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There's a trick to the Rockettes' kicks
Friday, November 21, 2008
There are kick lines and there is The Kick Line.
The Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall have pretty much held the trademark for more than 75 years.
What's their secret?
Two Ohio members of the company that will play Wright State University's Nutter Center on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 25 and 26, Mary Capellas from Warren and Anna Richardson of Westerville, agreed to explain.
The uniformity begins with auditions. Only dancers who are between 5 feet 6 and 5 feet 10 1/2 inches tall in their stocking feet are even considered. Taller hopefuls have been known to slump, slouch and bend their knees when the ruthless tryout officials with the tape measures and rulers come around. Shorter dancers will try to stand on the balls of their feet and wear high hair. No luck. Call it heightism, but there are no exceptions.
That still doesn't explain how a line of 36 women who differ in height by up to 4 1/2 inches can kick their feet up at seemingly the same level when arrayed across the stage.
The truth is that they don't.
They're arranged in a line with the tallest women at center stage, tapering down to the shortest on both ends.
They create the illusion that they're kicking at the exact same height by kicking their feet to the exact center of their own eye level. Aiding in the illusion is the impression that they are grasping each other around the waists. They come very close to doing that, but they are exactingly coached not to do so. Leaning on the woman next to you, even momentarily, could send several or all of the dancers crashing to the stage.
"We aren't really touching," Capellas said. "We're thinking: 'Feel the fabric.' "
That's one of the Rockettes' catchphrases. Others include: "Toe the line" (which applies to how they jump into their high kicks starting with feet together on the same line) and "Light as a feather, stiff as a board," which is how they fall like dominoes during the scene in which they're dressed like wooden soldiers and get felled by a toy-cannon blast. "While falling, we also pull up and slightly away from each other."
Richardson said they do "up to 300 kicks" in a single performance. "We are the same. A unit. A family. We work very hard and are rewarded for it. It's an honor."
But it takes all kinds to be Rockettes.
Some are in college part time. Some are teachers, moms, wives or real estate agents. "I'm hoping to become a broadcast journalist," said Richardson, who's been in the company six years. Capellas, a 10-year veteran, teaches dance and Pilates privately. No one's spot is guaranteed. "We have to audition every year," she said.
"We live everywhere — New York, Seattle, London, Canada, Ohio. Some will take a season off to have a baby," Capellas added. "It's up to us individually to maintain our technique and strength."
If they don't, there are always several other women between 5-6 and 5-101/2 waiting to take that spot.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
How to go
What: "Radio City Christmas Spectacular"
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25; 4 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26
Where: Wright State University's Nutter Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Fairborn
Tickets: $47-$67
More info: (937) 774-4789 or visit www.ticketmaster.com
