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Articles tagged with dance

Spotlight’s CDET school talks: Preparing performers for the future

It’s getting close to the time where many performing arts students prepare to graduate and enter the world of agents, auditions and casting directors. To help them prepare for a world after graduation, Spotlight’s PR manager Emma Dyson travels around the country, speaking to students about how they can market themselves and offer industry insights they need to know about. Prior to joining Spotlight Emma worked as an agent for six years and trained at the Guildford School of Acting, and has a wide knowledge of the industry. This month, Emma is focusing her talks...

posted on 10th January 2012 Read full article >>

Spotlight's highlights of 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, we at Spotlight thought we’d look back on our highlights from the past 12 months. There have been so many fantastic performances across stage and screen - theatre, film, dance and television - that’s had us raving to fellow Spotlight co-workers in the office the next day. Of course, the tastes of all Spotlight staff vary, although if there was one play and performance that got everybody talking and featured at the top of our end of year list, it was Mark Rylance’s performance in Jerusalem. Ben, Spotlight’s managing partner, described it...

posted on 20th December 2011 Read full article >>

Q&A with Young Dancer Of The Year Courtney George

Last weekend, Courtney George danced away with the Young Dancer Of The Year Award at The Dance Show 2011, after wowing the judges with her self-devised solo routine. As part of her prize, 17-year-old Courtney from Shelley, Huddersfield now has a year’s membership to Spotlight Dancers, a contract with top dance agency Dancers Inc, and a contract to appear to the Clothes Show Live’s Suzuki Fashion Theatre in 2012. We caught up with Courtney to find out more about her winning performance, and what the future holds for this talented young dancer. How does it...

posted on 8th December 2011 Read full article >>

Advice for dancers: Questions and answers from The Dance Show

Last weekend, Spotlight was busy dancing across the Birmingham NEC, where we were at the heart of The Dance Show 2011 – one of the top industry events of the year in the world of dance. Our team of Kelly, Kate, Martin, Frances and Elaine were on hand for a chat about all things Spotlight, as well as offering career advice to our dancer members and those training or looking to break into the world of dance. In addition, Spotlight’s Pippa Harrison was one of the judges on the Young Dancer Of The Year Award, sponsored...

posted on 7th December 2011 Read full article >>

Courtney George wins Young Dancer Of The Year 2011

Courtney George (in the blue top) is presented with the Young Dancer Of The Year award Yorkshire youngster Courtney George wowed the judges at The Dance Show in Birmingham last weekend to walk away with the coveted Young Dancer Of The Year award, sponsored by Spotlight. 17-year-old Courtney, a student on Yorkshire’s Young Dancer scheme with the Northern Ballet Theatre, impressed the panel of top industry judges with her superb solo performance in the final. A day of demanding dance and choreography saw hopeful dancers undergo a series of heats in the morning, with just...

posted on 6th December 2011 Read full article >>

Spotlight heads to The Dance Show 2011

Spotlight is getting ready to shake our hips this weekend when we head to The Dance Show 2011 at Birmingham’s NEC. As well as judging this year’s Young Dancer Of The Year competition, Spotlight will be on hand to talk all things dance at our Spotlight stall (in Hall 8, Stand DS52). Whether you’re a Spotlight member, or starting out in your career and thinking about joining, Kelly, Kate, Frances, Martin and Elaine from Spotlight can offer career advice and help you get the best out your career – plus answer any questions you may have...

posted on 1st December 2011 Read full article >>

Win tickets to The Dance Show 2011 at The Clothes Show Live

Slip on your dancing shoes and prepare to move your body, as we’re less than a week away from The Dance Show 2011 at Birmingham’s NEC. Spotlight is once again sponsoring the Young Dancer Of The Year Award, where dance students aged between 16 and 22 get the chance to show off their best moves in front of a judging panel of industry experts – and thousands of spectators. To celebrate our involvement in this year’s show, we’ve got one pair of tickets to give away to The Dance Show 2011 and The Clothes Show Live at Birmingham’s...

posted on 24th November 2011 Read full article >>

Spotlight Dancers 2011-2012 is now available

The new edition of Spotlight Dancers has just been released. With new colour head and full-body shots and contact details for over 300 professionally trained and experienced dancers, the books are an invaluable aide-memoire when looking for casting inspiration. Spotlight’s iconic, glossy books are an unrivalled industry resource. They are used daily by casting directors, producers, directors, choreographers, commercial and musical theatre production companies to source dancers and musical theatre performers for their productions. Are you an industry professional looking for dancers for your new project? Spotlight Dancers is available as part of a casting subscription...

posted on 27th October 2011 Read full article >>

Spotlight’s weekly news roundup: 21st October

Welcome to Spotlight’s weekly news roundup, where we highlight the news and blogs we’ve enjoyed and want to share with the industry. So kick back and read what’s snagged our interest this week.   All about acting and auditions On Tuesday, Spotlight held our Casting Symposium at the London Film Festival, with three top casting directors – Lucinda Syson, Reg Poerscourt-Edgerton and Karen Lindsay-Stewart. We’ve rounded up the top tips and points from the panel, which are essential reading for performers. If any casting directors have any more they want to add...

posted on 21st October 2011 Read full article >>

Young Dancer Of The Year Award nominations close soon

Spotlight’s young dancers only have two more days left to apply for the chance to win a year’s free Spotlight membership and a one-year contract with top dance agency Dancers Inc. Applications for the Young Dancer Of The Year Award 2011, sponsored by Spotlight, close on Friday 21st October. The award is open to dance students aged between 16 and 22 and performers need to be nominated by their school or college teacher or apply through Kelly Taylor at Spotlight. The award is one of the highlights of The Dance Show 2011, part of The Clothes...

posted on 19th October 2011 Read full article >>

Spotlight’s weekly news roundup: 14th October

Welcome to Spotlight’s weekly news roundup, where we highlight the news and blogs we’ve enjoyed and think our members should know about. So kick back and read what’s snagged our interest this week. London Film Festival   The BFI’s 55th London Film Festival is in full swing, with red carpets, galas and some fantastic films abound. There’s so much material, we’re only touching the surface here, but the BFI Festivals YouTube channel is a fantastic place to start. The BFI are uploading vodcasts and clips from press conferences. A perfect way to while away...

posted on 14th October 2011 Read full article >>

Applications for Young Dancer Of The Year Award 2011 now open

Reckon you can move your body like Nicole Scherzinger or fancy yourself as the next Derek Hough? Up and coming dancers now have the chance to prove their ability by applying for the Young Dancer Of The Year Award 2011, sponsored by Spotlight. After last year’s fantastically high standard of competition, we’re once again looking for dance students aged between 16 and 22 to show they’ve got what it takes to perform their best moves in front of the judging panel, and thousands of spectators. The winner of the award takes home a year’s free membership to...

posted on 16th September 2011 Read full article >>

Spotlight at Perform 2011

Make sure you are heading to Perform this March! Spotlight will be exhibiting on stand 718 at Olympia, London, from Friday 11th March Sunday 13th March. Make sure you pop by to chat with Spotlight experts, see copies of our latest directories, and catch up with all the latest Spotlight news. PERFORM 2011 is the exciting new show for anyone working in acting, singing, performance, stage management and technical theatre. You can meet and talk directly to 30 exhibitors including Equity, The Stage, various schools, universities and vocational colleges. You will also be able to attend...

posted on 17th January 2011 Read full article >>

Recent actor, dancer and presenter projects cast via Spotlight

The following are just a selection from the many hundreds of projects which have been cast via Spotlight recently: Film and Television The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo X Men: First Class Just William Waterloo Road Merlin ...

posted on 22nd September 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight Dancers – renew your membership for 2011

It’s time for our current dance members to renew their Spotlight membership.       Over the past year we have launched several new services for our dance database including online renewals, a programme of seminars for graduates given by musical theatre casting directors Pippa Ailion and David Grindrod, and Spotlight Mondays – free fifteen minute career advice sessions with a Spotlight expert. Examples of projects recently cast using the Spotlight Dancers database include Flashdance (Musical), Life of Pi (Feature Film), Aladdin (Pantomime), The Dancing Couples (Still Photography), Grayboy 2010 – Cruise Ship Auditions (Stage), Goldfrapp – Alive...

posted on 14th June 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight at the National Student Drama Festival

The National Student Drama Festival starts tomorrow in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, and Spotlight is one of the sponsors. Pippa Harrison, Spotlight’s head of client services, and Will Davies, agent and casting liaison, will be at the festival from 30 March to 1 April hosting a seminar entitled “How to be a Professional Actor” and attending a couple of Equity networking events. The National Student Drama Festival is a week-long celebration of theatre, live performance, discussion and special events.  NSDF10 offers students the chance to attend workshops and discussions covering all aspects of theatre and performance, including acting,...

posted on 26th March 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight members win big at this year’s Olivier Awards

             Big congratulations to all the Spotlight members who won awards at Sunday's Olivier Awards. They are Aneurin Barnard, Eddie Redmayne, Iwan Rheon, Mark Rylance, Maggie Smith, Samantha Spiro, Rachel Weisz and Ruth Wilson. Plaudits too to all the performers who were nominated in the actor/actress categories. On the dance side of things, Stephen Mears won Best Theatre Chorographer for Hello Dolly! at the Open Air and the Rambert Dance company won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. For a full list of the winners...

posted on 23rd March 2010 Read full article >>

Top five career tips for budding dancers

Spotlight were at Move It! 2010 (http://www.moveitdance.co.uk/) last Friday and as well as all the amazing performances and master classes, several industry professionals were giving career advice to aspiring dancers.  Spotlight’s very own dance expert Martin Pavey picked the top five tips and here they are: Believe in yourself - Casting Directors always look for passionate performers. Your driving force must always be your love for dance and joy of performing, as well as the conviction in your abilities. Train - Training not only gives you the necessary skills, but the...

posted on 19th March 2010 Read full article >>

Recent actor, dancer and presenter projects cast via Spotlight

The following are just a selection from the many hundreds of projects which have been cast via Spotlight recently: Film and Television The Sarah Jane Adventures The IT Crowd Taggart Merlin 4321 Inbetweeners River City Untitled Ken Loach Project 2009 Hollyoaks Sex and the City 2 Stage Dunsinane (Hampstead Theatre, London) Enron (Noel Coward Theatre, London) The 39 Steps (National Tour) Really Old, Like Forty Five (National Theatre) Columbo (National Tour) Canterbury Tales (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Liverpool Playhouse,...

posted on 19th March 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight at Move It Event

Spotlight had a fantastic day exhibiting at this year’s Move It event on Friday 12th March.  Highlights from the main stage included; Expressions Academy of Performing Arts, whose performance was inspired by dance from around the world, Urdang Academy, who explored the beauty of ballet and some cutting-edge contemporary dance and Cambridge Performing Arts – Bodywork Company who entertained the crowds with some high velocity hip hop and street dance plus the sensational Flawless taught a packed masterclass. Once again Move It brought the latest trends, the most cutting edge performances and top dancers all together under...

posted on 16th March 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight at Launch 2010

Spotlight enjoyed a successful day at Launch 2010, the annual event that brings together dance graduates and industry professionals. Last weekend’s event was packed full of seminars and advice on how to kick start your career and start thinking about your future. Seminars included ‘Managing Finance and Tax’ with Tim Tubbs, ‘Arts Administration’ with Isabel Tamen (former dancer and executive director of Richard Alston Dance Company), ‘Education in Dance’ with Veronica Jobbins (head of education and community department at LABAN) as well as an in-depth CV tune-up session with Kiki Gale (artistic director of East London Dance). ...

posted on 4th March 2010 Read full article >>

Spotlight at dance graduates event

Spotlight will be exhibiting this month at Launch 2010, a day of seminars and advice from leading dance professionals for recent dance graduates and final-year students. Hosted by Dance UK and The Place, the event is a professional development day offering opportunities to network with industry professionals and delegates. Exhibitors include Equity, Dancers Career Development (DCD), City University, Pilates Foundation, and Jo Baker (Dance Science). The event will be held from 9.30am to 6pm on Saturday 27 February 2010 at The Place, 17 Duke's Road, London WC1H 9PY. Tickets cost £35 (£30 for Dance UK members) and...

posted on 11th February 2010 Read full article >>

Recent projects cast via Spotlight

The following productions were cast recently via the Spotlight Link: TV & Film Waterloo Road My Family Law & Order Moving On Brighton Rock (Film) Whitechapel Holby City Robin Hood (Film) Chatroom (Film)  Stage Private Lives (Bath Theatre Royal & West End) Columbo – Prescription Murder (UK No 1 National Tour) Hi-Di-Hi (Touring) ...

posted on 4th February 2010 Read full article >>