What kind of dancing is most often performed in Theater?

Question:I just saw The Lion King recently and fell in love with it. I've always been a big fan of theater before, but this REALLY got me going and I'd love to be in a play, sing, dance, etc (for a living, or maybe as a hobby, either way). I'm pretty good at singing (my chorus teacher is always askin' me to do stuff o.O), I'm one of the top actresses in my Theater Class, and I can do anything tapdance-wise. I know in SOME productions they do Tap, which is my strong point, and i also know that they do a lot of Jazz but what other dances do they do in Theater? Modern? Lyrical? And how much experience would one need in these dances in order to be loved by the Theater owner (or just accepted into the company/theater/whatever)?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I just saw The Lion King recently and fell in love with it. I've always been a big fan of theater before, but this REALLY got me going and I'd love to be in a play, sing, dance, etc (for a living, or maybe as a hobby, either way). I'm pretty good at singing (my chorus teacher is always askin' me to do stuff o.O), I'm one of the top actresses in my Theater Class, and I can do anything tapdance-wise. I know in SOME productions they do Tap, which is my strong point, and i also know that they do a lot of Jazz but what other dances do they do in Theater? Modern? Lyrical? And how much experience would one need in these dances in order to be loved by the Theater owner (or just accepted into the company/theater/whatever)?

"how much experience would one need in these dances in order to be loved by the Theater owner (or just accepted into the company/theater/whatever)?"

Professional=Professional. If you are auditioning at a professional level you've got to be able to go into an audition and show them that you can do what they ask you to. They don't want to waste hours trying to teach you the basics of a dance unless they REALLY want you for the role acting/singing wise.

Other levels would be willing to work with you. Again it depends on the level of professionalism the company has. If you're doing community theatre then it isn't out of the question for someone to go in not knowing how to dance at all (at least, it's true where I live.).

As for styles of dancing:

Tap is a big one. It's good that you already have experience with tapping because as far as I can tell (and I'm not a dancer) tap is one of the harder dances to just 'pick-up'.

Swing, folk, and ballet. Jazz.

Now that I think about it, musicals seem to have their own style of dance that doesn't really have a specific name. I did Once Upon a Mattress at a kids summer camp once and we asked the dance teacher to help. She had never choreographed dances for a musical before so we spent almost as much time teaching her as she did teaching us. As long as you are well rounded and have nailed the more difficult styles you can probably make adjustments as needed.

But you should still know, a lot of people who do professional theatre will major in it in college. So if you're looking for experience, the professors are going to tell you exactly what you need to be able to do.

well im a dancer and the kind of dance that i see that is preformed in theatre are a lot! from ballet to tap to jazz to lyrical to modern there's many, but if you want to dance you should enroll in dance classes. you should take ballet because most dances have basic steps that come from ballet, and it would get you flexible and lots of technique too. and it will show you how to be grace full too.