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The Radio City Rockettes are one of the city’s most iconic symbols of the holiday season, a mind-blowingly talented group of dancers and bona fide athletes who rehearse six days a week for hours at a time. Erik Alden, managing director of Time Out Live, is neither of those things. But one thing he is? He’s game. So we sent him to the Rockettes’ rehearsal studio on the top floor of Radio City to warm up with dancers from the show and learn part of a number from this year’s Christmas Spectacular (running through January 1). Here are his big takeaways:
Bendy is beautiful
“Before we started dancing, we had what they called a light stretch warm-up but what I would probably call a full workout. Their big thing is stretching their legs because so much of the movement is centered there, but there was also a big focus on the core. I’m definitely not as bendy as them. I was feeling some deep pain in areas I wasn’t even familiar with, and once we started doing planks, things got really dicey.”
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Photograph: Teddy Wolff
Getting high is hard
“I had no idea that the kicks were actually that high. When I heard ‘high kicks,’ I was thinking waist-high, but their feet go so high in the air they call them ‘eye-high kicks.’ I did not make it that high. I also didn’t realize that when they locked arms while kicking, they’re not actually touching each other. I couldn’t do that. I still needed to balance on them. It was actually easier to do the kicks the faster you’re going, because you’re using the bouncing momentum between every kick.”
Photograph: Teddy Wolff
Things start slowly
“We actually learned the routine at a slower pace. Once they clicked on the music, I found out it was about four times as fast. The training and effort that goes into being able to do that, when they’re doing four shows a day between two casts, is pretty incredible. I kept looking in the mirror, like, Wow, I’m dancing and kicking with the Rockettes right now, and the movements of four out of these five people (everyone but me) are beautiful. I showed up in sneakers instead of character shoes. So if I don’t get a callback, that’s probably why.”
Photograph: Teddy Wolff
Photograph: Teddy Wolff