The number 1 Dance Agency is…

MSA Ranks #1

IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING, I AM NOT REPRESENTED BY ANY OF THE TOP 3 AGENCIES. I AM GIVING YOU AN UNBIASED OPINION BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, OBSERVATIONS, AND THE OPINION OF MANY OTHER DANCERS, AND ENTERTAINMENT SOURCES.

Now, back to the BLOG…….

Here’s the lowdown:

STARPOWER -
This agency is known firstly by its agents, Julie McDonald and Tony Selznick. They have over 20 years of experience and represent some of the biggest names in choreography today. Additionally, the bitc*es have the largest repertoire of BIG choreography credits. They even have Opera choreography locked down! They’re based out of Los Angeles and New York so they have bi-coastal range and they not only rep dancers and choreographers. But they dabble in acting, stage direction, specialty acts, and production designers.

NUMBER OF CLIENTS -
Ms. Jennifer was unable to get anyone to open up regarding the amount of people the the agency reps. It’s fair to say however, that the number is roughly the same as the Bloc Talent Agency. (By the way, I did have someone from Bloc contact yours truly to correct me on a couple of things…Check this out by visiting The #2 Ranked Dance Agency Blog!!!)

CHOREOGRAPHERS ON ROSTER -
I’ll name a few: MIA MICHAELS, JERRY MITCHELL, KENNY ORTEGA, JAMIE KING, DAVE SCOTT, MARY ANN KELLOGG, DANIEL EZRALOW, MARGUERITE DERRICKS, KEITH YOUNG, VINCENT PATTERSON……(list goes on and on) -Ok, enough said.

YEARS IN SERVICE -
Like I said, the kids have been doing this for ova 20 years. They know what they’re doing.

NUMBER OF BOOKINGS -
When you have Los Angeles, New York, and Vegas locked down. When you have the biggest choreographers in Film, Stage (including 8 Broadway shows), and Television (half of the sh*t done in LA LA Land are through this agency. The dancers are booking baby!

OVERALL -
Great Agency! If you’re good, and you have the look, you will work! Their choreographers cover a wide range of gigs from Vegas, to Broadway, Film, Music Video, etc. I can’t see them losing their lead on Bloc any time soon.

CONTACT INFO:

McDonald Selznick and Associates

1611A North El Centro Ave.
Hollywood, CA. 90028
323 957 – 6680

http://mcdonaldselznick.com/pr/msa/default.aspx

I love much of BFree’s work. From Mya’s “My love is like…” to Britney’s “Overprotected“. As a dancer, this Beeeitch is fierce. I like the fact that he still dances in music videos from time to time. He’s given many dancers their 1st break in the Hoooollywood dance world, and he is a good business man who stole the idea to take Adidas Boxing shoes and made them into a major Dance Shoe line.

Adidas

Looks tooo similiar

Hooooweva! This bitches’ ego has gotten a little out of hand! Who does he think he is, Jamie King? (Yummy!)
He’s been known to twirl in late for his auditions in his big SUV, glasses on, and cackling on the phone. Get off the phone and take off the glasses beeeitch! These kids are twirling in this hot ass, no air conditioned room for you! In order to get a hold of him, you have to go through his “Assistant” Beeitch, you aint that busy, can’t a person leave a VM?

Anyway, I’m done venting…Mama’s all better now…

Keep working at it Diva! Maybe one day BFree wanna-be Blake McGrath will have HALF the success you’ve experienced so far!!!

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I wanna B like Free!

The Good – This agency has some of the most delicious dancers in the industry today!

The Bad – The head agent is not the most pleasant person on the eyes!

The Ugly – It’s been rumored that this agency stole a client or two from the number 1 agency. Oh well, to the victor goes the spoils….

Can you guess which agency ranked number 2…………O.K. I’m OOveeer this waiting…..

Bloc Ranks #2

Why does this fierce agency rank above CTG? Check the specs honey!

STAR POWER -

Bloc gots the JUICE! Their agents don’t seek the spotlight, but they’re major players in the dance scene. Truth be told, their roster of choreographers and oh so fine dancers gets them over. The hot thing about the agency is that they rep Choreographers, Dancers, and Extreme Sports. They’re located in 3 cities (sorry Clear, they have one up on you!) Los Angeles, New York, and The ATL. The agency is ran by Canada’s finest brother and sister duo, Brendan and Lacey Filuk.

NUMBER OF CLIENTS -

Again, mama could not get her contact to give me an exact number, but the contact did state that Bloc has around 400 dancers on its roster, making it one of the largest agencies in client roster. (Of course most of them aren’t working)!

CHOREOGRAPHERS ON ROSTER -

This is where BLOC pulls up. Listen to this client list: BRIAN FRIEDMAN, FATIMA, RICHMOND AND TONE, MICHAEL ROONEY, MICHELLE JOHNSTON, Ms. Janet Jackson girl/boy friend GIL, MARTY “Same Steps” KUDELKA, & up and comer TYCE DIORIO! – G*D DA*M that’s an all-star cast!

YEARS IN SERVICE -

The agents at BLOC have been in the business the LEAST amount of years (compared with the other 2 agencies), however, they have had much success especially with Hip-Hop. The big drawback is that their roster of choreographers minus Micheal Rooney, Michelle Johnston, and Brian Friedman, can only do Hip-Hop. This is why they rank 2nd on my list.

NUMBER OF BOOKINGS -

The delicious group of young dancers book consistently, and they’re not afraid to tell you about it. Check out their home page which shows all the latest bookings by their clients. The big faux-pau is that their Choreographers don’t book the huge movies that the number 1 agency does….

OVERALL -

Great agency. They have the market cornered in the area of hip-hop. Their choreographer list is MUCH stronger than CTG. But the agency is toooo nichey, and doesn’t have the power to book high budget films like the #1 dance agency. 4 out of 5 twists!

Contact info:

Bloc Talent Agency

5651 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. 90036

323 954 7730

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J.T. to perform

Which brings me to my next topic: FAKE AUDITIONS.

It’s a little known fact that many of the dance auditions are nothing more than publicity stunts for the choreographer or artist. Have you ever been to a large audition with hundreds of dancers and a camera crew shows up? Why the crew? It’s nothing more than an opportunity for the choreographer to smile those pearly whites for the camera. Not that there’s anything wrong with publicity. I’ve been known to do or say whatever in order to get noticed. But you should know that, most, if not all of the dance spots have all ready been “pre-filled” by the choreographer’s friends.

Some choreographers like Gil (Janet Jackson) even has the nerve to hold “Auditions” disguised as Master Classes. That’s right kids, you’re PAYING TO AUDITION.

Save your coin, all the spots are filled for the gig. EVERY blue moon, they’ll let some new person in on a job in order to give you hope. But secretly, they’re plotting their next paid audition to fleece you some more $$ Stay away!

H.D.E.

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Now look. Don’t get mad at me for speaking the truth about the 3rd best agency in Hollywood. All of you “wanna be” Divas who are currently represented by them need not fret. Being that there are over 7 dance agencies, some not worth mentioning (hello TRIO) -BAM!!!! Being ranked 3rd ain’t so bad.

Our #3 highest ranked dance agency has come a looong waaaay in becoming a respected agency. New website, hot new talent and choreographers, this bit*h has made a complete 180 degree flip from where she came from not more than 3 years ago.

#3 - Clear Talent Group

Let’s see the skinny:

STAR POWER -

Ex – L.A. Talent now President of Clear Talent Group Tim O’Brian is a highly respected agent in the industry. He was one of the first, along with Julie McDonald to represent dancers and choreographers as an agent in Hollywood. (Julie would tell you that she was the 1st!). He later left L.A. Talent to head Kazarian Spencer and Associates (KSA) which at the time (along with The Bobby Ball Agency – when it was relevant) was one the largest dance and choreography agencies in Hollywood. After 7 years at the helm, he left and created Clear Talent Group. – http://www.cleartalentgroup.com/Staff.htm

NUMBER OF CLIENTS -

While the agents wouldn’t spill the beans on exactly how many clients they rep, this QUEEN BEE-UCH was able to find out that they have between 250 – 350 dancers on the books. Compared to the other 2 agencies, this makes CTG a moderate sized dance agency.

CHOREOGRAPHERS ON ROSTER -

I will admit, I was impressed with the roster of choreographers they had on staff: Shane Sparks, Ann Fletcher, Rosero and Jamal, Lissete and Chonique. Not a bad crop of clients. None of which work more than the list of choreographers from the 2nd and 1st ranked agencies however. The rest of the roster is not worth mentioning.

YEARS IN SERVICE -

CTG is the 2nd youngest of the top 3, minus Tim O’Brian, the rest are just pups in the business.

NUMBER OF BOOKINGS -

Here is where the sh*t hits the fan. If you compare the amount of jobs booked by dancers and choreographers from CTG, they don’t hold a candle next to our Number 2 and Number 1 highest ranking agencies.

Overall:

Clear Talent Group has a decent crop of dancers, so – so choreographers, good leadership, and a young crop of agents. I give them a 3 out of 5 twists!

Tim, I’ll even do you the favor of providing contact information, you’re welcome!

Clear Talent Group

10950 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA. 91604 ***** 818 509 -0121

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For clarification, let’s get something straight. DANCE agencies RARELY if EVER get you hired for the job. It works something like this:

A casting agent or a choreographer will call AN agency or SEVERAL agencies about a potential job and will ask for certain specifications. The casting agent or choreographer may be looking for a SPECIFIC LOOK: White/Black, Tall/Short, Hip-Hop/Jazz, etc. The DANCE AGENT will put these specs in their database and up pops your face. They then send these photos via the World Wide Web. The casting agent or choreographer picks who they want to see, yada, yada, yada.

So as you can see, this 1st step is no sweat for anyone who can manage a MySpace.com account. They don’t earn their money until you book the job. So, if you are paying your agent anything more than 10%, your fu*king out of your mind!!!

We looked at several criteria in order to provide the rankings. They are:

• Star Power
• Number of clients
• Choreographers on roster
• Years in service
• Number of bookings

There were several other criteria we could have used, but all that really matters is this: Will the agency get the call from the casting director or choreographer? Will they negotiate the best deal for you? Do they know what the hell they are doing?

ALL agencies have competent people on the phones working for you. But let’s get something straight. A DANCE agent rarely BOOKS you the job! They earn their money only AFTER you book. (We’ll talk about booking gigs on a later blog) – Shall we begin?

STAR POWER –

Does the agency have a great rep in Hoooollywood? Do you see its top agents at premiers for television, movies, and live concerts? Are the agents recognized as THE top shot callers in the world of dance? Do they commend respect from LARGER players like Directors, Producers, or Movie Executives? Do they get their phone calls returned?

NUMBER OF CLIENTS –

When it comes to agencies bigger is not always better. I’ve seen successful agencies with many clients, however, if you don’t bring in the moola, your headshot will be used as a coater for their Grande Chai Latte’s. However, if an agency is too small, it could mean that they simply aren’t successful or good at what they do. As a result, their clients leave. -Remember the Bobby Ball Agency? Neither do I.

CHOREOGRAPHERS ON ROSTER –

It DOES matter who the choreographers on roster are for any agency. In many cases when the choreographer has an audition, the audition will ONLY be for clients of the same agency. Many agencies do this, especially when it’s for a small job. However, if you were to ask them, they would all deny it. – Liars.

YEARS IN SERVICE –

You want to be at an agency that has been through all the ups and downs the entertainment cycle provides. In some years, commercials are really big. Other years, its tours. Still others movies. You want someone who’s been around the block a couple of times or three.

NUMBER OF BOOKINGS –

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA for any agency. It’s the lifeblood off ALL agencies. Does it book jobs? Does it make money? Agencies that get on a roll booking dancers because they have the hot “now” choreographer can provide lots of job opportunities even for newbies getting into the dance scene.

These are the overall criteria chosen for our top 3 rankings. I will post the results from 3 to 1 every day this week. See who makes it to #1

- H.D.E.

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-H.D.E.

We'll Miss You!

Many of you are visiting this blog because you heard about it from a friend. Some of you found your way here because of a search on google or yahoo. I don’t care how you found me, all I care about is that you’re here. I’ve observed the Hollywood Dance scene for several years, so I know what the hell I’m talking about when I say that most of you are wasting your time if you’ve come to Hooooollywood to be a professional dancer. Oh sure, you may get an occasional $350 music video to wet your whistle. Causing you to call all your friends and family to check you out on Youtube and thinking that your the sh** and that you’ve finally made it. But after it takes you a month to get your meager $350 {$277} after taxes, and after several cuts, near – misses, and heartbreaking auditions, you finally decide that opening up your own studio in your home state of Missouri ain’t such a bad idea at all! – This city will swallow you and spit you out. I’ve see more than one dancer become an addict to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes on several occasions. Get used to the smell of weed, since everyone who’s anyone smokes it. Get ready to open your legs or bend over if you want to be in the “in group” (We’ll talk about them on another blog).

I’m not trying to scare you or the over-protective mother or father who that your skipping school in order to pursue your “dream” was a bad idea. I’m just trying to give you the facts. And the fact is, is that MOST of the 6000+ people who claim to be professional dancers, are NOTHING of the sort. They don’t EARN a LIVING as a dancer (unless you count stripping), and over half have never stepped foot on a movie lot, video set, or stage, and can’t honestly say that they’ve EVER been PAID as a dancer. (They were glorified extras).

Brian Friedman (Dancer turned choreographer) – So You Think You Can Dance Judge

The plain truth is that you better keep your mouth shut, and your ears and eyes open if your gonna make it.

I’ll begin to unravel the secrets behind the business one BLOG at a time….

-H.D.E.

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