[DaddyDiesel]

Question for all you stud auditioneers out there. What is your stand on moving around durring a vocal audition. I mean full all out dance not good but is movment good? Im auditioning for Gaston in Beauty and the Beast and I just wanted to know what you thought.

[Ulla Dance Again!]

Some movement is good - but I wouldn't go full out dance.

I think Liza Minelli once said that each song you sing you should have one gesture for it... something like that. So for Gaston, think about a gesture he would use (if you're singing a song from the show)...

Usually when I went on auditions and sang, I did a little movement - because you don't want to appear too bland and dead... but then again you don't want to appear too theatrical.

[Chevstriss]

If it feels natural do it. It shouldn't look planned. If you feel you are too far back, step forward. Let your arms move as they want. don't look as if you are forcing yourself to be perfectly still.

[seeemilysing]

You don't want to just stand there like a stick...Thats no good. But don't look like you are forcing yourself to move or you've praticed the moments...Think of it like you would be talking and use your hands and arms to gesture like you would when you talk. You know you kind of move your hands but they don't really narrate what you're saying?? Just do what feels natural.

[MaryMag]

I'm pretty sure I move too much. I am frequently told by my teacher that I move too much, and that an audition is not like a stage performance. An audition is a close up, nto only because they are only focused on you instead of an entire chorus or something, and not only because you don't have to fill up an entire stage but usually just a classroom or small audition space, but also because the auditioners are usually only 15 feet away from you which is much closer than the average audience member will be.

Movement is essential, I think, because it shows that your body is connected to what's happening in the song. However, my advice is to stick to facial expressions and a few, very few arm or hand gestures. Don't look choreographed. Don't go for literal gestures like touching your heart if you say the word 'heart' or 'love' or pointing to yourself if you say the word 'I' etc.

For those people like me who gesture too much, try to think about how much you would gesture if you were speaking the lyrics, not singing them. We don't do three gestures in one word, do we? So we shouldn't do three gesture in one word of a song, even if we're sustaining the note for quite some time. Think of how often you gesture in one sentence if you were talking, and keep your song gestures in one phrase to that same number.

Now, I'm not saying I successfully do this. I definitely don't. In the nervous moment of the actual audition, I screw it up all to hell. But this is what I'm shooting for.