Kolb’s Learning Cycle can apply to every day living. We are constantly Learning, Reflecting on experiences we have, concluding from and planning on what we can do to make them better in the future.
As a dancer, I constantly use the Kolb Learning Cycle when I audition for a show.
Concrete Experience
I’ve been to many auditions in the past. They all tend to follow a similar format. You have to be at the location by a certain time to register, get changed into your audition clothes, warm your body up and then start the audition. Some auditions have been ballet only, some jazz and some ballet tap and jazz. I auditioned for Disneyland Tokyo 3 years ago and got down to the finals. During the audition the head of casting pulled me aside and said he loved my dancing but Disney employ performers and without good stage presence he cant employ me. I really tried hard to smile and perform more but this is one of the first auditions I did before graduating and I was quite nervous. I got down to the final round, which was a tap audition and then was told I’d be called if they could place me in a show. After a few weeks they contacted me to tell me they had cast all the shows but would keep me in mind.
Reflective Observation
After that audition I reflected on my experience that I’d had in one of my first major auditions in my 3rd year. I didn’t have the correct dance attire with me. In the advert for the audition it said “you will be required to do ballet and jazz” and so I didn’t take my tap shoes. In the final rounds of the audition we had to tap so I had to do it in my jazz sneakers. I don’t think this would have been a reason for not getting the job but it certainly didn’t help. I also think what I was wearing wasn’t suitable. It was fitted enough so you could see my body and technique when I danced but I wore a black vest and black jazz pants. I thought this looked simple and professional but all the other boys were in bright colours, which made them stand out. Because it was one of my first auditions I was so busy making sure I was doing the correct routine that my face wasn’t performing and so like the casting director said, it doesn’t matter how good I dance, they wont employ someone who doesn’t perform on stage.
Abstract Conceptualisation
Most people say “we learn from our mistakes” and this statement is very true. No matter whether an audition advertises ballet only or jazz only I will always take all of my dance shoes just in case. A prepared dancer looks professional and therefore makes them more employable. Depending on the type of audition, I have learnt to wear dance gear that is appropriate. Sometimes plain is simple and for a ballet company you wouldn’t wear garish clothes to make you stand out, but for something like Disney, nice bright colours would have been perfect. Especially when they are deciding who to cast in the show from pictures they are left with, you want them to be able to remember you and something you wear can make you stick out in someone’s mind. Of course in any audition it is important to show how well you can dance but learning from the Tokyo audition and from observing in other auditions, casting directors often pick the ones who perform the best but don’t necessarily have the best technique. In future, in any auditions I take, I will always try and embed the choreography into my mind as quick as I can so I can really perform for the panel when we are dancing the routine in smaller groups. This could be the difference between getting the job or not.
Active Experimentation
After the Tokyo audition I put into practice everything I felt I had learnt and have carried on using that experience in all my auditions to date, whilst constantly reflecting on newer situations and incorporating anything else I have learnt which may aid me to become a better dancer. When I graduated in 2007 I had successfully been offered 4 jobs. The one I accepted was the European tour of Fame The Musical. The audition for Fame was only 2 months after Tokyo. When I arrived at Pineapple Studios there was a mass of dancers and I instantly thought I had no chance. But I told myself to think positively and psyched myself up ready to perform. I wore black baggy joggers with a bright yellow vest, a wristband on each wrist and I spiked my hair a little. I’ve seen fame so I knew what kind of look they wanted. Whilst learning the dance I kept a smile on my face so it would almost become second nature when performing. I really focused on what the choreographer was doing and saying and didn’t half-heartedly learn the routine. I wanted to make sure I could learn it quick so I wasn’t worrying about the dance moves when performing. By the time we came to perform it I felt very confident and I danced the routine as if I was in the show with a big smile on my face and lots of dance attitude. I could see the panel was drawn to me and watched me for the majority of the dance. After getting through all the rounds and singing in the finals I found out 4 weeks later that I got the job! I’m almost positive that it would have been a different story had I not of attended any auditions previously and put into practice the things I learnt from those experiences.
