Megan Bryant is giddy. She's just learned that Pilates can add an inch to your height.
"I'm 5 foot even, but I'm only 16, so maybe I'll grow more. But if Pilates helps, I'm totally doing that."
Bryant needs to be 5 feet 6 inches by her 18th birthday to have a shot at the goal she's been dancing toward since she was three years old: to become a Radio City Rockette.
Bryant and 18 other students from Covington, Va. spent all night on a bus to New York City Dec. 14 to attend the Rockette Experience at Radio City Music Hall, an intensive course in the company's technique as the Rockettes' 75th Christmas Spectacular unfolded on the famed stage downstairs.
Over three hours, participants learn tap and jazz routines from the show, including those eye-high kicks (dancers do about 400 per show).
They also learn the tricky "hook up." Rockettes appear to link arms to form a tight-knit kick line, but they're not actually allowed to touch -- leaning on a neighbor could send the dancers crashing to the stage.
Finally, they undergo a mock audition, where they receive grades and feedback.
It may sound like Rockette-for-a-day fantasy camp, but the $108 class (offered throughout the year) is not for newbies - you'll need at least intermediate dance skills to participate. While most attendees are teens, older professional dancers sometimes sign up as training for the official Rockette auditions in April.
For those even more serious about a Rockette career, there's a weeklong boot camp each summer, where dancers learn the moves and get a chance to shine for Radio City talent scouts. Since the Experience started six years ago, about 30 Rockettes have been plucked from the 2,000 dancers who attend the courses each year.
To these small-town dancers, class instructor Cheryl Cutlip's road to Rockettedom is inspiring: She left High Point, N.C. - a town with one dance studio - carrying two suitcases, bound for New York. She's now in her 15th season at Radio City.
Cutlip offers some sobering facts about Rockette life: Rehearsals for the holiday show start in September, running seven hours a day for four weeks. During the 10-week season, Rockettes kick their way through 16 performances a week, doing as many as four 90-minute shows in a day. And that's not including one-offs like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the "Today" show, presidential inaugurations and private appearances.
And they do it all in costume, sometimes with each dancer sparkling with 3,000 Swarovksi crystals.
"It's pretty hardcore," says Covington dancer Kelly Drummond, 16.
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