Kick Parallel!
After waiting three months for the answer, I finally found out in March that I had made a Rockette Summer Intensive that I had auditioned for after Christmas in December. I couldn’t believe it; I was so excited!
Waiting until July for this wasn’t such a bad wait. We had a lot of getting ready to do, and it gave me some time to prepare. What was probably the coolest part about this, for me, was that these girls I was going to be dancing with were from all over the country.
Finally, when July 9th came, Mom and I loaded the coach bus to NYC. It was finally setting in for me and I couldn’t stop smiling and thinking about it! The next day, I was to be at Radio City Music Hall at 9AM sharp for orientation and to start dancing.
Entering the building was like a dream come true. It’s a beautiful place and I felt so honored to have the opportunity to dance there. We all took the elevator to the seventh floor then walked up a couple flights of stairs and then entered into the large rehearsal hall- the one where the Rockettes actually rehearse! At the front of the room there was a table and on it were All Access Passes for the dancers. Soon enough the director started giving us the low down for the week, but I was more focusing on the girls I was going to be spending my week with.
Mom and the other parents were asked politely to leave and then the dancers got a tour of Radio City. It is more magnificent than I originally thought. And of course we had a comedic tour guide which made it so much better. Nothing like a grown woman calling a Glee cast member hot and rolling her eyes at the fact that Radio City has hosted the Charlie Sheen show.
When we entered the actual music hall, all of us fell dead silent in amazement. This theater is spectacular. If you ever get a chance to see a show there, don’t turn it down! There aren’t even words to describe its beauty. One of the facts we learned is that it seats 5,931 people and that back when it was first built in 1931 (or 32 I’m not sure), every single seat did not have an obstructed view. You could be sitting anywhere and see the whole show. Now of course because of sound and tech, apparently some people have TVs in their way.
As we got back to the rehearsal studio, we were told to stretch because we were about to start the placement audition. That wasn’t so bad, it was just to put you in either yellow or green group. I ended up in yellow. They then had to put us in height order (for those famous kick lines). They had 3 lines: Tall, Taller, and Tallest. Basically the way the week was going to work was that we’d practice the dances in our lines and then perform in them too so that way all the parents could see our shining faces 🙂 .
Throughout the whole week our schedule was go over dances, warm up, then a jazz class where we’d learn a section of a Rockette dance, then we’d rehearse our dance for the show, lunch for an hour, tap class, and finally tap rehearsal. All of this was a 9-5 day. I was pretty tired, and my feet had way too many blisters on them!
There are a couple things that the Rockettes are most known for. One is their precision and perfect togetherness. The other is their kick lines with the exact same leg heights and how they make it so easy. As we all learned, the Rockettes do not train like ballerinas, and so they do practically nothing turned out. Everything is parallel which can be a trouble spot for many young dancers. We were told too many times to kick parallel, even on the last day.
By the end of the week, I had made a few friends, knew all the dances by heart, and did not want the week to end! On Friday, we had rehearsal at the Manhattan Center. Unfortunately, Radio City was being occupied by the Cirque Du Soleil show Zarkana so we couldn’t perform there. We rehearsed all day, but lunch was even better than the actual performance. There’s something about telling funny stories with people you barely know that really makes you feel good. We all sat in our dressing room for the full hour and did not stop laughing. All of us felt that we could share anything because none of us knew the others so we weren’t afraid of being judged because there is no point with strangers. I’ll never forget that lunch.
Three o’clock finally rolled around and we couldn’t have been more prepared. We had trained all week for this and we were ready. For me, I felt so happy to be dancing actual Rockette dances and kick lines and it felt natural. I can definitely say I want to do this again next year and I’m so thrilled I had the chance to open my eyes to a different form of dancing; this is a job that I can absolutely see myself doing as I get older.
<br The outside of Radio City 
Radio City Music Hall
Dancer's Life 