Applying and Auditioning as a Transgender Dancer

Sometimes it can be scary to put yourself out there as a trans dancer. I certainly find it hard, especially as there are certain people I'm out to and others who I am not. This makes it difficult to apply and audition for schools, workshops, and other dance-related courses. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm proud to announce that I have one audition under my belt and it was a success! I am now dancing with students who are below me in age, but I'm dancing with the most successful Irish dancer in the history of Irish ballet. She's an absolute inspiration and although I've only attended one class with her, I have learned so much and I can't wait to do more!

Applying is probably the hardest part of the process for somebody who isn't cisgender- it's the awkward time when you decide how you want to portray yourself and how much you want to say. My first piece of advice is to do your research. See if they have an equality policy (you can usually find this on their website). Stalk their Facebook and see if they have any pictures of trans students or if they openly support LGBT+ movements. It's best to know before you apply that they will accept you for who you are.

If they seem open and accepting towards trans students, apply! Send an email explaining your situation and go for it. Otherwise, it is perhaps safest to inquire under another name that your family may not know you by. I applied using the name 'Sam' which is not my birth name nor my legal name, and only a few people know me as that. I found that it helped me to let go and to relax- they saw me as a boy, not a girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy when they saw my male name.

The Royal Academy of Dance recently published their latest edition of Dance Gazette, and in it they have a wonderful article all about transgender dancers. They even have a story from a boy around my age who is also a transman and is training to be a professional- how inspiring for all of us in the transgender community! The link is right here: http://www.rad.org.uk/more/dance-gazette
I encourage all of you to read it and tell the RAD what a refreshing piece it is- who knows, perhaps we'll hear more on the subject soon?

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post, and to all those trans people auditioning now or in the future- Good Luck!

~Sam

Breakthroughs

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm back in full force with at least two posts coming in the next week! Hurrah! I've attended two classes since my last post on this blog- I decided to combine both classes into one post as a little test- tell me which layout you like best. I'll still be posting once a week, but I'm considering making one week a 'tips and techniques' post and the next a 'class roundup'. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Ballet has been going exceptionally well the past few weeks. There have been a few hitches and bumps along the way, but the road goes ever on, as Gandalf said! In the last two classes I have taken in ballet, I have noticed a massive improvement in myself. I'm more confident in my dancing, I don't spend the class looking at my feet, I'm learning where to put my arms... It's a miracle! I think muscle memory has started to kick in- I know where my arms need to go based on what position my feet are in, and I don't need to think so hard about things like that. I can really focus on technique more than trying to learn choreography, place my feet, place my hands and adjust my head at the same time!

Sadly, there are a few FTM specific things I'm really noticing lately. I'm starting to see how wide my hips are and how big my chest looks in comparison to other male dancers. I'm not sure if I want to go on hormones so for now I have to deal with it, but it's affecting the way I see myself as a dancer- when I see myself in the mirror I'm not scrutinising my technique but instead comparing myself to 'real boys' who dance. I suppose I just need to get used to the fact that I am not the same as them- I'm something different, maybe a breath of fresh air in the dance world. We'll see!

Moving on, we've done a lot of allegro the past two classes. I'm starting to discover my strengths, and I think allegro could be one of them. I'm doing quite well in that particular section, while in parts such as centre practice I'm always a beat behind everybody else! Allegro is definitely the part of the class I find the most fun, although it's a bit sore on the knees due to the tile floors we dance on- probably not the best surface, but we have to work with it!

Dancing is stressful, but I love it. It's mostly stressful because I'm constantly travelling and buying things for ballet, and I also have to deal with personal things- I have to visit family and things and sometimes it can be a choice between ballet and family. That's something I'll be touching on in a later post however.

Hopefully you guys liked this post and if you have any tips, comments or questions, feel free to ask!

~Sam

Struggling with Syllabi

Hello everyone!

I've attended my first ballet class of 2016! It was fun but incredibly overwhelming, because we've started doing full syllabus run-throughs. Before now, we've been focusing on barre, one piece of centre and one piece of allegro each class, but last class we went through every exercise on the list one by one. It was a really fun way of doing everything, even though it didn't allow much time for corrections. I now have a list of everything we'll need to know for the class, so I can practice a lot more thoroughly at home now!

Sadly, I've noticed one problem- because I'm the only boy in my class, we obviously focus on the female syllabus. I only realised today when I went to look at the online syllabus that there are in fact two more pieces of allegro for males- Allegro 4 and 5, which haven't been covered or even mentioned. We also have to learn Variations or solo pieces, and I haven't got any information on these either. If anybody has any tips for studying the male version of the RAD syllabus, please leave a comment below!

I think one of my main struggles is trying to learn the work while also dealing with technique. I'm trying to practice as many times as I can at home, and I'm hopefully going to be taking a few more classes throughout the week so hopefully I'll start improving a bit faster! My 'studio' also has tile floors which means that no matter how often I practice pirouettes at home, I seem to be unable to do one without falling over in class- particularly with my brand new ballet shoes. They're full-sole leather SóDanças, and they haven't quite been broken in yet but I'm working on it. It's quite difficult to tendu in them, but I've read that they actually help to strengthen the small muscles of the feet so I don't mind.

Speaking of struggling, can anyone recommend the RAD DVDs for practice? I'm considering buying one but I'm not completely sure- it would definitely help with the things like Allegro 4 and 5 that we won't be covering as much, but I don't have any idea about the quality of the videos- do they have helpful tips or is it just walkthroughs? If you have any, let me know! I'd love to read your opinions.

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting. I really appreciate every comment I receive, and I hope you're all enjoying reading my story!

~Sam