YoungArts isn’t only a prestigious stage for the subsequent era’s most proficient younger artists. The group additionally offers awardees, ages 15 to 18, per week of grasp courses, mentoring, and neighborhood constructing to assist their budding careers. And based on previous winners with distinction, these 5 days in Miami, the place performing, visible, and literary artists from throughout the nation convene for Nationwide YoungArts Week, can significantly reaffirm their sense of artistry. “That was the primary time that I’ve been validated and referred to as an artist,” says Asmund Erickson, who’s a 2024 winner in faucet dance. “I felt like, ‘Yeah, I am an artist.’ ”
The positives and perks don’t finish there. Winners obtain a medallion, assist all through their careers, and unique entry to YoungArts Put up, what you would possibly name a social platform for YoungArts winners. And as a Winner with Distinction, a particular designation that makes you eligible for as much as $10,000 in awards, you can even probably be named a U.S. Presidential Scholar within the Arts, which is among the highest honors for highschool college students. All of it sounds fairly dreamy, proper?
However with so many candidates vying for therefore few spots within the competitors, how do you differentiate your self within the software course of, particularly within the dance class—and what do you have to do to get probably the most out of YoungArts Week?
Dance Spirit spoke with Erickson and different previous winners to spherical up some suggestions and tips for locating success within the competitors.
Signal Up for an Information Session
When Erickson was within the technique of making use of, he made certain to attend a web-based info session—and, he says, it proved useful. The session offers you a chance to talk with former winners about their experiences and ask them questions. However the important thing right here is to enroll in a session that features a member of the judging panel.
“For my software 12 months—and so they might change this for the approaching years—there’s a panel of some individuals who watch the finalist movies and select who stands out to them,” Erickson says. “And people are the candidates who get to return to YoungArts Week.” Based on Erickson, that single panel critiques finalist functions throughout all disciplines of dance, so understanding what a panelist is searching for, which could not be particular to at least one dance type, will be invaluable.
Be Your Genuine Self in Your Audition Video
For the YoungArts audition course of, you might be adjudicated virtually solely in your audition video, Erickson says. The necessities might range barely primarily based on the self-discipline, however, usually, you might be requested to submit a solo demonstrating your method and a second solo exhibiting your artistry. With that form of stress on a single part of your software, it may be tempting to foreground your most spectacular tips or to reflect developments on social media or at dance competitions that garner reward. However Vyoma Bhanap, a kathak dancer, encourages candidates to current themselves within the audition video as genuinely as attainable—each as artists and as folks. Earlier than filming her audition video, Bhanap remembers pondering, “I’d slightly apply as who I really feel I’m as an artist and a dancer as an alternative of what I believe YoungArts needs from me.” That perspective translated, and, in 2023, Bhanap was chosen as a winner in classical Indian dance. “It’s a credit score to the YoungArts Basis,” she says. “They don’t want one thing that doesn’t characterize who they really are attempting to uplift.”
It’s best to convey that sense of authenticity to what you put on in your audition video, too. Sam High-quality, a 2023 winner in modern dance, initially sported a black T-shirt and black tights in his video. “I noticed that was not super-flattering to my strains as a result of my legs are already very lengthy, and it simply made me seem like I wasn’t utterly in my physique,” High-quality says. When he refilmed, he wore what he felt snug in: a blue unitard. He additionally added blue backlighting to enrich the tone of his solo. And it labored. “The primary night time once I obtained to YoungArts Week, [the faculty and staff] had been like, ‘Oh, my gosh, the blue unitard!’ So, that positively helped me stand out.”
Carry a Congenial Angle to Miami
For many who make it to YoungArts Week, keep in mind that you will meet some very proficient peer artists. This will typically dredge up emotions of insecurity, particularly since you are being evaluated all through the week for award cash and, probably, a Presidential Scholar nod.
However being aggressive shouldn’t be what YoungArts Week is about, High-quality says: “When you make it to YoungArts Week, the competitors is over.” As an alternative, lean into the chance to develop your artwork neighborhood. Erickson notes his fondest recollections of the week concerned creating friendships with different winners—some dancers, others not. Since then, “I’ve been assembly up with pals from YoungArts once they come to my hometown and once I’m touring,” he says. “It’s actually cool to have fashioned these lifelong connections.”
