The Sum of the Parts
Take one part magic show, add two parts dancer and multiple parts technique and style. The result is a Las Vegas show called "The Beauty of Magic" and part of its magic is embodied in two of its dancers: Sarah Longworth, an English beauty, and Ryan Kelsey, a handsome Las Vegas native. Both are where they are today, they say, because of versatility.
In fact, it required multiple dance styles to land this gig. As Sarah said, "It was the hardest audition I've ever done. I have to say it was the most technical and it was the style and it was just fantastic. It was really challenging. We did a very technical jazz routine which incorporated a lot of ballet and then we did a tap routine, intermittently, one by one, which is very scary. It was just fantastic. For dancing, you always want to be challenged and that audition certainly challenged me."
Ryan said, "This is an eclectic show of dancing styles, everything from Latin jazz to thrash jazz. There's tap and clogging in there...Every number's completely different in this show. I've never done anything like that."
And it starts from the first bar of music. Sarah said, "The opening...It's such strong energy, such strong style, technically-wise it's very, very hard on the body."
Ryan said, "Uh yeah, the opening is quite a challenge. Kind of like being fired out of a gun. There's no cut, crescendo into it. You've got to go instantly...When you get offstage, you have just enough time to quickly change your costumes and then you're right back onstage. And again, it's different sorts of physical energies. You'll be dancing and kicking and jumping and the next thing, you'll be pushing a heavy illusion on."
Sarah said, "I think people don't expect the caliber of dancing that's in it. I think people expect a group of pretty girls to come out and just present an illusion." Well not here. The dancing is physical and intense, the perfect challenge. "I would say if this is what you want to do, it's very, very hard being a dancer. And I know everyone says it's hard, but it is. You've got to be prepared for the setbacks, to go to auditions and be told you're too fat, too skinny, too tall."
Ryan said, "I guess my advice would be try to be as well-rounded as possible. Anything that there's a class for, go take it, at least once."
"I spent a lot of time in one studio and studio students, especially for the young dancers, studios tend to kind of mold you into thinking if you go to other studios, you're a traitor. They're wrong. Go to as many studios as you can. Take from as many styles of teachers as you can. Again, ballet, jazz, tap, tumbling, singing, acting lessons, musical theatre, I mean as many things as there's a class for. Try it out, because A, you might like it; B, you might need it."
"You never quite know what auditions are coming and you never know when you're going to need work and you never know what they're going to need from you, so everything you can get your hands on, you know? Ballet is so important, everyone should grow up on ballet class. Get into ballet class if they have it, because that's where it all starts. Jazz class. Don't just find one teacher, but different styles of jazz."
After that, it's important to downplay weaknesses and emphasize strengths and both Sarah and Ryan have done their homework. Sarah's strength? She said, "I'm quite versatile. I'm not good at one specific style. I've never been excellent, fantastically brilliant at ballet, or fantastically amazing at tap. I've always been very good and I think that's really helped me."
And Ryan? "I would probably say my performance, my charisma onstage. I've always loved being onstage. I grew up onstage. As a matter of fact, Dad had walked me across stage, 1988, as the New Year's baby at the Stardust Hotel."
So the sum of the parts is in the performance. It combines technical skill with artistry and emotion and wraps it all up with charisma, with stage presence. Sarah said, "I think it shows you love your job, especially in an audition. It shows. Even if you're doing the wrong steps, you don't know what you're doing, if you've got that love of dance and you love what you're doing and you have that charisma, you can just see it."
Good basic technique in a multitude of styles and a winning personality onstage adds up to more work, exciting contracts, different challenges...in short, magic.