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PrintMSG Varsity's "The Rockette Summer Intensive" & Interview with Aimee Lane
Written by Alyssa N. Crump, The National Dance Association
Photo courtesy of MSG Entertainment
For the past two years Aimee Lane has spent a week each summer perfecting her timing, working on her high kicks, and hanging around some of the most glamorous girls in all of New York- the Radio City Rockettes. Aimee is one of the lucky 500 girls that each summer gets accepted into The Rockette Summer Intensive, a week-long dance intensive where students receive training from the world famous kick line dancers.
The Rockette Summer Intensive is given in six separate week-long sessions; this year held from the 19th of June through the 29th of July; with a new batch of Rockette hopefuls arriving each week. The dancers chosen to attend the intensive will receive instruction from a Rockette choreographer/ director and Rockette dancers themselves, in classes such as Theater Dance, Jazz, Tap, Kick Line, Formations, Performance, and Audition Technique. The week culminates with a performance where the students get a chance to show what they have learned and get the once in a lifetime opportunity to perform on the Great Stage of Radio City Musical Hall.
But before the intensive, there is the audition. Thousands of girls from across the country audition each year for the chance to train with the Rockettes. With this being Aimee's third year auditioning for the summer intensive, she should find herself in familiar territory stepping into the overcrowded room to audition with other intensive hopefuls. But this year, for the first time ever, a camera is following the girls around, catching all of the trials and triumphs of the audition process and later the intensive. This is a part of the new television miniseries by MSG Varsity, "The Rockette Summer Intensive." This three part series follows the girls of the Rockette Summer Intensive from first audition to that final performance on the Great Stage. This series captures the intensive training and pressures, as well as the joys and excitement that these girls encounter before and during The Rockette Summer Intensive. The second episode of the series will air June 14, 2011 on the MSG Varsity channel on Cablevision's iO TV, and will show the final stages of the audition process, as the girls learn if they have received the once in a lifetime experience to train with the Radio City Rockettes.
I recently got the chance to speak with Aimee, now a 17 year old junior at Allentown High School in Allentown, NJ, about this new experience, her time with the Rockettes, and her life with dance.
Q: Tell me about your background in dance.
A: I started really young, and I primarily did ballet. Then I took a few years off; I wasn't sure it was for me. Then after three years or so I realized I really missed it, and I got involved in competition dance- ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern. Then when I got to high school I became interested in musical theater and Broadway, and I discovered the Rockettes.
Q: What are you career goals?
A: To be a Radio City Rockette.
Q: What made you decide to audition for the Rockette Summer Intensive?
A: I learned about it through a friends who I danced with, and had gone to the Rockette Summer Intensive and had a blast. She told me that she thought I would really like it and asked, "Do you want to come with me?" When I went to the audition I really had no idea what it would be like. I was completely amazed by the precision and intricacy of their [the Rockettes] movement. This is my third year auditioning, and I've attended the intensive the past two years, and this year I have received a scholarship to attend the intensive.
Q: Tell me about the audition process and the atmosphere with the other auditionees? Is it very competitive?
A: Any audition you go to is going to be competitive. What is really impressive about the audition with the Rockettes is the massive amount of people that are there. People are literally packed in wall-to-wall, mirror-to-mirror; and everyone is trying to pick up this very precise movement is a short amount of time.
Q: How many people are usually accepted into the summer intensive?
A: About 500 girls are accepted. There are multiple weeks that the intensive is held over the summer. There are only 10 girls that receive the scholarship.
Q: What has it been like having cameras follow you around during the audition and intensive?
A: It's really exciting. It's been really fun- I've never had anything like this [happen to me] before. I just love it.
Q: It hasn't been stressful having cameras around?
A: Homework is stressful. This is not stressful. This is fun.
Q: So, next year you will be a senior, and you will be graduating. Do you have any plans to audition for the Rockettes after graduation?
A: Well, in April I will turn 18, and be eligible for the first time to audition for the Rockettes. It would be awesome if I got a job as a Rockette; it would help so much with colleges, and having a job right after graduation. But, if not, I will go to school for musical theater.
Q: Are there any schools in particular that you are interested in attending?
A: Well, one school is the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. I know it's sort of out of nowhere, but I hear that they have a great musical theater program, and that is what I'd really like to study.
Q: Do you have any favorite dance performances that you have ever seen?
A: I love "So You Think You Can Dance!" I watch it religiously. I watch it for new moves and inspiration. And the Radio City Christmas Spectactular, obviously. I kind of stalk the Rockettes. I just love their Christmas show; it is definitely my favorite. I also pull ideas and inspiration from Broadway shows and musical theater.
Q: Do you have any advice for dancers that would be interested in auditioning for the Rockette Summer Intensive?
A: If you have any desire to be a Rockette- just go for it. Train as hard as you can, and just go for it.