Guide To Auditioning For DGC Dance Cover Projects
Thank you for learning dances with DGC! ❤️
We regularly organise dance cover video projects and a bi-annual dance showcase for students who’ve learnt songs in class.
The DGC Dance community has been growing rapidly over the last few years with more and more students becoming actively involved in our dance cover videos and bi-annual DGC Shows. We warmly invite you to take part too!
For cover videos, we aim to create fun & cool productions like these:
Our bi-annual dance showcases are a fantastic platform for students to debut and comeback just like their favourite K-pop idols.
Our spring DGC Dance Show will take place in April 2024.
You can read more about DGC Dance Shows here: https://www.dgcdance.com/dance-shows/
Who can apply?
You must have attended DGC Dance classes for this song to apply for this performance and must have attended most of the Parts excluding Recap. If you only attended Recap classes your application won’t be accepted.
No previous performance experience is required – just the passion to perform and be part of a team.
Beginners or first-time performers are more than welcome to apply however you are expected to know the choreography well, be comfortable performing in front of people, and demonstrate good dance technique 🙂
PLEASE NOTE:
- We usually only select the exact number needed for a cover to match the original idol members. E.g. 7 dancers for BTS songs, 5 dancers for NewJeans songs, etc.
- So if we have many applicants for popular songs and/or songs with a small group, whether you are selected will depend on how well we thought you have performed compared to other auditionees.
- There is a limit on the total number of performances you can take part in for each dance show. If you are already in 2 dance projects for a particular show, please discuss with Dickie before applying.
Auditions
The audition application form will specify how many dancers we are looking for and we will run auditions to select dancers for each project.
Depending on the song and instructor availability, we either run auditions in person and / or ask you to submit video auditions.
If a project goes ahead, the link to the application form will be available on the main auditions page.
As a rough guide, the usual time frames are as follows:
- Interest registration opens: midway through a full song course
- Application deadline: 1 week after the final Recap class
- Audition video deadline: 2 weeks after the final Recap class
- Audition results: Within 2 weeks of the audition deadline
Audition & practice tips
- Practice the (full) choreo regularly, even 10-15 minutes each day will make a big difference
- Film yourself, whether in class or outside of class, and review the video to see where you can improve
- Study the dance practice video and class video of the instructor, and look for things that you have done differently, e.g. timings, angles, energy levels, whether you match the style of the original choreo etc
- If you are tech savvy, make comparison videos of yourself vs the practice video using an app like CapCut.
- Slow the music down during practice if needed, and gradually work your back up to full tempo.
- Make friends and get a dance study buddy to practice together
- When you have learnt the full song, we do recommend that you film yourself dancing the whole dance as soon as possible whilst it’s still fresh in your memory so you have a video ready in case you do want to audition. You can always film another video if you have more time to practice.
Selection criteria & what we look for
We have added extra details about the audition selection process to help make it clearer what we are looking for. Please note: this is still a work in progress and we will update whenever needed.
During auditions, the key areas we look at (in no particular order) are:
- Choreography – how well you know the routine
- Technique & execution – precision/sharpness/cleanliness & accuracy of the moves, timing & musicality, lines & posture, match the style of the dance
- Performance – confidence, energy, emotion/charisma/characterisation, dancing with the whole body, facial expressions
Overall, we aim to select dancers who we thought were best at:
- dancing the original choreo as closely & accurately as possible; and
- embodying the style / concept of the choreo.
As K-pop has influences from many styles and genres around the world, for every song, it will be different; as each choreo has it’s own style and concept:
- Do your best to adapt to new styles and show us you can embody the concept
Examples
For songs that require less energy or emotion, being extremely enthusiastic and expressive would not score extra points.
For some songs, your energy and vibe may be more important than technique.
If we have any specific criteria that is not covered in the guidelines above, we will mention this in the audition application form or send you the details as soon as possible after you apply.
Please note:
- We now have multiple instructors who review the audition videos so it’s a collective decision in the end.
- The number of people auditioning and the overall standard of auditionees will affect whether you are selected due to more competition for the limited number of spots in a cover.
- If you are not selected, we do encourage you to ask for feedback to see where you can improve for future auditions.
In addition to your performance in the auditions, we are looking for people who:
- are friendly
- are positive team players and will work well with others
- are interested in being a part of the DGC K-Pop community & family
- are open & honest
- are passionate and hardworking yet humble
- have the ability to take constructive feedback and apply corrections
- are reliable and will be able to commit to the rehearsal schedule
- have time to practice & self-study outside of rehearsals
Filming your audition video
This section only applies if you are auditioning by video.
Please film yourself dancing the full choreography in one take.
***NEW***
We are now accepting class videos for your auditions as an alternative option – however the video must be one take of the full song and focussed on you.
For example, a large group class video with you in the back, would not be acceptable.
You can still film an audition video separately as you may have improved since the classes have finished.
Recommendations for your video:
- Dance facing the camera straight on (not at an angle from left/right/above/below)
- 1080p (HD) is preferred otherwise your video may be too blurry for us to see any details e.g. facial expressions
- Film in good lighting so the video is clear
- Have your full body in the frame (so no half body shots)
- Fixed camera on a tripod or steady handheld with minimal movement is much better than a lot of panning (moving side to side)
- Have the music loud enough so that it can be heard clearly
- Don’t watch the dance practice video (at the side of your camera) during your audition, or if filming in class, try your best not to be watching the instructor as you dance, as it would look like you don’t know the choreo well
- Make eye contact with camera (to show us your performance side)
How to submit your audition video
This section only applies if you are auditioning by video.
- Please upload your video to YouTube (in high quality) as an unlisted video
- Click the “Edit response” link in your confirmation email from Google to edit your audition application and add your link in the “YouTube link” questions, then click submit.
- There is no need to email us the link
- The audition deadline is shown in the “Timeline summary” section of the application form.
When and where are rehearsals?
Rehearsals will be weekly on a specific day of the week, which will be specified in the application form. Usually it’s on a week day evening, but some projects can be during the weekends.
We aim to hold the rehearsals in Central London, but does vary depending on studio availability.
There are also 2 run through sessions of all DGC Show acts – usually on a Sunday, the week before the show and also a final one on the Thursday or Friday evening before the show.
If selected, how much will the dance cover project cost?
The total cost is made up of:
- the rehearsal fees; plus
- a dance cover video fee.
Rehearsal fees
As at September 2023, standard rehearsal rates are:
- £11 per hour per person
The rehearsal fees go towards the studio hire, paying instructors to lead the project and behind the scenes admin & project planning.
For reference, rehearsal costs are:
12 hours = £132, 13 hours = £143, 14 hours = £154, 15 hours = £165
On average, each dance cover project would need between 13-15 hours of rehearsals.
Dance cover fees
- As at September 2023, the dance cover video fee is a flat rate of £25 per person.
- This goes towards the production of the dance cover video including filming (camera operator / videographer), video editing, directing by instructor on filming day, etc
- Excludes any venue or location hire fees if needed.
Venue hire fees (optional)
- If the group decides to film at an indoor location that is hired, then please budget some extra money for that.
- Typical venue hires are in the £50-£70 per hour mark shared between the group and usually you would need at least 2-3 hours to film indoors.
Total cost
So for example, the total cost for a 13-15 hour project will be between £168 and £190 for both rehearsals and the dance cover video, excluding any venue hire fee if needed.
If selected, rehearsals fees plus dance cover video fees will need to be paid in advance to confirm your spot.