Answers 4 dancers: Tony winner and answers4dancers.com founder Grover Dale draws on his experiences with 16 Broadway shows, 8 films, and more than 100 television specials for this column.

TINY DANCER HAS GIANT PLAN

I'M 19 YEARS OLD, WITH TEN YEARS OF TRAINING BEHIND ME. I ALWAYS WANTED A CAREER, BUT FELT I HAD A PROBLEM: I'M ONLY FIVE FEET TALL. LAST YEAR, I WENT TO COLLEGE BECAUSE I THOUGHT I DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE AT PURSUING MY DREAM.

RECENTLY, I'VE HAD AN EPIPHANY AND REALIZED I CAN DO THIS, AND I'M RARIN' TO GO! IN THE SPRING, I'M GOING TO START GOING TO AUDITIONS. I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF YOU THINK MY HEIGHT WILL HOLD ME BACK. SOME TIPS ON AUDITIONING WOULD HELP, TOO.--TINY DANCER WITH BIG DREAMS Pop the champagne! Your epiphany is worth celebrating! Hearing (I mean really hearing) the "Hey, I can do this" message could easily be what moves you toward realizing those dreams of yours. Invite more thoughts like that into daily life. Remember them. Write them out as notes to yourself. Post them as reminders on your computer screen, refrigerator door, and bathroom mirror, Those goodies will reinforce what you already know. Even better, they'll come in handy when the temptation to doubt yourself about height (or anything else) begins to chip away at that positive attitude you're developing. Even the height issue can be rethought in a positive manner. How, you ask? Turn on your favorite music-video channel and check out those diminutive pop stars (like Janet and Christina) and their backups, who are rarely taller than they are. That should tell you there's plenty of employment for shorter dancers.

Casting trends for body type, height, and ethnicity are never constant. One season it's this preference, the next season that. Defining your height and body type as anything other than an asset is a waste of your valuable energy. Accept and work with what you have. Make it look as good as you possibly can. Dancers who walk in the door owning who they are, and perform accordingly, have the best shot at booking the job.

EAGER TO GET STARTED IN SAN DIEGO 

I'M 19, AND I TOOK LOTS OF CLASSES WHEN J WAS YOUNG. THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL I WAS INVOLVED IN MUSICAL THEATER AND DANCED WITH A FRIEND OF MINE IN VARIOUS SHOWS, SUCH AS RIVERDANCE, TANGO, AND SWING. WE BOTH ALSO WORKED PRIVATELY WITH A TEACHER FOR JAZZ AND TAP. MY INSTRUCTOR WAS SURPRISED WHEN I TOLD HER I DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TRAINING; SHE SAID IT LOOKED LIKE I HAD BEEN DANCING MY WHOLE LIFE. I HAVE THE ABILITY TO PICK UP STEPS AND LEARN THEM VERY QUICKLY. SINCE THEN, I'VE RESIGNED FROM DANCE CLASS BECAUSE I'M A STUDENT AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND CANNOT AFFORD TO CONTINUE RIGHT NOW. HOWEVER, I'M ATTENDING COLLEGE IN SAN DIEGO NEXT FALL AND I'M WONDERING HOW I CAN FIND OUT ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES THERE, SUCH AS MUSIC VIDEOS, MUSICAL-THEATER AUDITIONS, OR OTHER DANCE JOBS. HOW CAN I GET CONNECTED WITH THE AGENTS IN L.A.? ALSO, HOW I CAN KEEP MY BODY IN SHAPE SO THAT WHEN I DO GET ENOUGH MONEY FOR DANCE CLASSES I'LL BE READY FOR REPRESENTATION?--LISA Los Angeles is a three-hour drive from San Diego. Working dancers live where the work is. They try to minimize travel times, especially when they have two or three auditions in one day. Living farther than an hour's drive away can be difficult; auditions can come up with only a few hours' notice. It's almost like being a doctor--you get paged; you call in and find out you're needed across town in forty-five minutes. Your dance bag (which is in your car) should always be packed and ready for any audition. So you see, being a long-distance client doesn't work.

Also, without training, you're limiting your prospects for representation. Take a minute and imagine yourself as an agent, trying to choose between two dancers with equal talent, personality, and appeal. The major difference between them is training. One has plenty, the other very little. Who would you sign up?

On the plus side, there are excellent dance teachers in San Diego. If you can afford a fast-food meal, you can afford a dance class. People who are serious about becoming dancers rarely let money keep them from getting the training they need.

CONTACT GROVER DALE AT THESE SITES:

www.dancemagazine.com www.answers4dancers.com