Interview: OPEN CALL Dance Competition to Give Central Ohio Dancers a Taste of the Professional World

Hundreds of Columbus-area dancers are set to take the stage this weekend at the Open Call dance competition, showcasing a variety of styles in hopes of making connections with national talent agencies and winning scholarships.

Set to be hosted at the McCoy Center for Performing Arts in New Albany, Ohio, Open Call is a competition presented by New York's PTC Productions. The event is in its third season and is set to feature 400 entries this year during the weekend of Jan. 29 - 31.

"That ranges from solos to a trio, small groups, large groups... we have numbers of over 50 dancers in it, those are like huge productions from big studios," said Ellen Linam, registration director for Open Call. "All types of numbers, so like jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, contemporary... it is a lot of different pieces."

Linam said the competition offers dancers the opportunity to experience what it is like to audition and work as a professional in the industry.

"For someone who has never attended our competition, we offer a really professional environment," she said. "We are trying to sell to dancers who want to make it into the industry, want to be professional dancers, want to be a working dancer, so you are going to get a firsthand experience... We provide excellent feedback, just tips and tricks for you to be successful in the dance industry."

Dancers will be judged by a panel consisting of individuals currently working in dance and performing arts. They include Ricky Hinds, associate director for Disney's "Newsies," Lindsay Nelko, choreographer for "So You Think You Can Dance," and Chris Hale, associate director and director of education at Pushing Progress Contemporary Dance, according to an Open Call press release.

Full and partial scholarships are awarded throughout the weekend and participants also have the opportunity to audition for NBC's "America's Got Talent," Linam said.

"We work with 'America's Got Talent,'" she said. "At the end of the event, our judges will pick out a couple of routines that they have seen that they deem worthy to go to the audition. They will kind of get a pass, like a first in line pass, to pass a couple of the long lines of the 'America's Got Talent' auditions."

In addition to the competition portion of the weekend, Hale is set to host a master class Friday evening, which is open to the public for $35 per person. Space is limited, though, so interested participants are encouraged to preregister on the Open Call website.

Linam said Open Call is excited to come to Columbus to see what central Ohio dancers have to offer.

"Columbus is a huge city for us. We have a lot of talent that comes to Columbus," she said. "There are a lot of amazing studios in Columbus. We have a great relationship with those studios and we've just continued that."

This weekend in Columbus is one stop on Open Call's list of 12 regional competition dates for 2016.

More information about the competition can be found on the Open Call website.