Audition & Portfolio Review

Welcome to Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division at Walnut Hill. All dancers seeking admission to our program need to complete a dance audition as part of the application process. Please read the instructions carefully! 

Your Pre-Audition

When applying to Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division at Walnut Hill, you need to first complete a pre-audition video. The file must be uploaded using Slideroom. After we review your submission, we will determine if you are invited for a live audition. Your audition video should be recent (within five months of submission) and must include the following components. Your video should not exceed 10 minutes in length.

Preparing your Ballet Audition Video 
Prior to beginning your barre work, please introduce yourself briefly by saying your name, age and where you are from. Make sure to complete all exercises listed below. 

• Complete barre (only one side necessary)

• Center floor work:
  • Adagio
  • Pirouette combination
  • Small jump combination
  • Grand allegro
  • Men- Grand Tour

• Pointe work (if applicable)
  • Echappés
  • Relevés in arabesque
  • Pirouettes on pointe
  • Diagonal turning combination

Your Live Audition

Live auditions will take place over Zoom on December 1, 2020 and February 1, 2021. If you are invited to participate in the live audition, you will receive more information regarding the live audition events.

Audition dress code

• Female students: black leotard, tights closest to your skin tone or what you are most comfortable in, pointe shoes
• Male students: black or gray tights and a white shirt or leotard
• Skirts, leg warmers, and warm-ups are not permitted
• Hair must be pulled back neatly and securely off the neck

Students applying for the Music program must follow two steps.

1. Submit a video audition using the Slideroom link below. Audition submissions should follow the guidelines for the music concentration below to which you are applying (Jazz, Vocal, etc.). Please do not alter the sound of your recording or add reverb. We prefer to hear your natural sound as if you were auditioning in person.
    
2. Following the submission of your video audition musicians must interview via Zoom with the Director of the Music Department, Jennifer Elowitch. Use the link below to schedule an interview. Please keep in mind that an interview with your admission representative is a separate requirement of our application process.

Composition

Two or three original compositions in neat manuscript form submitted with your application. At least one of these should be written by hand. In addition, we require a recording demonstrating level of proficiency on your major instrument.

Instrumental (Classical)

Two or three contrasting movements or short works. The works should include selections from at least two different musical periods (ex: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, Contemporary).

Jazz

Two contrasting pieces, with at least one of the two pieces should be composed by a jazz musician such as Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Herbie Hancock, etc.

Play the written melody once at the beginning, then improvise on the form of the tune for between 1 and 3 minutes. If you play a chord instrument (like piano or guitar) and have other jazz musicians to play with, please demonstrate your ability to accompany someone else’s solo. The composed melody should only be played one time at the beginning. If you play bass, please demonstrate walking bass lines in one piece, and another type of rhythm in another piece (such as funk, bossa nova, ballad, ostinato, or Afro-Cuban, etc.). If you play drums, please demonstrate a swing feel on one piece and another type of rhythm in another piece.

Submit a recording with a small jazz ensemble consisting of bass, drums and chord instrument (guitar or piano). If a live group is not available, then a “play along” recording is fine for accompaniment. Please use the guidelines above.

Please Note: If you have no previous small jazz ensemble experience, you may audition by playing two contrasting pieces in any style. At least one of the pieces should demonstrate your ability to play in strict metric style (no rubato, no tempo shifts).

Voice (Classical)

Two or three classical art songs from standard solo vocal repertoire, performed from memory, with live piano accompaniment. 

Repertoire Guidelines:

• Choose songs of contrasting styles and languages.
• One song should be sung in English and another in either French, German, or Italian.
• Avoid opera arias.

Video Submission Guidelines:

• The recording must not be edited within a song, and please be sure not to alter the sound or add reverb. We would like to hear you as naturally as possible, as if you were auditioning for us in person.

All students applying to the Theater Department must complete an audition. This can be done live over Zoom or by submitting a recorded audition via Slideroom.

To schedule a Zoom audition, please use the Audition Scheduling link below. If you are unable to find a time that works for you, please speak to your admission representative and consider submitting a recorded audition.

Theater applicants should prepare one monologue and one 16-32 bar section of a song (approximately 1-2 minutes). You may dress casually in clothes that allow freedom of movement. There will be a brief question and answer session if you decide to conduct a live audition over Zoom

Recorded submissions should follow the same guidelines as listed above, along with a "slate" at the beginning of each piece. Please state your name, title, and playwright for the monologue, and the title of the show for the song.

All recordings should be filmed in 3/4 shot, meaning that the top of your head to your knees should be visible in the camera frame. Please make sure to film in a well-lit place in your home and to video yourself at a distance of approximately 4 feet from the camera.

Students applying to the Visual Art Department must follow two steps:

1. Submit your portfolio via Slideroom.
    
2. Schedule a portfolio review with our Visual Art Department. The review will take place over Zoom and is an opportunity to speak more in depth about the work you have submitted. Submissions must be sent through Slideroom a week in advance of your scheduled review. You can find the links below for your portfolio submission and to schedule your portfolio review.

Portfolio submissions should consist of the following:

Amount of works & information

Portfolios should contain a minimum of four works. Please include the following information for each piece of your portfolio:

1. Title of work
2. Scale of work
3. Materials/media used
4. Description of work and inspiration behind it

Freeform Drawing

Please also include an original, freeform drawing. Arrange clothes or shoes from your wardrobe in a clear space in front of you. Using graphite or charcoal, sketch what you see.

Sketchbook

Sketchbooks offer important insights into the creative process of an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to bring their most recent sketchbook at the time of a portfolio review.

Students applying to the WFMA Program must follow two steps:

1. Submit your portfolio via Slideroom.
    
2. Schedule a portfolio review with our Writing, Film & Media Arts Department. The review will take place over Zoom and is an opportunity to speak more in depth about the work you have submitted. Submissions must be sent over one week prior to your scheduled review. You can find the links below for your portfolio submission and to schedule your portfolio review.

Option A: Writing Submission

A writing portfolio consisting of original work that best represents who you are as a writer. It should contain 2-4 pieces of writing total from one or more of the following genres: poetry, fiction (short stories or brief excerpts from novels), playwriting/screenwriting, or creative nonfiction (personal essay or reflective essay—not an academic essay).

Option B: Video Submission

A short film or video (no longer than 10 minutes in length) in any style including live action, experimental, documentary, or animation. Please accompany the submission with a statement that clearly describes your personal contribution to the film (for example you might have written the screenplay and directed the film, or perhaps instead filmed and edited a film that a friend directed).

Option C: Storyboard Submission

A series of 10 to 15 still images arranged in an order that you feel tells a story. The images can be drawings, photographs that you took yourself, found images (from magazines, the internet, etc.). Please submit a short accompanying paragraph that illuminates or explains the story that you are trying to tell and credit any images that are not your own.