Dance agencies and dance agents represent professional dancers. Therefore you need to be professional standard. Professional means trained to a high standard and that you will look like a professional dancer to any client you are presented to.

Being professional is the bare minimum as there are other criteria for joining a dance agency. Every dance agency is different but they usually go for a certain type of dancer at each agency. Whilst one dance agency may only really take on dancers trained at dance college, another may represent dancers who are naturally talented and self-trained.

It is a good idea to do a little bit of research into the agency you are going to audition for so you can find out what they like to have on their books. Even look through their talent if they have a website and this'll give you an idea of what images they like as well.

By going for a dance agency you are saying that you're of professional standard. It also implies that you are open to work opportunities so should have good availability for auditions and castings unless dancing on another job at the time.

Occasionally a dance agency will take on a very talented student onto their books. Although a student is unlikely to have a good availability they may want to have them on their books for future once they've graduated. Or they may really like the dancer and want to send them to auditions during their summer breaks for example.

So what happens if you're not at professional standard yet? Well don't worry, keep on training and working your way up to professional standard. How do you tell you're at professional standard? When you are dancing as good as professional dancers (watch video footage) or being successful at open auditions.

When the time comes, audition for the dance agencies you want to join, even some that you're not that keen on to get an idea of the procedure. If you're professional standard and have a good overall package including strong (not model looks I stress) image you'll probably be successful at some of the dance agencies you audition for.

Ryan Heddik has enjoyed a successful dance career dancing on TV numerous times and is the author of the groundbreaking e-book The book teaches aspiring dancers the exact process they can follow to find work in music videos with tried and tested principles that actually work. Find out more about it at