Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / I Want To Be a Rockette

Transcript

I Want To Be a Rockette · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: In the dance world, one of the most coveted and beloved roles is that of a Radio City Roquette.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Young dancers dream of performing on the famous New York City stage, executing eye-high kicks and precise dance steps during the holiday season.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited to be joined by former Roquettes Allison Kelly and Paige Williams to hear all about their experiences in the iconic company.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here, like always, with my wonderful co-host Leslie Mueller.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, Courtney.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: It is time for another great episode of Making the Impact.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: This is an episode that I've been excited to have us do on the podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: And it's a song that we all know that we hear at competition all the time.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: I wanna be a rocket.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I wanna hear the crowd roar.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a good song.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's perfect.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it is exactly what we're talking about today.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, about the world of the roquettes.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And we have two wonderful guests uh who have a lot of insight not only into the world of being a rockette, but also, you know, just general professionalism.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they have a vast array of experiences, so we're super stoked to talk to them today.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I can't wait to hear all about their journey when they were rockettes, and I'm excited to get to know them even more.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: But before we jump into this wonderful chat, we want to tell you about our sponsor for this week's episode.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: And we need to talk about something serious.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: Dancer injury rates are staggering.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Dancers have twice the injury rate from the knee down as football players.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: That is wild and crazy.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: The majority is due to overuse and inflammation.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: If you spent as many years as I did as a dancer, I'm sure you all know it can produce long-term chronic aches, pains, and injuries because of the nature of dance, lack of rest, and time to hours of class at competitions, conventions, and intensives.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: If only there was a tool for dancers to prevent injuries and help you continue to do what you love with less pain.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm here to tell you that there is.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Apollo performance is made by dancers, backed by science, and recently they got a deal on Shark Tank.
• 2:38
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• 2:47
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• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: They have thousands of testimonials from dancers like you on how they can help to dance longer and stronger.
• 2:56
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• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: I love my Apollo Shocks and I wear them all the time when I'm traveling, teaching on a convention, or even around the house.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: And they have an exclusive podcast promo code to offer to all of our listeners of Making the Impact to receive 10% off by using the code Impact10INALCAPs in the promo box at checkout.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: Go view all of their styles and learn more about Apollo Performance at ApolloPerformance.com.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, we can't forget to shout out some of our Platinum Premium members who have subscribed to our subscription base.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: The Platinum Premium subscription is for the Die Hard Making the Impact fan.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's only$5 a month, or you can pay a one-time fee for exclusive episodes for you all season long.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the perks of being a part of this membership is that you get shout-outs on the podcast.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we would love to shout out Kylie Stegman, a studio owner, dance teacher, and dance parent with Miss Twister Dance Company in Paradise, Texas.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: What a cool studio name.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And hello to Kylie.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and to Sorrel, a studio owner at Stage Lights Studio in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to join our Platinum Premium membership, head to our website at Impact Danceadjudicators.com/slash Platinum Premium.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: And we are so, so, so excited to be bringing back the Making the Impact Awards this season at all IDA affiliated competitions.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: So if you'll be attending one of them, you might be the lucky winner of the one Making the Impact Award that the IDA judges will select.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: And that dance could be a dance from solo to production.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: Any age or level dancer can get this award and be nominated for this award.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: And this is going to that one dance that the judges still cannot stop thinking about by the end of the weekend.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm so excited to announce some of our recent Making the Impact winners at IDA affiliated competitions.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: They receive a physical award on site at the event, but they also get a shout-out live on the podcast.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Congrats to Creative Edge Dance Studio from Reno, Nevada for their large group called Anne.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: And they won that award at Axis Dance Competition in Carson City, Nevada.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Anne from Gems Dance Competitions Event in Des Moines, Iowa.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Congrats to Express Dance Movement from Newton, Iowa for their large group, Raining Men.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yay!
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: We can't wait to continue to see who wins this award throughout the season.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: We love getting all of the photos and the tags and love giving y'all a shout-out on the pod.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: So stay tuned for more Making the Impact winners coming soon.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Alright, listeners, it's time to jump on in to this chat today.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: We're talking precision dance, and we have two former Rockets here joining us who have graced the stage and doing those high, eye, high kicks uh week after week, 12 times a week at points during the holiday season, which is so wonderful, and I'm I'm so impressed by them.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: I wish I could do that.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: I definitely, my body would not be able to handle it.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: But they did it for many, many years, and I can't wait to hear all about their journey as a rocket.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to welcome our first guest to the podcast.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: I've known this dancer for a very long time because fun fact, we actually grew up competing against each other in the Maryland dance competition scene our entire life, and she was the fiercest ever.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I actually think that she maybe even subleted my from me one of the holiday seasons in New York City.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was thinking about that.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: And she's she was a roquette for 12 years.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to welcome Allison Kelly to the podcast.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome, Allison.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was I was literally like, I'm pretty sure that one of those holiday seasons when you had to come in to the city for the three months and I was away on a gig, you uh subleted for me.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's just how this world works, you know, reconnecting in those ways.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: So fun.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: Allison, I've loved watching you through the years and so proud to see where your career took you.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I'd love for you to share a little bit more about you, where you grew up, where you trained, uh, how you got into being a raquette, and what you're working on now.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I grew up in um Maryland, and I started as a competition dancer for many, many years, as you know.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then I went on to train at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: I was there for three years, and then I Debbie Allen swooped me up and took me to LA um to dance at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and I was there for a year, and then I moved to New York and I did concert dance with Complexions Contemporary Ballet for a year.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: While I was with them, I auditioned for the Rockettes, and then I was away on tour in Europe, and you know, at the time, I'm aging myself, but at the time, like I didn't have like an international plan on my cell phone, so I was just communicating with my family through email, and my mom was like, This lady keeps calling and she only wants to like talk to you.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like, She literally keeps calling, and I was like, Well, mom, she's gonna have to wait until I get back from tour.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I got back from tour, and like two weeks later, and I called her back, and she was like, We'd like to offer you a job as a Radio City Roquette, and I was like, Wait, what?
• 8:25
  unknown: Wow.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of the end of this journey, and then yes, I did it for 12 years.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Best times of my life, met my best friends, did so many awesome things like the Tony Awards, VMAs, you know, all kinds of fun events.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: And now I am a dance instructor and I judge dance competitions.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: So full circle.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: Full circle, gotta love it.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I love hearing that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm excited to hear your perspective as we get dive into this discussion now that you are a dance teacher, and I know our other guest is as well, to just hear, you know, your approach on teaching, but then also maybe if there's dancers who are wanting to follow your path and journey of becoming a raquette, how you know to better prepare them now as a teacher so they can be successful at those auditions and get in, you know, reaching those goals.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm excited to hear all about that soon in the chat.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yay!
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome, Allison.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for being here and joining us.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: All right, Leslie, do you want to introduce our next guest?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, our next guest is a dear, dear friend of mine who I have known for almost, gosh, 20 years almost, because we're very old.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Our next guest, Paige Williams, has been on Broadway, has performed as a raquette, and is a wonderful friend of mine who was also my roommate for many years.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to welcome Paige Williams to the podcast.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_06: Yay, I am like so honored to be here.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_06: I I, you know, I'm such a fan of Making the Impact.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_06: And so I'm just I'm thrilled.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Paige.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's so good to have you.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: We knew we needed you on this chat.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: We knew we had to get you on the podcast at some point because we actually had your teacher, Raynor, on the podcast earlier this season on our episode.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know that's the uh number off the top of my head, but it was why some studios don't compete.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Because you did not grow up as a competition dancer.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_06: No, I did not.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_06: Not really for like the the bulk of my dance education growing up.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_06: I started at a dance studio that did compete, but I was only there until I was about eight or nine years old.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_06: And then I uh went to Encore Performers with Raynorm, my teacher, and we uh were more of a performance, like musical theater-based studio, doing like a Christmas and a spring show every year.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_06: So that was that was my foundational training.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_06: I went to Oklahoma City University with Leslie, that's where we met.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_06: Went there for school, moved to New York, and it was really like after having, you know, kind of taken a few kind of like precision dance classes that I was like, oh, this might actually I actually enjoy this.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_06: This is something that I would maybe like to do.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_06: And it was after college, after I had graduated, that I auditioned for the Christmas show.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_06: And I auditioned twice before I actually made it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_06: And yeah, that I ended up doing it for two years.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_06: I did it in New York City, and I also got a chance to do it in Nashville while that show was still happening, and both were like amazing experiences, like absolutely lovely human beings to work with, like just an incredible experience, and that I'm really, really glad to have had.
• 11:48
  unknown: Yes.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: And uh after your Radio City days, then you have been pursuing the Broadway journey, and you've had the opportunity to grace the Broadway stage in regional productions and national productions and actual Broadway productions.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_03: So it's been really exciting to see where your career has taken you.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's been really, really fun.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_06: I'm really grateful for doing what I've been able to do and like the mix of things that it's kind of brought brought to me and and my performing and the people that I've gotten to meet along the way.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And will you share a little bit about what you're doing now?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think our listeners I think it's always interesting for people to hear what other things dancers can do.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_06: So I was doing Aladdin on Broadway up until 2020.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_06: I, of course, was living in New York.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_06: The pandemic happened, and I kind of used that time to pursue other interests.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_06: I ended up working in compost, actually.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_06: Strangely enough, I had like a sustainability interest.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_06: And so like I kind of followed my interest in that and using my my love of talking to people and being very, you know, entertaining about it.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_06: And the skills of like teaching, you know, my master classes when I would teach master classes, kind of brought that to some compost sustain sustainability education for a while.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_06: And the journey has strangely wound me back to to being uh a teacher actually at my dance studio at Encore.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_06: And so I am kind of combining a lot of a lot of things, a lot of excitement for education, a lot of like the thrill of learning new things and bringing that to students, and like the experiences that I've had like in all these different places and spaces to kind of this new audience of of young dancers, and I'm really excited about that.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_06: We are very lucky to have you.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, absolutely.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm super excited to hear the ins and outs of what it takes to be a rocket.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, we heard about your early uh journeys and training and things and how you kind of got the job and and the audition.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure we're gonna dig dig even deeper into more details on all of that.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: So let's jump on in.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: Leslie, do you have a kickoff question?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, so y'all's early training, you know, seemed not as similar.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we have a competitive dancer and a non-competitive dancer, but obviously both well trained because both of you went on to, you know, do amazing things.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm curious, Allison, did you always want to be a Roquette?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because you you went to a ballet school and then you went to Debbie Allen's dance academy, which Debbie Allen does everything well.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then you ended up in complexions, and then you ended up like talk about doing everything.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like what?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, uh to be perfectly honest.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: I my friend drug me to the Rockette Audition because she was like, You I'm 5'10, you know, I kind of scream Roquette, you know, I have long legs.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, she I was actually in rehearsals with complexions when she was like, I need moral support.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Can you please come to the rockhead audition with me?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, sure, I guess.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: And like I didn't have rehearsal that day, so I was like, okay, why not?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I go, yeah.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um the first day they make what I think three cuts.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a jazz tap and kicks, or at least that's what they used to do.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we both made it all the way through, so then they call you back the next day, and then they add another like like two jazz combos, a tap and kicks.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately she got cut, but I made it all the way to the end, and I was like, oh crap.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, here I am.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: I was actually late to rehearsal with complexions because I like was still there and like I didn't have my phone, you know, because so I couldn't call anybody.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Anyways, so moral of the story.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: No, I did not always want to be a rocket.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, it kind of fell in my life.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I saw I saw like the Christmas show like as a kid.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I don't Courtney, you probably remember Melissa Hogue.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, she played Cara uh Clara, like and so I saw when she was Clara many, many years ago.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: And like I had never danced in heels, which is something that I am I want my students to do because it's a very different skill set.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's challenging, you know, the balance and yeah, it's just challenging.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like a train wreck my first year.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: I like I like sprained my ankle, I sprained my wrist and fractured my foot.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was like wow.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because I had never danced in heels before, so I wasn't used to it.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, I I made it out alive and did it for another 11 years.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I think is interesting about that story, and also now hearing that you never danced in heels prior to attending the Rocket Audition is the fact that, like, kind of like what you hinted at, Leslie, is you were well trained.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: And like that transition was easy for you to slap those heels on in that moment and hope for the best.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: And even though you probably felt like a disaster in those heels at that audition, they could see past, they could see the potential and see that you were well trained enough to be able to do this job.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: And like that was the same thing.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: I've talked about it many times, and even on our heels episode, Leslie, I never danced in a heel prior to my very first job with Royal Caribbean with Leslie.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: But I was so well trained that it was an easy transition.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: My weight was already in the balls of my feet when I moved through my jazz transitions.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: So it was easy to slap a heel on and like, yes, was it challenging?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: I was retraining how to dance, but it was an easier transition for me because of the quality training that I received growing up versus a dancer who might not have ever touched a heel, but then also had like immediate, like, you know, not as much ballet training, not as great of jazz training.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be a harder transition for those dancers.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: And like that could be the deal breaker on why you might not get a job because of how you transition in your footwork with a heel on.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm curious.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the only person in this room who has not worked at Radio City before.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Courtney was on tour at one point.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, because the dance the ensemble of the Radio City Roquette show does have shorter dancers.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I have attended, I did attend the ensemble audition many times.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: And Paige, I would love for you to sort of set the scene for our listeners of what a Radio City Roquette audition is, because it is unlike anything I've ever seen or been to because of many reasons.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: But can you kind of set the scene for like, you know, you you've come in from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and you're gonna do the, you're gonna do the audition.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what is that look like?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, you're gonna do the thing.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_06: Well, you know, you there are first, it is just a large amount of people.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_06: It is just so many more human beings at a call than most others can can actually handle just because of the one, the spaces that they were able to use to hold their auditions.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_06: And which is what, you know, which like I mean, either, you know, radio Radio City itself.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_06: And then I'm trying to remember, like back when there were auditions in other in other cities, locations and cities, I think it would be like theaters, but it would still also be like theaters that would have a rehearsal space.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: Because they used to do like touring auditions as well.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: Like they used to do an LA audition and a Chicago audition.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's just the New York audition.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_06: And so like the capacity in those in those places is much larger than just say your, you know, rehearsal studios like in New York City.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: So there are just like a lot of people.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're talking hundreds and hundreds.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you say a lot, you mean hundred, like several hundred dancer in America.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_06: It's like a graduating class all auditioning, basically.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_06: Like, which, like actually, now that I think about it, I'm like, actually, I think the group of people that I auditioned with was larger than my high school graduating class.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my god.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_06: Um, which is kind of horrifying when I think about it.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_06: But like it is a of course a very, very well-oiled machine.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_06: You are, as most auditions do, you might sometimes fill out a little bit of information about yourself on an information sheet that they're gonna, you know, kind of track with you.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_06: You of course get measured, you get your height taken.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: Which can we stop right there and say what are the height requirements to be a radio city?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Because that is such a huge deal.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, they have.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: But they lowered it for the less than that.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: Just so all you parents know that sorry, if you're five four, you're not making the cut.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And they're measuring you like stand up as straight as you can.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like barefoot.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like yeah, yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_06: So it is you you do get measured, you do get your height taken, and you know, to make sure that you are meeting though that range of of heights.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_06: And then it's, you know, time to warm up as best you can.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_06: And there are a whole bunch of again, this is like one of those times where, like, I know we'll probably talk about like kind of like advice kind of things, but like it's very much a time where it's like just focus on you, focus on you.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_06: Because there are a lot of, again, a lot of human beings who have a lot of different approaches, and that's completely fine.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_06: You don't have to do anything that like you see somebody over there doing, it's time for you to like warm up and get do what you need to do to be ready.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_06: And then as Alison talked about, there are like various, especially that first day, there are I yeah, three combinations.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_06: There's gonna be like a jazz, a tap, and then a kicks combination.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_06: And as you go you're going through that, there are cuts being made.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_06: You know, so you're trying to just like hold on and like have an as much brain space as possible while your nerves are not like breaking out at the same time.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_06: So the next day you come back, you don't have to go through like your height again.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_06: They have all that information.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's more like okay, all right.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_06: It's reviewing what you learned the day before and then adding on.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_06: It's even more information than that.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_06: And these days are long.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_06: Like you're waiting for, you know, it's not just like you're all gonna go in in one group.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_06: There are waves and groups of people.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_06: So like if you're in like the first group, you're waiting a few hours then for like cuts from that first round of groups to go and then go back in.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_06: So it's a lot of like pay snack snacks, snacks, have snacks and hydrate.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_06: Hydrate, yeah.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_06: It is a long day, like particularly that first day, because it's a lot of hurry up and wait.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_06: But then that second day, it's a lot of the I if memory serves, there were no cuts on that second day.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, okay.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_06: And so it is very much.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_06: I know, I'm I know, I'm trying I don't think there were.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_06: And so it's that day, it's just you're just taking in information.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_06: It is just this group of people that are getting choreography thrown at them for like probably like five or six hours as you're going through everybody and learning more information.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_06: So again, it it's really that that brain space and pacing yourself through your nerves.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: Do you feel like that people that make it to the end of that second day, do you think that the all of those people are getting jobs?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, so that doesn't really mean anything.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like you might, it might be an achievement, like I made it to the end.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, I'm gonna be a Radio City Rocket, but you might actually not get the phone call.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_03: It might only be like another a handful of people within that pool who made it to the end.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: You you have to understand there's only what 82 rockets now, because there's only the New York show.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: There's no longer touring shows.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: So on average, each year, there's only a handful of people that will get hired.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um because most people new people, right?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right, yeah, exactly.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: But also it's a lot of people.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's a hard thing, I think, for people to understand.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but also to touch on what Paige said about the whole nerves.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: So once you learn the combination, then you have to do it three at a time.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like they have like X's on the floor, and like they're just like staring at you, and it's like terrifying.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: You're like shaking in your boots, literally.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: In your Laduca boots.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_03: I always say that, like, and I don't know if this is the same for the Roquette, but Leslie hinted at it that, and I also just want to throw this out there briefly.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to spend too much time on this, but like, yes, we talked about the height requirements.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_03: Now they are 5'5 to 5'10 and a half to be a Radio City Rocket.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: To all of my shorties out there, there is still hope for you.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: I just want to let you know because that, like Leslie mentioned, the ensemble exists and they want to cast short.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: They don't want you to be on that cusp of you look like you're too tall to be a raquette, but you're actually an ensemble.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: So, like me, I'm 5'2.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I ended up being a perfect fit for the ensemble.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: But the audition process is the same stress level and chaotic experience.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: Chaotic in like a good way.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's just like like Paige said, a well-oiled machine.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: They know what they're doing, but it is the most stressful audition that I go to every year when I go to it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I always tell dancers, like, if they ask me, like, well, what's what's it like?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: Every, if you go to the audition, you go to that first cut, it's ballet in heels.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I describe it.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: It is precision ballet in heels, which sounds like what's happening.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that sounds like the hardest thing of your life.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: It is.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's stressful.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: You have to show your technique in your heels, but get all the details.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's definitely overwhelming for a lot of people.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: And that's probably why they don't make it through the cut.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: But just so like you understand, and I don't know if that's the first cut for Roquettes, but like for the shorty ensembles, that's the vibe.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_03: And like it's kind of the same process throughout the two-day span of auditions.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's pretty similar for Roquettes.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a little more jazzy.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I will say one of the most important things I can suggest is pay attention to the details.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: If they say that your eyes are on the like upper diagonal, that's where your eyes are.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's that like precise.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Specific.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, for instance, like I'm pretty confident I messed up the combination, my audition, but I was paying attention to the details.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, for instance, if your wrist is at your opposite hip, like not over cross, not under cross, right by your hip.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's that's what they look for are those like um that you grasp those like tiny details.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's why they call it precision dance, because they don't mean put your hand on your hip.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: They mean put your hand on your hip at a right angle with your fingertips hitting your hip back.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: In HOH with your fingers glued together.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, competitive dancers, like I know that when we think about cleaning, you know, if you're cleaning your pieces for competition, you're cleaning your pieces for nationals, you know, people get so over cleaning, like, oh my God, we're cleaning this dance again.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: They keeps making us go back.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's how it is in the real world, too.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, especially for something like the Rockettes, like I said, it's not just put your hand on your hip.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is so much more precise than that.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that is what you will expect.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that is what happens if you, you know, come from a competitive dance career and go into being a roquette, which a lot of people do.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a lot of people out there that we could have had on this podcast because that was their trajectory.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was comp dancer to roquette.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so those kids probably come from a studio that values cleaning.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm guessing, because they were able to go into the Roquettes, you know, and and book that job because they knew exactly what was expected.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Your eyebrow looks like this on count two.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: I found it a little challenging because the year before I became a roquette, I was dancing with complexions contemporary ballet where I was encouraged to, you know, move and do whatever I feel.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then they're like, like your chin is at this degree.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Your eyes are like and I'm like, what?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like I can't like just feel the music.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it's it's a learning curve.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I think, like you said, Leslie, because I bec I came from like a competition dancer and like it was clean, clean, clean, like you said.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was a I it was easier for me to like snap back into that.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: So okay, you got the job.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yay.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: What happens next?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: So obviously the auditions take place usually in the springtime, like early summer, and then it's always a Christmas show.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: There have been some spring, summer things that have happened in New York years past, but we're talking primarily about the big chunk of the job, which is the Christmas spectacular.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: And what what is the rehearsal process like?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: What how how long are rehearsals?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_03: When do they start?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: And then like what is your show schedule like?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so curious to hear.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: So rehearsals usually start either the end of September or the beginning of October, depending if there's like a new number or what have you.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: And rehearsals are six hours a day, six days a week, and you do that for like four weeks, and then you go into tech rehearsals, which are around two weeks, and those are nine-hour days.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's usually but they start in the afternoon and go to late.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: It depends because um, like Courtney was saying, she was in the ensemble, so like they don't always need like the roquettes for like a certain scene, but then they'll send us up to the large rehearsal hall to work on our tap sounds or something.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Still cleaning.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: You remember that page every hour.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: That would be like the worst.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: They'd be like rock rockettes to the large hall.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: We'd be like, And you're like, right.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then um shows run from like mid-November until usually the beginning of January.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you can do, I mean, I've done uh 17 show week, but standard is like around 12 to 14.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: So gosh, I cannot imagine.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I sort of but I didn't do it at your capacity, but like wow.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I was a little bit younger then, so anything to add, Paige?
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I think usually like it's for the New York, well, now the only show, the New York show.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_06: You're in a room and it's both casts, so it is a large room.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_06: Again, I don't know why I keep on talking about just the the scene.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_06: It's so large, it's so large, but like you are in a very big open room, and like it's amazing because both casts, and it's a large show, but like both casts can be doing this simultaneously.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_06: That's crazy.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can you explain about the two casts and what that means?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_06: Sure.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_06: So there is a cast that usually has primarily like the morning shows, and then there's also a another cast that has the evening shows.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_06: And throughout the schedule, there'll be like one, you know, one day that it's just one cast does all the shows that day.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_06: So that your other cast can have a day off.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_06: That's what allows people to have their their day off within the week is that one cast will take an entire day of shows just on themselves.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_06: Woof.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_06: And then another day in the week, the other cast will take all of those shows.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_06: And so what's kind of nice about that though is that you have a counterpart in the other cast.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_06: And it was really, I especially my first year, it was so helpful because my counterpart, it was her second year.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_06: And she was so helpful.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_06: She was like, if you have any questions, like I'm in the same, I'm in the same spot that I was in last year.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_06: So I know like the ins and outs of this particular track.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_06: And I was like, oh my god, thank you so much.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_06: So it was nice to have somebody who like you can look to and like compare, like, is it this number?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_06: Is it a three count move?
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_06: Like if you're moving from, you know, left to right, it's like, am I moving over three numbers?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, yes, great, awesome.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_06: So that's uh an an awesome aspect of the of the rehearsal process.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_06: And then like after that, you then become like ships passing in the night, right?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_06: Because you're you never see your friend.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_06: You never see your friend again.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_06: So you're just like as it's I've made this, I've made this reference like multiple times this week, but it's like that old like Warner Brothers cartoon where like the dog and the wolf are like both clocking into work at the with the with the sheep.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_06: Like you just are like, great, cool, see you later, bye.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_06: You just won't see the other person again.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_06: But that's that's kind of how those two casts work.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_06: And it's again just like a lot of people like taking in all of the information in one large rehearsal room.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_06: Um, and it's not really until you get to the theater that things then start to split up in terms of the casts, and now you see them less and less.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_03: I have something I want to contribute uh from my experience on the show, but this is just helpful information for everyone.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_03: So, and we can all, I'm sure, have stories about this in different ways throughout our time in the professional world.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_03: But the Radio City Roquettes and a lot of theatrical productions use a thing called the number line at the edge of the stage.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_03: And if you don't know what that is, uh look it up.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_03: It is uh pretty much, it's uh is it every two feet?
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_03: Is that what the regular like normal standard is?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: Every two feet.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'm pretty sure center stage is marked with the zero, and then pulling from center out stage every two feet, it'll go number two, number four, number six, number eight, ten, all the way till the end of the stage.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_03: And this is there, so you can use it essentially as a grid to know where to stand on the stage.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: And we as dancers are-I mean, I was never trained on how to use a number line.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_03: I learned how to use a number line once I got on my first professional job, which I wish it was incorporated into more studio training, but that's a whole nother discussion.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway, when I got to my my first day at Radio City, they used the number line in a whole new way, y'all.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: Because they not only have numbers at the edge of the stage, but they have depth lines that are color coordinated all the way up the stage.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm a brand new ensemble member.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody else in my cast has done this show millions of times, and I'm struggle city over here.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, Courtney, we need you to go to stage left number two, toe the yellow tape, and then you're gonna move over to stage right number three eight, and you're going to go upstage to the green line, you're gonna arch the arch the green tape.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what is what are these words?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_03: People had notebooks out with them on writing down their numbers and coordinate like their coordinates on the stage, and you have to be a robot and know exactly where you need to.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_03: And if it works out, when they press play on that music and it works out, it's beautiful.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're that one person that that is getting into a traffic issue with someone else, then they're gonna be like, what if you're colorblind?
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, I mean, that's a thing.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I never thought of that.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm just saying, like it is it was the hardest challenge for me as a dancer that I thought I was gonna like.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_03: I knew I had the technique, I knew I had the brain, the capacity to like pick up choreography quick and details and all the things, but that was another layer that just threw me on a whole new loop of how do I do this?
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: Because it was something I've never learned in my life, and it was very, very challenging.
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• 37:23
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's it's spatial awareness.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_06: And I I I feel like that's something that as dancers, again, there's so much of like, I'm just like feeling it.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_06: It's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_06: You feel the person next to you.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_06: Like that is something that like it's it's hard to train people into being able to do, but like it's also part of like working as a group, right?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_06: Like a lot of the times, yes, people have solos, people have duos, these small groups where it's much, much more forgiving.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_06: But once you start working as a a large group, it's not just you, it's also about feeling yourself in space relative to the people around you.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_06: And like finding that that is an important thing.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_06: You can't just be like, ah, it's okay.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_06: She's over there, it's fine.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_06: I'll like catch up.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_06: No, no, no, no, no.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_06: It's important, it's an important aspect of your dancing to follow the group, to know what's happening all around you and to integrate into that seamlessly.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_06: It is definitely a skill that we don't think about until all of a sudden we need it.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_06: Until you're there.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: Until you're there.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: And as far as the numbers and lines, try being a center girl where you have to go back from stage right to stage left.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: So like I'm on zero, like to start like reindeer, and then I go stage right, but then I end up stage left, and I'm like, which side of the stage?
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_03: Stage is, you know, the biggest stage on the in the United States.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: And like, you know, people are covering off to me, and I'm like, crap, if I go to the wrong spot, they're coming with me, I guess.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_06: Oh responsibility, right?
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that goes like with kick lines.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: So you always guide right.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the um stage right, center girl, wherever she takes you, that's where everybody's going.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: Even if she's wrong.
• 39:16
  unknown: Yeah.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's teamwork.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's teamwork right there.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_03: Because you're like, this visual is not going to read if if I'm if I'm doing right and I'm just thinking about myself.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_03: Center girl is wrong.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry about it.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: Then you're going to get a note that the visual was wrong and you should we're supposed to guide right.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and listen, nobody, nobody wants that note.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's something you should already know.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, don't get that note.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_03: The notes in every day.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: Every day.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the amount of notes people are watching that show in that audience, and they will find anything.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's like it's a you know there's only one person watching, but somehow they have like 5,000 eyes on every aspect of the show.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: And you're like, how did you even see that?
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_03: I thought that would slip through the cracks.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_03: Still calling me out on that note, and it better be fixed next next show.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, no problem.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_03: Got it.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like, and you gotta, and like you gotta be able to take a note and apply it.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's another important skill of being a dancer in any capacity, rocket or non, and you're gonna get notes.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: You can't take offense to it.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_03: It's again, that's the teamwork aspect of making the show look as clean and precise as possible.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_06: Mm-hmm.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_06: It's and again, being able to take that note and like the next time you're I tell dancers all the time, I'm like, make if you're going to like, you know, make a mistake, make a different mistake.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_06: You know?
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_06: Like do something, make a different mistake.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_06: Because I know that if you make a different mistake, that means that you at least fix the first thing.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_06: And now we've moved on to another thing.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_06: That's fine.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_06: I would actually rather take that than telling you the same thing it is good advice.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: Just saying.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_06: I'm like, we're all gonna make mistakes.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_06: Listen, I am a bad perfectionist, so I always try and get in front of this for other people.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_06: So I'm like, it's okay.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_06: You're all right.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's fine.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_06: We just have to make a different mistake because as long as you're doing that, you're learning.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_06: And you're and you're improving somewhere.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_06: And it's just gonna take a second for it all to like reach that equilibrium where great, cool, I've gotten all the information I possibly need and now I can do it all.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_06: That's all.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to hear more about since you're talking about, you know, perfectionism and making things clean and crisp and clear.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: What is the best advice y'all could give to aspiring Roquettes who are in the competitive dance industry who may not, you know, precision, quote unquote precision dance training doesn't exist everywhere.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: I would say the closest thing anywhere else besides maybe New York City in terms of that kind of class is maybe like your kickline classes in Texas and like the dance teams that drill teams that do kickline.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we haven't even talked about kicking, period.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, for your average dancer who's at a competitive dance studio or a studio like yours, Paige, that really focused on like theatrical dance training, what is different about what the Roquettes do versus what we all sort of used to in the dance world?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_06: Like Alison touched on it earlier.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_06: It's the the amount of detail.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_06: The amount of detail that exists.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's a lot.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_06: And I know for me, I also did not think that I was going to be a roquette.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_06: Like I it was not like the dream of mine.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, that's amazing for other people.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_06: But I wish them the best in their endeavors.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_06: Because I was just like, eh, nah.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_06: But what I found as somebody who did not have that natural like inclination was I found like a strange like confidence in the fact that I knew where everything was supposed to go.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_06: Like I was like, I know this is supposed to go here, I know this is supposed to go there.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_06: And finding like how you can make that fun and like enjoy the fact that it's just just so I think that there is there's definitely like a a thrill to that.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_06: But I think that in trying to prepare for it, it's really uh one, figuring out how you learn.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_06: That is the biggest thing.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_06: Are you a visual person?
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_06: Are you an an oral person?
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_06: Are you listening to the details of somebody speaking them?
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_06: Are you watching not only like the person giving the choreography, but their assistance and watching how they do it?
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_06: I think a big thing in terms of taking in that information and assimilating it is watching how they are doing it.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_06: Like taking the time to watch them and look out for the details like hand placement, foot placement, are feet really together.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_06: This is my big thing.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_06: When somebody says feet together, they mean feet together.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Together.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Feet touch together.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_06: You have to feel them together.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, listen.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_06: It's a huge thing.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_06: And like that alone is like a it's a huge, it tells you a lot about like a dancer and how they're going to approach.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_06: So like those little things come from not only like asking 10,000 questions about it, which you could do, but it will take a very, very long time.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_06: It's getting better at understanding how you learn so that you don't have to ask 10,000 questions, so that you are focusing in the way that it will help you get that information.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_06: Are you like really listening?
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_06: Are you really watching?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_06: Like figure that out so you can help yourself in the space and like and take care of it on your own.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_06: Because you might not get the opportunity to ask your questions.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my God, I love everything you just said, Paige.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_03: As a teacher, I I love everything.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_06: Just yeah.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_06: Anything to add out?
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was saying, those.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just uh like I think like Courtney was saying earlier, like I went to ballet boarding school.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like technique is so important, especially if you're not used to dancing in heels.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_02: It will help you tremendously, but I would suggest starting to dance in heels as soon as possible.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, and like Paige said, just like I'm a visual learner.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like you can say whatever you want, but I need to like see it, and then I can do it.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: That that's just how I've always been.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't need you to tell me to put my wrist at my hip.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_02: I see you doing it, and that's what I'll do.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: But some people, like Paige said, are different learners.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you need to hear your wrist goes to your hip.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, like Paige said, it's about finding out how you learn and how you pick up choreography and like retain the information.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, in rehearsals, whatever is thrown at you in a day, you come back the next day and it's like run it.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_02: You need to know every single detail where you go, like what your depth is in every single, and mind you, every single move is a different number and a different depth.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_02: So you have like eight million numbers and lines in your head.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_02: In addition to the choreography.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a very, very challenging job.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: So Yep.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, I mean, Paige, when you were rocketting for the first time, we lived together.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember how often, I mean, during that rehearsal, first of all, I never saw you.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, was a ghost.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: You just were not there.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_01: But when I did see you, you were practicing.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_01: You were practicing.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: You had your show Bible, you had your numbers, you had everything written down.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, this is something important for dancers to hear too.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like we preach all the time.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have to practice at home, you have to practice at home, you're not going to get better if you don't, you know, you can you can't just rely on your studio time.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Professional dancers also practice at home.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can't just rely on the studio time.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just, it's too much information to do in the, I mean, listen, six hours a day sounds like a lot of time, but you also put in, you know, the rock, the Radio City Rockette job is a union job.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: There's breaks, there's scheduled breaks in there.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not getting a full six hours of work.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: You're, you know, maybe you're getting five with all the breaks that you have.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: Five hours is not a long time.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: When you're getting when you're given a depth and a number for every count, and then you have the choreography for every count, and then like, and then your body is exhausted, and then you did 14 numbers in a day, routines in a day, and you're like, huh.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: But then you have to go home and do it again.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because otherwise it is not gonna stick in your head.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, sometimes I'm like, the kids must think we're just overreacting.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: We're not.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_06: It's real.
• 47:44
  unknown: Uh-huh.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_06: You will be on the subway platform.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_06: And I have been that person.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_06: I've seen other people.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_06: Doing your counts to yourself, just like, just like dun dun dun dun.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_06: And like, like you must, you must.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I remember like going at the time, like we were somewhere that like I could go like to an outside space and like practice like hitting like the the four corners, like trying to like go around.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I mean, like practicing little things.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_06: Just because like you you have to, like Alison said, like the next day it has to be there.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_06: And you want to make sure that it's again, as being part of a team for everyone else, you want it to be there.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_06: You want to, you know, be able to say, Yes, I I did the homework I needed to do so that we can all move forward in our rehearsal process.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_06: So you do, it is very, very important that you go and you do your homework, whatever, and however that looks for you to make sure that like the next day you're on top of it.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_03: And the same thing can be applied and approach in your competitive training right now.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_03: So, like that and like what everything that you were saying, Paige, as far as like how you learn, like that is just so crucial for every competitive dancer to hear.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_03: Because if you have these dreams of being a pro in any capacity, how you learn is going to get you the job because you have you have to audition before you get the job.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_03: And that's how you learn.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like you are learning in that audition and everyone's watching you to see, are you picking up the details?
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_03: How quick of a learner are you?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_03: Are you applying the notes that they're giving you in the room?
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_03: That's going to then, if they can see that you're conquer conquering that, then what they already know you're going to be successful in the job because you're already showing that in the audition.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're slow at picking up, if you if you didn't take a note that was already given, if you aren't paying attention to details without having to ask a hundred questions, guess what?
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_03: You didn't, you're not getting the job.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's just the end of it because there's dancers who are learning in the right way.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're not training like that as a kid, it's not going to translate over.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_03: It you can't wait to start training like that once you're a pro.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_03: You have to be doing it when you're young.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it's, you know, it just it's just the right how you approach it.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_03: Because I think a lot of kids are just like waiting to be like spoon-fed everything these days.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just like, it's not, that's not really how it is once you get to the real world.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you really gotta, you gotta pay attention.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_03: And that could be a deal breaker.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like, if you're like, I'm getting cut at things and why my technique's there and this is there, and this is there.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, did you really get all the details?
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_03: Were you like really feeling confident and performing?
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, there's a lot of factors into it, but like, especially for this job, those details are crucial.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's deal breakers for sure.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_03: And technique and details, I think, are like the main two.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's also really important being or judging dance competitions, I often see dancers that only do one style, and they do a lot of the same movement in each number.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's really important to be versatile.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, to be a roquette, you have to be proficient in jazz, ballet, and tap.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have to tap.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_02: Trust me, I was not the best tapper, but fake it till you make it, honey.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, you can't just like focus on one.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, from my from my experience and you know, having seen the show a few times, I don't get I don't think the ensemble taps, do they, Courtney?
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: No, but they do do point.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's just something to think of.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them do point.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: And also in a bear costume.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_01: So like listen, if you would like figured costume.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you would like to be a Rock Hat ensemble member, you need to do point and you need to be able to do PK turns in a bear costume.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_01: Not everybody does.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_01: But so my question is though, having having seen the Rock Hat Show many times, uh, the Radio City Rockat Show.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: The tap doesn't seem to be terribly advanced, but you do have to be able to do it.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: Can y'all expound upon that?
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_01: And just explain a little bit of like what c what style of tap is it?
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, if you're not a tapper, do you have you lost all hope or are you fine?
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_06: I will say that like it's more in a a musical theater style of tap.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_06: So you're like 42nd Street esque kind of of tapping.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_06: And it is very uh it's it's rhythm.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_06: So you have to understand you have to be comfortable counting, understanding like your rhythms and understand like where like your tap sounds are going.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_06: And you have to be uh you have to be kind of malleable because of the fact that like now you're adding that precision dance aspect onto it.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_06: So placements might be different than you are used to because you're going also more so than what you might be doing in, you know, tap regularly, but you're really thinking about the visual aspect.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_06: Tap, of course, you're thinking about your sounds always first and foremost, and that is still very, very important here because you will hear a stray tap sound if it doesn't need to need to be there.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_06: But you're really also now thinking about the pictures that you're making because you've added that like precision dance layer on top of it.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_06: So you need to be able to kind of marry those two things together and find that like sweet spot of still making great, lovely sounds while also thinking very, very specifically about what your upper upper body is doing and being very clear and precise about what your arms are doing while your feet are doing just as hard of work.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_06: It's it is it is a skill.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_02: Also, the the taps are mic.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_02: There's a mic underneath of your shoe.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like live, you can hear everything.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_01: You better be right.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you miss that sound of the pullback, if you add a sound somewhere randomly, you'll hear it.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_02: Or you miss that single wing.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and it's it's interesting because we, you know, we had a counting episode recently, uh, the importance of musicality and counting.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like in in the world of the roquettes, counting is important.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_01: In the world of the rockettes, do they scat at all?
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are they are they listening to the lyrics of the song or are you using counts mostly?
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm using counts.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: When they're teaching it, are they using counts mostly?
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_06: Because it's the thing, the counts you can't like feel differently.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_02: There'll be like one E and a two.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, but there's a something on the E.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_02: So you're like 20 and you know what I mean.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_02: 20 and there's like and counts a lot.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: There's a movement on everywhere, yeah.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_01: So again, you know, backing up that counting episode we had where all of us agreed, yes, you must count.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_01: Even if you don't love to count, even if you want to dance to the lyrics, that's fine.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_01: But you also need to understand and know how to dance to counts.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's part of many jobs.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_06: Definitely.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_06: And for this, for this particular job, there are, for the most part, you're not, there are no lyrics.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_06: Like true.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_06: You're not the the music does not have lyrics except for like particular maybe like at the very, very end, or like at the very very beginning, but for the large space where you are dancing, it's that drum is like, best of luck to you.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you're just like they're in sense like soldiers, it's like all on the like beat, you know, like you're walking on the beat.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_02: But I don't know.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, and that yeah, that is so important, especially with that number in particular, because there's so many like formation changes.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: And if you watch the show from the third mes, which when I've been swung out, I have done because it's really cool because you can see all the formations and why you're given so many numbers and depths, and then it makes a lot more sense when you see it visually.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_03: But that's like hand in hand with the precision aspect.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just theography has to be precise, but you're where you're standing is part of that precision aspect of the visuals for what we're trying to achieve in the show.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_03: And the same, and like speaking on the ensemble end for my shorties, the same applies to the ensemble.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_03: It is no different expectation from the rockets to the ensemble.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_03: Of rockets, obviously, they are out there for way longer and they are way more way more precise.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: There's a little bit more freedom when it comes to interpretation of the aura and flowiness of movement.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, like the details and the depths and the teamwork and all of those aspects and the technique, it really, really matters in this in this show.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_03: Matters in a lot of shows that you do, but specifically in this.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm curious to hear what your favorite parts of the show when you performed it.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_03: What were your favorite numbers in the show?
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_02: Mine was Shine, but it's no longer in the show.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's been for a little while.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was just like the most beautiful costume.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_02: And like, like you said, that number kind of gave you like a little bit more like breathing room.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_02: You could like have like a pretty border bra as opposed to like, you know.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that was my favorite.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, Soldiers is always so iconic.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, every single woman that's been a roquette has done that number and the same choreography.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it's pretty cool.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_06: I I definitely echo Alice and Shine.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_06: It was just like such a gorgeous number.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_06: Like visually, it was stunning.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_06: Like it was like overwhelming.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_06: And especially in in that space to have this like kind of like deco gorgeous costume on.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_06: And like, I mean, it just is the whole feel of that number was amazing.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_03: Is that the one like the silver?
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's so pretty.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_03: Those costumes are so pretty.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_03: Covers crystals.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_03: Ugh.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_03: Living Arcadance Comp dreams.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, give me all the Ryan Stones.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_06: I'll take them.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_06: I will say though, like, I am that person.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_06: I love Reindeer.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_03: I love watching that one.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's so cute.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_03: That was my lament.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was because I was always on zero in the front of the Euro day.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_02: Over here.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that's where we had to go back and forth.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_06: I'm like, yeah, the cover off on that one is a lot.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_06: Like it is, it is very, very it, there's a lot going on in that number.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_06: Like the costume is beautiful, but there's also a lot going on with the costume, too.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_06: But there is something that that opening, oh, it just gives me absolute life.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_06: And I love the dance break.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_06: It it just very, very I love it very much, very much.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_06: It has a special place in my heart.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think the only part about that number is like when you charge forward, like when everybody like comes forward and the audience is like, wow!
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_06: It's great.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_03: Just so is there a kick line in every rocket routine on stage, or no?
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_03: Is there some that don't have kick lines?
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_02: Soldiers doesn't have a kickline.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_03: Soldier doesn't have a kickline.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's the only one.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_03: But every other one we're we're high kicking.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_03: I eye high kicks.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_01: I heard recently that they have eliminated jump splits from the world of the roquettes.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_01: Have y'all heard that?
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's like the ragdoll section, right?
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, they had taken that out.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've done so many versions of like all the shows because I was there so long.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: And they like change it all the time.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_02: We did jump splits back in the day.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_02: Then they took it out, and then they put it back in, I think like right after I retired.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if they took it out again or not.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_02: But I would not want to do a jump split.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's you know, the jump splits are like, you know, from the world of can can and like, you know, they still show up every now and then.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I again I'm like your typical competitive dancer, I don't think, is doing a lot of jump splits.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that that's something that that may need to be taught.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're aspiring Rocket, you may need to learn how to do that properly.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, speak, let's speak a little bit to just the I know there's like levels of the kicks in the kick line and like the sort of technique behind doing a good kick line.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_01: What can we all speak to that a little bit?
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can't just be all flailing around with your arms wherever you have to like connect to your friend, right?
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_02: So you link up, your right arm is like behind your friend's shoulder blade, and your left arm is like behind their waist.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_02: You never touch.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_01: You never touch.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is something I wouldn't have expected.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, you never touch your friend.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_02: And a strut kick, uh, you go through a passe, extend to the opposite hip, and then it retracts back into a passe, and then you come right back down.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it has to like meet that peak before it comes back in.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then you have to make sure that your feet come back together because you're right, like Courtney was saying about the number line, you're in a kick line, you're on an odd number, which isn't on the number line.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_02: So basically, right, um, you're in between, like, for instance, I would be on one, but there's no one, so I'm in between zero and two.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_02: And then eye high kick arching the white line.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, there it is.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_02: Arching, yep.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, yeah.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_02: So there's towing, arching, and healing.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's how it's terminology.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then eye high kicks are just as they sound.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_02: You jump together and kick to again the opposite eye because you want to make sure that you know there's no open space that your legs are always crossed.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's great to hear.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_03: I love hearing that.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe I wish I saw that more in competition.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_03: You have to, I know, right?
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_02: You have to think about it, especially when you do television appearances.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_02: There are cameras everywhere.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: Everywhere.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, especially the tree lighting.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_02: You're like on an elevated stage um behind the tree.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_02: So like the audience, like, is like their head is like literally right by like your chin.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the angle.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they could be exactly.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_02: So you wanna you have to always cross your legs.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_02: Always cross your legs.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we'd never sit with a dress on with our legs open, like as a like anyone wearing a skirt or a dress.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like I think the same approach needs to be thought about in dancing more often as to like we want to just kind of like cover up the goods and make sure that it's not just out in the open for the world to see.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_03: Even if you have tights on.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_03: You guys wear tights.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I like to tell my students is like, for instance, if you're doing like a hinge, which you know we do, you want to think about like your thighs like touching each other.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: If you can't feel that, then it they're not like that's not where it should be.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like zip it up.
• 1:02:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_02: You want to be a pretty dainty lady.
• 1:02:54
  unknown: Yes.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_03: I know we talked about a lot of of the audition process, uh, and I think that's hugely helpful.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we talked about the performance and you know, how rigorous the schedule is and how intense it is, and the length of it, and all of those things, but this episode's launching in March, and there are upcoming auditions in April for the the Rockets and the Ensemble and also like the Claras that exist that are often cast for young 11, 12-year-old dancers who are on point in the Nutcracker suite, which is really exciting for all of our parents that are listening and want to send your kids to that.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_03: But for aspiring Rockets who might be attending auditions in the future, how should they come prepared as far as like what types of shoes?
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_03: What should the look be?
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_03: You know, do you have any advice on presentation for the auditions, besides just like all the things we already talked about when it comes to like execution in the room and like what the actual job, but like what should they wear?
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_02: I would suggest a Leotard and Tights because they definitely want to see your lines.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_02: You do need a heel.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't need to be a Laduca.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, when I auditioned, I didn't have heel taps, so I wore a flat tap.
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_02: If you have them, that would be great, but it's not necessary.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_02: But you definitely need a character heel.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_02: As far as like hair and makeup, I suggest wearing a red lip.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's nice to wear a French twist, but you don't necessarily have to do that.
• 1:04:25
  SPEAKER_02: Also, as far as like a leotard and tights, I would suggest something that makes you stand out.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, for instance, for my audition, I wore a green, like a Kelly Green, like halter leotard, and I wore black tights.
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_02: Doesn't matter.
• 1:04:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's funny, when I got the job my first day, do you know what the director said to me?
• 1:04:45
  SPEAKER_02: Allison Kelly, who wore Kelly Green.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_02: So like I love that.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so and I unintentionally like did that, but that made me stand out to her because my name was Allison Kelly and I wore Kelly Green to the I mean, obviously that's not gonna be for everybody, but you know, it's something that makes them like remember you because I mean it had been months since you know she had seen me, but she remembered that.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_01: So something that makes you run that is symmetry and unison and being the same.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_01: So like in tiny ways, like yeah, don't, you know, don't show up with probably don't show up with like glitter or big rhinestones on your face, or like that's you know, don't stand out in that way, but like subtle ways to to be like, Yes, I am I am the 5'10 blonde girl who wore Kelly Green.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_01: As opposed to all the other five ten blonde girls who are there.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, as far as like to be duh or like different, I would just suggest a colored leotard.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, don't go like crazy.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_02: And just like natural makeup.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, some people go all out like they're gonna perform a show, but I just wore natural makeup like this.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_01: Paige, what did you wear for your first audition?
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_06: I wore I wore a red leotard because somebody was like, Wear a red leotard.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_06: Christmas red.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_06: You know, it's it's mm-mm.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_06: I I had on definitely a red lip, but I was also very much out of college and at OCU that was that was a thing.
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_06: That's just how you look.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_01: We just rolled out about it with a red lip.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 1:06:21
  SPEAKER_06: But I, you know, whatever, yeah, sticking with a a Leotard and tights and whatever you kind of feel very empowered in, and like this is like my favorite, like go in with whatever is gonna make you feel most confident, I say.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_02: And comfortable.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta be comfortable because you're there for a long time.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, if you're wearing something and you're like picking at whatever, yeah, you're gonna be it's not gonna be fun.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_01: Agreed.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_01: I remember at the one of the ensemble auditions I went to, I was so annoyed because I, you know, I also went to OCU.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_01: OCU produces a lot of roquettes and roquette ensemble people, and like I was trained to look that way, even though I'm 4'11, like I could have been a roquette.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very a very small rocket.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I showed up looking correct.
• 1:07:10
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_01: And this girl next to me got called back.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_01: She didn't have on any shoes.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_01: Her hair was in a messy ponytail.
• 1:07:17
  SPEAKER_01: She had no makeup on.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, everything I've ever known is untrue.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_01: She was fine.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_01: She wasn't bad.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I mean, obviously I was trying to concentrate on myself, but like people slip through the cracks.
• 1:07:29
  SPEAKER_02: But that's really slipping through the cracks.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be, and I'm like, maybe she knew somebody, maybe she was in it last year.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know her story, whatever.
• 1:07:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:07:36
  SPEAKER_01: And who knows if she got the job.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_01: But don't be that person who slips through the cracks.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you're auditioning, like show up with the right tools and the right things, just for your own personal values and like show up the right way.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: You came here, you spent the time.
• 1:07:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is an this is a very, it's not that it's an exclusive audition, but you're auditioning for an exclusive organization with 82 jobs for the tall people.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's just not a lot of jobs.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_01: So like show up and give it the respect it deserves.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_01: Even walking in the door, bring some shoes, two of them.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_01: First impression.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_01: So important.
• 1:08:08
  SPEAKER_02: Not one should be a shoe.
• 1:08:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, I can't.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_02: I can't stand that.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_02: That it's my name is Pep peeves judging dance competitions.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_02: Two shoes or no shoes.
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_03: You've heard it again, obviously.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how many times we gotta say it on the podcast.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna just keep hearing it from us until we until it's over, until we never dance.
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I feel like that this is such an informative chat about what it takes to become a Rocket and be a precision dancer and grace the great stage in New York City.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's so awesome to hear from both of you and your experiences.
• 1:08:43
  SPEAKER_03: You've given so much great advice to all of our listeners and aspiring uh p potential rockets out there.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for sharing everything uh throughout your careers uh with us on the podcast today.
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_03: We love you both.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_03: And if you would like to lead us out with just one final thought when it comes to our topic today, whether it's about precision dancing, whether it's uh about being a former Rocket, uh, we'd love to hear it.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_03: You can speak to whoever you'd like to out into the dance world.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_06: I would say that, you know, especially when it comes to precision dance, and especially when things are like you have a lot of details, and who knows?
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_06: Like maybe you're in, you know, maybe you book a show or a a dance that means a lot to you.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_06: I know even from my non-competition studio, even at my studio, there were dances that like had legacy to them.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_06: Girls that were older than me had done these dances, and I finally got the opportunity to do them, and it was like a huge deal to me.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_06: I would say in moments like that, when you get when you get a job or you get an opportunity that's like a really big deal to you for like whatever reason, please also remember that it's still a dance job.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_06: You love to dance, don't let the the the big deal of it, even though yes, respect it and be thrilled for the opportunity that it is, but find the spaces and the places to enjoy it, you know?
• 1:10:07
  SPEAKER_06: Recognize that like you love to dance, and this is what you love to do, and this is just another opportunity in which to do that.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_06: So always make sure that when you get those big big breaks, when you get those big opportunities, when you get to step into shoes that felt so much bigger than yours, to still enjoy your time there and still dance it out just for the joy of dancing.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_06: That that's what I would want to impart to people.
• 1:10:31
  SPEAKER_02: I agree with that.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_02: I would also say I think it's really important to be confident in yourself.
• 1:10:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, everybody makes mistakes, things happen, but you have to believe in yourself that you can do it and yeah, just be confident and also be proud of your accomplishments.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if you don't make it the first time, you know, maybe you made it through the second cut.
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_02: So go back and maybe next time you'll make it through the third cut.
• 1:11:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 1:11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, don't like give up.
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_02: If if you really want it, it you can make it happen.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_03: We hope you enjoyed this week's episode all about what it takes to be a Radio City Rocket.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Be sure to follow our guests on social media.
• 1:11:16
  SPEAKER_03: You can find Allison on Instagram at Ali underscore Kelly214.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_03: And you can find Paige at Paige Williams on Facebook.
• 1:11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:11:32
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• 1:11:38
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• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Join now at Impact Danceadjudicators.com/slash Platinum Premium or click the link in our show notes.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_03: If you're looking for a fresh set of eyes to critique your dance before you hit the stage this competition season, then we would love for you to check out our service, IDA's online judges critiques.
• 1:12:03
  SPEAKER_03: An IDA judge will go through and critique your routine in a video critique, just like you'd receive a competition.
• 1:12:09
  SPEAKER_03: But one of our best-selling and unique features is our additional feedback option, where not only will you be able to watch your judge critique your dance, but they will go back through from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more with their professional level feedback.
• 1:12:25
  SPEAKER_03: This service has been a game changer for so many dancers each season, and it is such a helpful tool to utilize while prepping for the competitive stage.
• 1:12:34
  SPEAKER_03: IDA's online judges critiques start at only$35 and are available year round.
• 1:12:40
  SPEAKER_03: Learn more about our service and submit your dance now by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting our website at Impact Danceadjudicators.com slash online critiques.
• 1:12:52
  SPEAKER_01: We are on a roll in season four with some great episodes coming your way.
• 1:12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned for how to brand yourself as a dancer, our next Spotlight feature episode with Derek Mitchell, an appropriateness on the competitive stage.