Although most auditions for musical theatre shows teach a short dance routine in their dance auditions, some auditions will require you to have a prepared piece. The reasons for this are varied, but they can save time for the auditioners as well as give performers the opportunity to audition from far away via a video recording. For professional dancers, it is also important to have a repertoire of solo pieces for performance opportunities that may come up on short notice.
Is important to realize that in most of these cases, it is not your choreographing ability but your dancing that is being judged. Unless the instructions specify that you should choreograph the dance yourself, or you are an accomplished choreographer, don't feel that you have to do it yourself. Remember that poor choreography will not show off your dancing at its best, and may hinder your audition. Get help from anyone you can to make sure that your piece (whether for audition or performance or both) is a true demonstration of your talent. I do not recommend using a dance that was choreographed for a group as a solo.
After watching many dance shows & competitions, I have noticed that choreographing solos seems to be much more difficult than choreographing for groups. Solo dances cannot make use of formations and partner work to add interest. In a solo the audience has only one person to look at, and there is a lot of pressure to make every little step "interesting".
While your dance solo should show your highest level of ability, make sure it also has musicality and natural flow. I have seen a lot of very poor solos that consisted only of trick after trick, with very little connecting them and with very little connection to the music. Make sure that your choreography shows your musicality, and that the moves flow naturally into each other rather than looking like a list of tricks. For more tips on choreography, click here.
