Front and center: dancers and artistic directors tell their audition secrets.

Auditions offer some of the most intense dance learning experiences anyone can have. They may be scary or amazing, heartbreaking or even funny, when you look back on them over time. These six dancers and directors have been through it all and come out the other side of the audition process a little smarter. Laugh, empathize, profit from their advice, and enjoy.

CARLA MAXWELL Artistic Director The Limon Company

During an open-call audition we select a small group of dancers who will continue to work with us for a week in a workshop situation.

During the week, they learn from the Limon repertoire, as well as selections from our current repertoire of other choreographers. We like to work one-on-one and have the dancers be coached by me, and by others. I do this weeklong workshop because I am very interested in process, how people take direction, and how they learn.

To execute our repertoire, dancers have to be more than good, smart, intelligent movers. It is important that a dancer have a good facility, but they need to be able convey dramatic ideas, use dramatic gestures, and communicate feelings on stage. I consider everyone in our company a soloist or potential soloist and therefore we and they must work together to help them become a complete artist.

At the end of the week, dancers show us what they have learned and also dance another piece of choreography that they have performed before and are comfortable with.

The weeklong audition is one small way (I wish it could be longer) in which we can learn something about the auditionees and they can learn about us. It is a big commitment to be part of any company and I want it to be a two way street.

The goal: Be yourself. Trust the beauty that's inside of you. Remember your strength and keep breathing.

DEBBIE ALLAN Dancer, Director, Producer, Choreographer, Singer, Actress, Author

For the reality television show Fame, I wanted to find people who could sing, dance, act, and had bigger-than-life personalities. I wanted to see people who had spirit. It was never who did it perfectly, it was who did it in an interesting way. I am turned on by a person's energy and to turned off by a person who doesn't work hard--they may have legs, feet, and can turn, but they are just not present.

My formula for getting though hundreds of Fame auditionees in an hour's time was: take them in groups of thirty, three rows of ten. Have them each step forward to tell their age, name, and what they like to do. Then, have them sing the best part of their song and dance. I can tell a lot in fifteen seconds, so they had fifteen seconds at least--if they were really glorious, they might have had a little longer. Then, they learned some of my choreography, which allowed me to see them dance what I wanted. Then, I made the first eliminations. The people I kept learned more choreography and sang with a piano, and it became more competitive. By the end of the day, I had thirty to fifty people left. Then the process started again.

After auditioning in four cities, I got back to Los Angeles and threw everyone's picture up on the wall. I studied the audition videos and started picking who I thought were the strongest candidates. Sometimes I worked from nine in the morning until one in the morning and then passed out. I could do it because the talent was there. It energized me.

The bottom line: I wanted to find triple threats--people who could sing, dance, act, and had bigger than life personalities.

WILLIAM WHITENER Artistic Director Kansas City Ballet

Most important is that a dancer catch my eye right away--I want to be captivated.

Bruce Wells, a teacher at Pacific Northwest Ballet School described one young dancer by saying she carried her own spotlight, which I thought was a very savvy description. She was hired straight out of school.

I look at how individuals enter the room. I notice their interaction and regard for others. I ask: Is their manner forthright and confident? Are they well-groomed, attentive, physically fit? Are they positive, with a good sense of humor? Do they demonstrate an intelligent approach to technique? Are they able to interpret music in a sophisticated way? I look for grace, zest, and attention to detail. The energy a dancer brings can make or break their audition. Being late is a great disservice to the dancer.

Worst faux pas: I remember some one winked at me once--actually twice--during an audition. I felt it was somewhat inappropriate. And on the other hand, I think affability and friendliness are good qualities to have--with a certain degree of formality.

ALLISON MILLER Ballet Student North Carolina School of the Arts 

When I was 13, I auditioned for a summer program I really wanted to go to, but didn't get in. When I was 14 and 15, I tried again and got accepted. One day while there, I was talking in the hallway with one of my teachers and she asked, "Why didn't you come here when you were 13?" I said, "Well, I didn't get in that year." After our conversation, she checked her records to find out why I was rejected. Later she told me I had in fact been accepted, but I was sent a rejection letter by mistake. It just teaches you, never give up. You know, if you really want something, just keep trying for it.

I definitely get really nervous at auditions. It's not any particular step, it's just the whole thing. You never know who you have to dance with and you think, oh no, all of these girls look like they are going to be so good! I always want to do my best, but when I am nervous it is hard to because I get all shaky. But usually after barre I am comfortable, at least a little bit, and it is easier to loosen up and show them what I can really do. Turns are my favorite thing, so when we get a turn combination and I execute it well, I feel more relaxed and think, okay, I can handle this.

Smart tip: My teacher from home says to look really pulled together and nice at auditions. Have your hair really neat, and even wear a ribbon to make you stand out. Their the auditioners can say, "Remember the girl with the blue bow?" Otherwise you just blend in.

HANS-GEORG LENHART Dancer, Idomeneo Opera, choreographed by Mark Morris, directed by Peter Sellars 

When I was 17, I auditioned for Folkwang Tanzschule (Dance School) in Essen, Germany. At the time, Pina Bausch was director.

The audition was my first ballet class ever. I had no equipment like ballet shoes or tights. I was wearing really big, pink sweatpants, and a bulky sweater, and I was the only boy in class. I stood at the front of the barre, next to the piano, thinking I was in a safe place, hiding. But, just after I lifted up my heels in second position grand plies, the teacher came up to me and said, "Have you done this before? If not, stand where you can follow." During center, the teacher asked if I was wearing tights because she wanted to see my legs. I wasn't, so I rolled up my sweatpants high above my knees. Looking at the two bulges of excess material on my thighs, she said nothing, but the jury, who sat in the front of the room, chuckled.

Thankfully, the modern part of the audition was much better. They liked my movement quality and they even asked me to demonstrate combinations for the class. At the end of the audition, Pina Bausch said to me, "We can only advise you to dance." I wasn't sure what that meant, but I got accepted to the school and later I guested in Pina Brush's Wuppertaler Tanztheater.

Smart tip: Wear a brightly colored outfit and get a good haircut.

DONNA MARIE ASBURY Dancer, Singer, the Broadway production of Chicago

To prepare for Chicago, I watched footage of All That Jazz--since it is in the style of Fosse. Chicago is very different from most shows. In Chicago, less is often more. There's not a lot of whacking, there's not a lot of fast jerks of the body. It's very smooth, almost liquid, sexy. That was the hardest part about the audition because you want to go in and show your stuff. You want to show that you can kick your head, but it's not like that. It's very stylized and that's what I had to concentrate on.

I have friends that live for auditions--I get a horrible stomach ache before every one. I often say, auditions work better than Ex-Lax. I have been in this business--I can't even tell you how long--and it is still the same.

So much about auditions you can control and so much of it is out of your hands. You really just have to be able to walk out of the audition saying, "You know what? There is absolutely nothing else I could have done."

Smart tip: No matter what they want, even if it's a five foot seven blond and you are a five foot four brunette, audition anyway. To audition is an art in itself. How to audition, how to be prepared--as with anything, the more you do it the better you are at it.

Kate Lydon is an assistant editor at DANCE MAGAZINE.