Title: Auditions
General Information about Item:
- Customary folklore: rituals, traditions
- Language: English
- Country where Item is from: USA
Informant Data:
- Trevor Davis is an ’18 that joined X.ado his freshman year and sang in his high school choir for three years. He is 21 years old. He was born in Wheaton, Illinois. He grew up and still lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is majoring in computer science, and minoring in math and anthropology.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context
All returning members of X.ado are present for auditions as well as members of other acapella groups and all potential members who are trying out. Auditions take place during the fall term. X.ado used to conduct auditions separately from other acapella groups but for the past few years X.ado has worked with other acapella groups to create joint auditions.
- Cultural Context
All groups that require some sort of skill hold auditions so they can evaluate the candidate for their ability and to see if the candidate will be a culture fit for the group. X.ado does this to ensure that the person can sing, as X.ado is an acapella group, and also wants to see if the person is a cultural fit for the group, and so the person can see if they are a cultural fit for the group. An important part of acapella is being comfortable singing in front of large groups of people. This need for confidence is seen in the fact that potential members must audition in front of members of various acapella groups.
Item:
X.ado’s auditions have changed over time. They used to host their own auditions, but now, their auditions are part of the larger Dartmouth auditions circuit.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
“So I’ve been in the group for three years now and thing I’ve really like seen every year is how we do auditions. Um that processed has changed for us over time, we used to do our own but now we are part of the larger acapella auditions at Dartmouth. And it’s just kind of a whole day thing, we get excited, we dress up in flair, we get them to sing different songs, they match scales and pitches, um, and it’s a really great opportunity not just for us to get to hear how they sound, but for them to get to know us and decide, you know, that acapella is something they want to do, and if our group is something they want to be a part of.”
Informant’s Comments:
- See transcript
Collector’s Comments:
- All groups tend to have some evaluation process to induct new members. Companies conduct interviews to see if candidates are a cultural fit, and if they’re confident. Fraternities and sororities have rush to see if they want to take a certain person into their group, etc. This seems like a pretty standard tradition that most groups engage in, in some form or another. Performance groups in general engage in a slightly more formal audition process.
Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid
Compiled/Analyzed by: Afnan Enayet/Sruthi Pasupuleti
Tags/Keywords:
- Initiation
- Auditions
- Singing
- Acapella
- Ritual
- Tradition
Initiation/Ritual
