIBLE.

I got way too excited about this aria and was pushing it way too fast for me to sing.  There was a point where my voice was singing but I was not present in my body and I just knew that the sounds coming out were BAD.  I was singing super pushed, not singing HALF of the coloratura notes, and couldn’t breath. I stopped, nervously laughed out loud and asked, “Can I try that again?!”

Awkward….

Thinking that the restart would help me get back in it, I only sounded worse and worse. I missed ALL of the cadenzas that I had so carefully planned with the pianist out of sheer nervousness, I cracked a couple of times, and acting…not even in existence.  There was NO WAY I was getting in.

The thing to remember though is that the audition panel UNDERSTANDS.  They have all been there. They are all human and have had bad days and performances, too.  It doesn’t make you a bad artist or a bad person or mean that you didn’t work hard enough.  As important as those 15 minutes are, and as important as it is to do your very best and present yourself in the best way possible, mistakes happen and IT’S OKAY.  You’re auditioning to come to SCHOOL and LEARN, and they want to help you.  If your audition isn’t perfect, PLEASE trust that they see your POTENTIAL and not your hiccups.

My advice:

1. Do music you love.
2. Be completely prepared
3. Rehearse with your pianist beforehand and bring nice copies of your music.  You will not regret it.
4. Be nice to the people around you!  You’re all in the same boat just trying to do your best.  Support each other.

by Daniel Chmielinski, B.M. Jazz Studies

The drive from Chicago to New York City is about thirteen hours. Since flying was out of the question due to the large double bass coming along for the trip, we decided to take on the thirteen-hour trek. With the car loaded up and my dad in the driver’s seat, we set off; only 900 miles between me and the audition that my entire musical career had been leading up to. It was Juilliard, the big one.

It was the last stop on the college audition tour, and by far the most challenging. With only about 40 students in the entire program, I felt my chances of getting in were slim at best. Lots of thoughts run through your head on a drive of that nature. You really hope that you perform at the top of your ability and leave absolutely everything you have on the table. You hope that all of your hard work pays off and that you don’t let nerves hinder you. Mostly though, you just hope that it goes as smoothly as possible.

When I arrived, I immediately recognized most of the other bassists auditioning. In an age focused so heavily on social media, you are incredibly in tune with the “who’s who” of your age bracket. You know who has won what audition, who has been featured in what bands and who has won what competitions. You may never have met them in person before, but you know who they are. Being that they only called back 9 of us, this was quite intimidating.

I threw myself in the practice room and waited to be called in. I didn’t have much time though, as I was called in not long after I finished warming up, cursing the fact that my last name starts with a C as I headed towards the room. (Why couldn’t it have been Zhmielinski?) Immediately, my heart began to race as I was greeted by 15 faculty members sitting behind a table only a few feet from where I was supposed to stand, in a rhythm section with Helen Sung on piano and Luca Santaniello on drums. As they began to introduce themselves one by one, I wanted to yell “Yes! I know who you all are!  I have your records; I’ve seen you in concert. This is really unnecessary.” But with each name, the tension grew.

And then, somehow, my attitude completely flipped. My incredible state of nervousness had transformed into incredible excitement. I was excited at the thought that I could have the opportunity to work with all these incredible musicians on a daily basis. I was about to play the music I loved with a world-class rhythm section for a group of people whom I had admired for years. It was then that I realized that they were on my team. It became solely about the music at that point. My ego shut off, I heard “start whenever you’re ready,” and I began to play.

It would be a lie to say that the audition was not tense. It most certainly was, but somehow the previously stated rationale got me through it. I knew that I was giving it my all, and whatever happened afterward was not a reflection of how I performed, but rather how they perceived it. I knew 110% was coming out of my instrument, firing on all cylinders, and that was that. You don’t think, “Gosh I really hope they’re enjoying this” in the moment, you just go for it. It is a surreal experience.

I was fortunate enough to get my acceptance letter a month later, and am currently living out the dream playing the music I love and learning from people who are some of the finest jazz musicians and educators in the world. Whether the letter said yes or no, I knew that what I left in that room was me. I gave them who I was as a musician, as a person, and as a student. And as chance would have it, they liked me.

by Monia C. Estima, Associate Director for Music Admissions

Admissions is! (Well…almost.) While you’ve been practicing, we’ve been preparing all of the materials necessary to audition about 1300 music applicants over 7 days. So I suppose we’ve all been kind of busy, gearing up for that first week of March, eh?

Next week, you’ll read audition stories from some of our current music students, but there’s one audition story to which the average individual may not give any thought—the faculty’s. “What’s there to think about?” you may ask. “They’ll ask me to play a bit and then they’ll send me on my merry way, right?” Well, that’s just part of the story.

Sure, you step into your audition room, smile big at everyone, and do your best to knock their socks off. What you don’t know is how big they’re smiling back at you. (It may not be immediately apparent, but trust me: they’re smiling in their hearts.)  (I promise.) What you don’t know is how excited they are to meet you. What you don’t know is that they want to love you. Juilliard’s music faculty, who are among the most dedicated and caring teachers I’ve known in all my years in higher education, share your passion for music, and they are ready, willing, and eager to be WOWED by you.

So just before you cross the threshold of your audition room, remember that you’re about to do the thing you absolutely LOVE, and when you do what you love, there’s nothing at all to fear. The faculty at your audition want you to do well, as do all of us here at Juilliard, including our current students, who hope they’ll have the opportunity to work with you next year.

We’re all rooting for you.

(PLUS, we’ll have bananas and chocolates waiting for you at the check-in table in Larkin Lobby, and if that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.)

PS: For those about to ROCK—I salute you.

by Sam Lilja, 3rd-year Actor

Because of the audition experiences I had with other schools, when I auditioned for the Drama Division in 2010, I fully expected to encounter a faculty that was stand-offish and egocentric. Much to my surprise and delight, however, I discovered something wildly different. From the minute I walked through the door in Chicago and was greeted with a warm smile by Kathy Hood, to my time in the room with Richard Feldman and Ralph Zito, to my final callback in New York with the entire faculty, I was treated like a member of the Juilliard family. The faculty and the students seemed to want me there, to have me spend the next several years of my life with them, and they all made me feel comfortable enough to relax and to do my best work. Being treated in that way was incredibly encouraging and made me realize that, should I be lucky enough to be accepted, Juilliard would be the perfect place for me to hone my craft and grow as an artist and, most importantly, as a person.

Every step of my journey at Juilliard has exhibited to me how seriously the sense of community is taken here. I have spent the past three years of my life with the same seventeen people, growing and struggling with them in a variety of ways. They are always there to support me, to celebrate my successes, and to lift me up when I’m down. I recently lost someone who was instrumental in my decision to be an actor, and the entire Drama Division reached out to me in my time of grief. The love they shared and the support they gave me revealed to me how much each and every person means to the program. My family is now eighty-odd people strong, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As students, we are privileged to have the opportunity to help facilitate the audition process at the school. I remember how nervous I was on the day of my audition and how Kathy and Richard and Ralph helped me do the best I could do that day. When the option to work auditions is presented, I jump at the chance to be able to do what they and the rest of the Juilliard community did for me: provide an environment for the courageous ones who audition to do their best work. It is important to me to pass that love and support on, to welcome each and every possible new member of my family, and to help them do their best work. I wouldn’t be where I am today if that hadn’t been done for me.

by Leslie Williams, 2nd-year dancer

Usually I tend to “enjoy” auditions. Because of my strict classical ballet background, doing summer program auditions at the start of the year was like blinking…it was just something you did. I had spent summers at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet and Carolina Ballet all based on tough summer auditions and received partial scholarships at each. It was something that I knew the ins-and-outs of. I knew that ballet program auditions consisted of a ballet technique class, with maybe some pointe or partnering at the end. Before the audition everyone would “stretch,” or rather, compete to see who was more flexible. But I knew that the Juilliard audition was going to be different. An audition that lasted ALL DAY with five different parts including an interview at the end seemed mind-blowing and intense to me!

I traveled from North Carolina to Miami for my audition. It was nice to get away and have 80 degree weather for a bit. In NC, in the middle of February, that’s hard to come by. The night before my audition was slightly stressful. Thinking back on it – who am I kidding – it was horrible! I had forgotten that we had to wear all black for the audition and of all the leotard choices that I packed in my suitcase for the big day, NONE of them were black. And to make it worse, this fatal realization came upon me around 8pm, when stores were starting to close. My family drove me to all the dance stores we knew of in the area, but they were all closed. We drove to all the places we could think of that would sell dance wear but there was nothing appropriate for an audition. We went to Target right before closing time. The dance wear section looked as bleak as ever. A young lady was standing next to us.  She looked like someone that knew about dance wear and at this point I was desperate. I told her my problem. She said, “Oh, you’re auditioning for Juilliard. That’s amazing! They’re actually having a sale on dance wear at American Apparel!” Aside from being totally surprised at the fact that they even sold dance wear at American Apparel, I was overjoyed by this pure miracle that had sprung upon me.

So there I was on audition day, standing in line for registration wearing, not Yumiko or Danskin, but my American Apparel leotard.  The leotard was on the verge of crossing the line between high-cut and HIGH-CUT, and throughout the audition I made “adjustments” to avoid a massive wedgie. I pushed forward – happy that I made it to the audition, and in dress code.  (That’s all that mattered at that point). I walked in and set myself down in a dark corner of the warm-up studio. It was the first time in a while that I had been to an audition where I didn’t know or recognize someone. Walking into the audition studio was a bit surreal. The studio was completely black with an awkwardly positioned short mirror at the front. In front of that was the panel table, and there sat Risa Steinberg, Larry Rhodes, and Alphonse Poulin. I looked at Risa, a petite lady with a blonde pixie haircut. She seemed nice.  Larry stared at everyone warming up with a very stern and professional look on his face. His demeanor screamed “I am the Director.” I could tell that Alphonse was our ballet teacher just by the way he was postured in the chair.

The ballet class was more challenging than I expected; lots of developpe’s and rond de jambe’s that I wasn’t expecting to hold for more than a four count…we held them for seven. It also didn’t help that Larry decided to walk around with a clipboard. It was a norm for the panel to walk around and stare at you with clipboards, but at the EXACT moment when I was doing a very slow and difficult grand rond de jambe en l’air, Larry was standing directly in front of me. I don’t have the best extension in the world so all I could do was try to keep my hip down and point my biscuit foot as hard as I could. He walked away. I exhaled. Overall, the ballet class went really well. We then moved on to the modern portion of the audition that was taught by Risa. I really enjoyed her class. I thought to myself how I would enjoy having her as a teacher if I got in.

Finally, the first cut. I remember it feeling like the longest wait ever. We all anxiously gathered in the hallway around Katie Friis, Associate Director of Admissions, as she called out numbers…one by one. Oh boy here we go….

My number was the third to the last to be called. When Katie called it out my mother screamed so loudly they could hear her all the way back in North Carolina.  We began to go over our solos. I watched one of the boys whip out at least ten turns and finish with an illusion. I tried to stay calm. I saw all of the parents trying to crowd around a small crack of the studio’s back door to get a peek at what was going on inside. It was my turn to go. I walked in and it felt surreal all over again. The studio space seemed much larger, now that it was without 100 other dancers. I was slightly nervous, but was pretty confident in the solo that I had choreographed. I gave it my all. I put my whole heart into dancing for them! When I finished, I was satisfied. I looked at the faces as I walked out, and they all had smiles on them. That was all the validation I needed.

It’s time for cut number two…my number is called. Everyone was unsure of what we were going to do for the next portion of the audition. I felt that since we were all basically in the dark about what was going to happen, there was no need to be nervous. We went in and Risa taught us a combination from the Juilliard repertoire, and I really enjoyed it. She took it pretty slow with everyone until they got it, and gave us individual feedback on what we needed to think about or fix. Even though it was basically a test to see how well we could retain information and corrections, I felt that it was almost like a rehearsal. For the next thirty minutes, I felt like I was actually rehearsing a piece at Juilliard…as a student. It was really nice.

We finished that section and it was time for another cut…my number was called again. My mother actually managed to keep it together this time. I think she had cried enough. There were no more tears. There were 6 of us left. Four of them are in my class today, including the guy that did ten pirouettes. At this point, I couldn’t have been more relieved and happy with myself. I had made it through all the dancing portions. The way I looked at the interview was to just be myself and to answer the questions as honestly as possible.

I interviewed with Larry. We started off by chatting about Ethan Stiefel and his amazing dance career. That was a subject I literally could talk about ALL DAY. I was proud to call him my Dean of Dance at North Carolina School of the Arts. One of the questions I vividly remember Larry asking was what book, movie, concert or other art related thing I had recently seen, read or been inspired by. I totally could’ve said something completely made up like, “Oh, recently l read (insert extremely intense art/dance title of book here that will make me sound really intelligent and smart), but instead I decided to talk about when I saw the rock band Radiohead LIVE in concert. Radiohead is one of my most favorite bands in the ENTIRE WORLD, and I think I freaked Larry out a bit because my mouth was moving at least 50 miles per second while describing this awesome concert. But he just smiled and wrote something down on his clipboard. The interview was pretty long and some of the questions required a lot of thought, but as I said before, I just answered them in the best way I knew how…the honest way.

And that was it. The audition was over. Katie, in her very pleasant manner, said that she would call us soon and to have a good day. I remember Poulin giving my mom, with her dried tear marks on her face, a big hug as he was leaving. She was relieved. I was relieved. All everybody could be at the end of such a long day was just relieved.

Reflecting on this experience now makes me realize how lucky and blessed I was on that day. Sure, I was used to the intensity of auditions, but at the time I don’t think I truly realized the gravity of the audition. I wasn’t auditioning for just anything; I was auditioning for JUILLIARD!  I actually think going into the audition without having that added pressure made all the difference. I just went in and did the best I could.  I gave all that I had in the most genuine form. So, when you audition, just concentrate on being you and hopefully your love for your art will come alive with a spirit that is uniquely YOU. They totally see through the pretense. They see through all the make-up, slicked back hair, and fancy leotards. All they want to see is YOU and who YOU are.  Give them YOU. If you do that, you’ll be one step closer to being at a place that will totally and completely change your life… The Juilliard School….NO PLACE like it.

YOU CAN DO IT! HAVE FUN!

by Ellie Swiatkiwski, 3rd-year dancer

My Juilliard audition was not one out of the ten colleges I was auditioning for like many other auditionees in the room… Nor did I travel via the subway or by car to arrive at the audition like many others… I had traveled from the other side of the world, Australia, to be there that day and it was my one and only audition. In other words, the stakes were pretty high!  Juilliard had been my dream since the moment my dance teacher/mentor in Sydney had told me about the school, three years prior to my audition. Nothing was going to stop me from being at the audition that day, not even my severe jet lag or all the nerves in the world!

It was one of the most intense days of my life! I was so overwhelmed to be at JUILLIARD in NEW YORK with so many amazing dancers around me that I couldn’t eat or speak!! At the warm up, prior to the first class, I urged myself not to look at everyone else stretching and practicing around me because it made me feel sick with how talented everyone looked!

The audition consisted of a ballet class, modern class, solos, choreography, coaching, and finally interviews. At the start of the day there were 56 dancers and at the end there were 3. I couldn’t believe I had made it to the end of the audition, I was so happy!!

For dancers who are looking to audition I advise you to not compare or judge yourself to other people in the audition, it will just distract and intimidate you! Focus only on yourself and all of the special qualities that you have to bring.

Good luck!

by Cleo Person, 1st-year dancer

March 5, 2012 was a day I looked forward to with more anticipation than almost any other day in my life so far. It was the day of my Juilliard audition. So maybe I had things a little out of proportion, but I had spent months obsessively watching videos on the Juilliard Web site, reading blogs about the audition process, and taking the subway to Lincoln Center almost every week so I could just look at the school. (Disclaimer: I don’t recommend doing any of these things, as you surely have much more useful things to be doing with your time.) But if you’re anything like me, your big audition day might just occupy your thoughts a large portion of the time. Hopefully, this blog about my audition experience will ease your mind a little and help you to feel a bit more prepared for what you will encounter.

My whole audition experience got off to a rocky start. Ten days before my audition I was in a dress rehearsal for a dance show at my school, and at a part where I was supposed to be slingshot backward to the ground, I landed hard on one of my sits bones, causing a sharp pain in my butt. I got up slowly, and since I couldn’t really walk, I had to drop out of the show. Self-diagnosis: a mild puncture tear in my gluteus medius. Luckily, muscles heal quickly given the right care and rest, but that still meant that I couldn’t dance for the whole week. Then, I would have only three days to get back in class and rehearse my solo before the audition – not exactly the ideal situation.

Since I couldn’t really prepare physically, the days leading up to my audition were a sort of non-stop mental exercise: how do I contain my nerves, trust that my body will be there for me, and not psych myself out so that I can give the best audition I am capable of? The answer for me lay in the constant, positive pep-talks that I gave to myself.

I should let you know that I applied early, as a junior in high school, because I had already been living on my own for a semester and I had attended the Juilliard summer program twice. I felt I couldn’t wait any longer before applying for real, so I decided just to try, saying to myself, “Hey, I can always apply again next year if it doesn’t work out.” That was the mindset that took a lot of the pressure off. I was eased by many stories I had heard of current students at the school who had been accepted only the second time they applied, so I knew it wouldn’t be just a one-shot deal. Most importantly, I made the decision that I would let excitement, not anxiety take center stage in my often-fluctuating mental state. With my own mental game already won, the audition itself was really just fun.

You are surely already aware of the general process: ballet class, modern class, solo, coaching, interview; so I won’t go into detail about that except to say that there is nothing terribly difficult about the classes- they’re not trying to trick you or test your extensive dance vocabulary, but they’re really just trying to get a sense of who you are as a dancer and as an interesting, unique human being with something to say and the potential to be able to say it articulately though movement. The one thing I did find daunting in the audition was the pure magnitude of the cuts made. There were about 50 dancers in the ballet class, and just two of us were left by the time we got to the interviews. I find the best way to deal with this sort of situation is to come with no expectations of how far you’ll make it, and to remember that getting cut is in no way a reflection of your talent or worth as an individual, it just wasn’t the right time or place.

It is incredibly important to remember that Juilliard is just one school, and it’s not for everyone. You should think of your audition as an opportunity for you to audition the school as much as it is for the school to audition you. Ask yourself, “Do I like the energy and vibe of the teachers and the class they’re giving? Am I interested in working, for four whole years, on the things that they value and appear to be interested in?” And even if your answer is “yes, definitely!”, trust that the people auditioning you know pretty well what type of student will get the most from the education they’re offering (they’ve been doing it for a long time), and that you wouldn’t want to be somewhere that wasn’t a good fit for you. There are lots of great dance schools out there that you might find creatively stimulating and technically challenging, and may open up opportunities for your career that you didn’t even know existed!

So my main advice is to put forward the best and most honest version of yourself you know everywhere and all the time, not just for your auditions because it is ultimately that, and not the best tricks or best feet or anything else superficial, which will allow you to get to the places you’re supposed to be in every aspect of your life. Ultimately, you may want to think of your audition as an exciting opportunity to possibly change the course of your future, just as it was for me.

by Sarah Adriance, Dance Division Administrative Director

For college dance programs everywhere, it’s audition season!

Every Juilliard dance audition starts with a welcome from Larry Rhodes, our artistic director, followed by a reminder from him that the purpose of the audition is to find a “good fit” for Juilliard, not to assess each dancer individually. This distinction is key!

We want everyone to feel they’ve shown their best so we can see if that “best” aligns with the mission of the school. The faculty is looking for dancers they feel have the best trainable potential, a combination of experience and natural gifts for dance with an open mind that allows the dancer to try new ways of working. All the elements that make a dancer – coordination, musicality, flexibility, alignment, strength – are only part of what it takes to someday become an artist.

We endeavor to make the audition a pleasant experience. Mr. Rhodes encourages the dancers to relax, breathe, and try to enjoy dancing. We hope, even if the outcome is not what you would have wished, that you enjoy the opportunity to dance. Your Juilliard audition will be one of many in the year, and one of many more in the course of your career.

In the next few weeks, you’ll hear from a few Juilliard dancers who’ve been there: the months of preparing their solo; the audition day with its highs and lows; and finally, waiting for the letter or phone call.

Best of luck to each of you! You’ve come this far; enjoy the process.