Auditions & Careers

Smuin Contemporary Ballet is now accepting applications for the 2024-25 season. Interested and qualified applicants with a minimum of two years of professional performing experience may submit their audition materials digitally. Smuin Contemporary Ballet anticipates that it will engage its Artists for 36-38 weeks for the coming season. Salaries start at $1,100 per week and go up from there based on experience.

Auditions are in-person and by invitation only. Please, only serious candidates prepared to move to San Francisco should apply.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet 2024-25 Season Auditions in San Francisco and New York

Sunday, February 11 , 2024 | San Francisco
Smuin Center for Dance
1830 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

10:30am – Check-in at front desk (no registration fee is required)
11:00am – 2:30pm – Audition: Including ballet class (female identifying dancers en pointe), partnering and repertoire. Select audition candidates may be invited to join Smuin Company class on Monday, February 12, for callbacks.

Sunday, February 18, 2024 | New York City
The Ailey Studios
405 West 55th Street
New York, NY 10019

2:00pm, Studio 6B – Check-in (no registration fee is required)
2:30pm – 6:00pm, Studio 6C – Audition: Including ballet class (female identifying dancers en pointe), partnering and repertoire.

To Apply

• Candidates must be eligible for employment in the United States as US citizens or possessing a current O-1 visa
• Minimum 2-years of professional experience is required
• For San Francisco and New York auditions, please send CV, photo(s), and video link to audition@smuinballet.org by January 31 , 2024.
• Include “Name/Audition 2024-25” in subject line (i.e. Anna Ballerina/Audition 2024-25). In your email, please indicate whether you are interested in attending the SF or NY audition.
• Following the auditions, submissions will only be considered through March 1, 2024, if positions remain available.

Video material should include 3-4 minutes of center work (no barre work) demonstrating adagio, petite allegro, pirouettes, grand allegro, and, for male identifying dancers, double tours. Female identifying dancers should demonstrate class work en pointe. Rehearsal or performance footage in classical repertoire and contemporary work, including partnering samples, should also be included. Entire video should not be longer than 8-10 minutes. If file is too large to email, applicant may send a password-protected link via Vimeo, etc.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet is a San Francisco Bay Area organization in its 30^th year. The Company was founded by Michael Smuin in 1994, and has been led by Artistic Director Celia Fushille since 2007. Smuin has announced that current Associate Artistic Director and nationally known choreographer Amy Seiwert will become Artistic Director in July 2024 with the start of the 2024-25 Season. As a protégé of Michael Smuin’s, Seiwert is uniquely poised to carry on the legacy of the Company.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet presents the works of its founder as well as the works of established choreographers. Recent repertoire includes works by Jiří Kylián, James Kudelka, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Val Caniparoli, Amy Seiwert, Trey McIntyre, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Helen Pickett and Osnel Delgado. The Company performs and encourages the work of emerging choreographers as well.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet offers competitive dancer contracts, presenting approximately 60 performances per season. Smuin pushes the boundaries of contemporary ballet, incorporating diverse dance styles and musical genres. Smuin creates art that is original and evocative, engaging and delighting audiences with works of uncommon physicality and expression. The Company attracts and engages versatile dancers who meet the challenges of our varied repertoire.