By Annie Nesbitt ’13, Contributor
This summer, I spent a week in New York City as a Radio City Rockette for the Rockette Summer Intensive. I got to rehearse at Radio City Music Hall with 74 other girls and two current Rockettes for a week-long camp. It was pretty much one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
The Rockettes were inspired by the John Tiller girls from Ziegfeld Follies. Originally called the Missouri Rockets, and at one point the Roxyettes, the Rockettes consist of 36 women and four understudies, or “swings.” They are a precision dance group based in jazz, tap, formations, and kickline. In order to get into the program, I had to audition in Nashville. Every student had to audition either in one of the designated cities or by video. Approximately 1,000 girls auditioned, and only about half of them got it. The judges look for people who are smart, eager to learn, and have at least five years of dance experience.
My father and I arrived in NYC on Saturday afternoon so I could get ready to rehearse. On Sunday morning, we got to Radio City and I waited outside with all the other girls while the parents took a tour of the building. We got our nametags and our All-Access Passes and went into the main foyer. It was absolutely beautiful. There, we learned about what the week would be like, asked questions, and met some of the other girls. We said goodbye to our parents and set off to the large rehearsal hall.
The large rehearsal hall. The same rehearsal hall in which the Radio City Rockettes learn and practice all of their routines. It was so cool to think that the Rockettes had stood right where I was standing. Anyhow, we had a brief audition to place us into two groups: yellow and green. I was in the yellow group. Within each of the two groups, there were two lines of about 20. If you don’t know, the Rockettes are lined up by height, with the tallest in the middle and the shortest on the ends. Since the Rockettes are so tall, the two were called the tall line and the taller line. I, being 5’10”, was in the middle of the taller line. Once we were split into those groups, we started rehearsing.
The five days of camp were each divided into two parts: routine rehearsal and master classes. Routine rehearsal was when we, well, rehearsed the routines. Master classes are when we learned the technique. The Rockettes have very distinct moves and poses that are unlike any other. In order to do the routine properly and look uniform, we all had to learn how to stand properly (in the beveled position), how to walk properly (with our arms as far back as possible), and how to move to our positions on the green or red lines and in line with our blocking numbers (mine was number 1).
Once we had learned how to be a Rockette, we started learning the dances. Our group was doing a jazz number called “Shine” which involves very difficult formations such as the diamond. We also did a tap number called “Ragdoll” which was a crazy routine with lots of moving round and being crazy, but yet still being precise. Our final number was called “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” which was all about precision. We only moved in baby steps, and moved in rotating lines. We practiced these routines for hours on end, making them perfect.
On Friday, we performed the routines that we had learned at the Beacon Theater, which is the “little sister” to Radio City. We had tons of fun, and our parents got to come see what we had learned. It was a great experience and I learned things that will help me throughout the rest of my dance career.
Photo Courtesy of Annie Nesbitt