My Time in America - Work USA by Amelia

I am here in America pursing and living my dream!! To be a professional dancer in LA! It has been an amazing, challenging, tough, exciting and joyful journey and I am so happy and thankful to have had this opportunity.

1)How did you land an agent over there and is this how you are finding every job you are auditioning for?

I went to an open call and auditioned for my dance agency. I made it past the first round and in the second round they videoed us dancing. I got a call a few days later to come in for a meeting and signed with them! They call whenever they have an audition for me.

There are also postings on the notice boards at the dance studios here to let dancers know about up and coming auditions. You can also find out about dance auditions by signing up to www.answers4dancers.com and www.lacasting.com. I found out about the agency audition through a posting at one of the studios (Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio).

2) Are you working another job to pay the bills between dance gigs?

I did a bit of audience and extra work to pay the bills between dancing gigs. It’s great getting paid to sit there, enjoy the show and clap! I’ve done audience work for shows such as Dr Phil, Americas Funniest Home Videos, Trivial Pursuit and Family Feud. I also worked part time at a gym selling memberships. Additionally, I have been lucky enough to have my parents support me (when needed) while I have been here.

3) What sort of advice would you offer someone who is interested in landing a job in the entertainment industry over there, especially dancing?

Firstly, to come here! LA or NY are the main places here for dancing. LA is more of the commercial dance scene while NY is mainly the Broadway/musical theatre scene. Secondly, train, train, train! Go to lots of auditions and never give up! Perseverance is the key!

4) How long did it take you to land your first job?

I actually landed my first dancing job 2 days after I signed with my agent. My agent called me up the very next day after I had signed with her and said she had an audition for me. Naturally I was quite surprised since I had only just signed with them 24 hrs earlier!

5) Can you give me a bit of a run down on the break-dancing/old lady job. What was involved? What was it like on the set etc.

My first job was a commercial for Sunkist (orange fizzy drink) where I dressed up as an old woman and break danced! They filmed us dancing in our normal dance attire then it was off to makeup and costuming. There were 5 of us and we each had our own special effects makeup artist. It took 2 hours to apply the makeup that turned us into old women! After makeup and costuming were done we headed to a club in Hollywood – the location for the commercial. There were about 50 extras already onset and they had us dance in a circle in the middle. We also did an ‘entering the club’ scene where we were asked to show ID (very funny!). If you want to check out the video below,
I’m the first granny to breakdance!

America is a great place full of lots of amazing opportunities, most of which you wouldn’t get back home! Amongst other things I have auditioned for Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Nelly Furtado and Jamie Fox. I also auditioned for the Apple Ipod commercial. I worked on the recently released movie “Dance Flick” with the Waynes Brothers and have been involved in several on-stage/live performances and showcases. There are a lot of avenues to get involved in here especially in the fields of dancing, singing, acting, modeling and the entertainment industry in general.

While it took me a few months to settle in I am loving being over here now! My advice to you is follow your dreams!! And if it means coming here then just do it!