Audition Tips from a 22 Year Old Student

• Chill out.  
• Don't put emphasis on photos.  I applied for every single audition two years in a row with the same CVS-printed selfie as my head shot.  Those two years, I got into Ailey, Bolshoi Moscow, Joffrey, Oklahoma City (with scholarship), Ballet West, Ballet Cincinnati, Ballet Arizona, Ajkun Ballet, and ABT.  Literally just print your selfie at CVS--don't stress, don't use a lack of professional head shot as an excuse not to go to auditions.  My arabesque shot was something my friend took during a 15 minute break between technique class and pointe class.  I didn't even have an a la seconde tendu picture and Cincinnati accepted me anyway.  Not everything has to be perfect.
• Be bad.  Skip class to audition.  Fake food poisoning.  Focus more on doing the best for your career and you rather than focusing on being the best student at your school. 
• Be happy--smile at other auditionees.  Snap your fingers for others' incredible turns.  Smile when you mess up and finish the combination happy.  Laugh at the audition teacher's bad jokes.  At best, you'll get noticed for your adaptable and unflappable nature and at worst, you'll make someone else feel a little more at ease.  
• Get there early to warm up but don't over-warm up.  What do you do for your daily class?  Do just a little more than that.  If you can't slide into the splits cold, don't do that before your audition.
• Reward yourself after, be it with a new skirt you've been eyeing at Urban Outfitters or a bowl of ramen from that really good restaurant down the street or a Skype call with your favorite person who's just a little too far from you
• Find someone who supports you during audition season.  Your ballet teachers might not support you, but your family or your friends or your personal trainer might.  Tell them all the details.  
• Cast your net super wide, especially if, like me, you are a little older than your peers in your training.  Grab an issue of Dance Magazine and circle all the schools that accept your age range and then audition for all of them.  If you're 19, audition for things that say "12-18."  If you're 22, audition for things that go up until 20.  People always make exceptions.  Be pushy; be your own advocate.
• View the auditions as masterclasses where you wear a number.  Many of your audition teachers are ballet masters at the company or directors of the school or artistic directors of the second company or founders of the academy.  Even if you aren't accepted in the end, you took class from an incredible person.
• Accept all corrections immediately and enthusiastically.  Many corrections may even mean they already see you as their student.