DCP: Character Performer Auditions

So yesterday I went to another character performer audition to extend into entertainment through the summer with Walt Disney World. The audition went fantastic!

I went with three of my friends and we got there at 8:30 and check in started at 9. Even though we got there ½ hour before we were supposed to, there was already 200 people in front of us. Literally. I was number 201. There was about 500 College Program kids who had come to this audition.

The first round of this audition, they took people in groups of 50-80 and we learned a short parade dance. It was two 8 counts. After we learned it, we performed the parade dance in front of two casting directors. We had to do the dance three times while moving across the floor. Once everyone finished we all sat down so we could find out who would be making it onto the next round. Since there were so many people who auditioned, not very many people moved on to the next round. About 10 people moved on from my group, and I was one of them! I was so excited and felt so happy J

If you make it into the second round you are automatically in consideration for a character performer role. There was about 50-60 kids who made it into the second round. We are all considered for the role but not everyone will get it.

Once you make it into the second round the first thing you do is get your picture taken and you get your height measured. Now there are two different heights in Disney World. Your actual height and then your Disney height. Disney will measure you a couple inches higher or lower depending on what character they want you to be friends with. My actual height is 5’1 ¾. My Disney height is 5ft. Which is mouse height and fairies.

After you get all of that done, you learn an animation and a longer and harder dance. Our animation we had to pretend we were washing a mystical creature for 30 seconds and then we had to turn into that mystical creature that’s being washed for 30 seconds. It was hard at first but once I got my animation down I was good. When you do the animation, your body only is telling the story so you cannot talk. Which makes it challenging but as a character performer, you might be friends with a fur character who needs to talk through their body because they simply cannot talk. Once you practice your animation, you learn your dance. The dance combination is a way for the casting director to figure out who they want as a parade performer. It is meant to be tough so they can pick out the strong dancers. As long as you smile through the dance you will be fine. Fake it until you make it. They are mainly looking at animation for this round.

After we learned the dance we performed it in front of a casting director and then we were all done. We find out if we made it sometime between March 19-25. I think I did a really good job and feel like I have a good chance in making it this time!