As you may recall from my post a few weeks ago, Greenleigh and I were invited by the playful folks at GoGo SqueeZ to see the Rockettes when the Radio City Christmas Spectacular made a stop at the Kravitz Center here in sunny South Florida. So last Wednesday we made our way up to West Palm Beach for not only the World Famous Christmas Spectacular show, but also a very special kick class with Rockette Stacy (3rd from the left in the photo below) before the show.
My realization? Being a Rockette is hard work. Like, really hard. And while I may fall within the Rockette’s height requirement of 5″ 6′ to 5′ 10.5″, I think it would be fair to say that I will not be a Rockette anytime soon. Within 5 minutes of the workout starting, I wished it was ending…and then she announced that it was only the warm up. I may have let out an audible groan. And when you consider that their shows contain literally hundreds of kicks, well, that’s a lot of work. Thankfully, our warm-up ended and we got to learn some routines which were a bit easier on us me. We even got to learn a few Rockette tricks, like how to walk like a toy soldier and move in unison like spokes of a wheel (hint: tons and tons of tiny steps).
After the kick class it was time to see the show and it was every bit as, well, spectacular as I remembered it from when I was a kid. The sets were amazing, the costumes were gorgeous, and the choreography was just unreal. I loved that there was a number or two that I remembered from when I saw it as a child. And as concerned as I was that Greenleigh might get restless, she really enjoyed seeing the dancers on stage. Actually, the only issue I had was when she literally jumped out of her seat to wave (and yell) to Santa during the first act.
Although the Rockettes have already left West Palm Beach, there’s still time to catch the Radio City Christmas Spectacular! The show goes on in Nashville, Tennessee until December 24th; Tampa, Florida until December 29th; and New York City until December 31st. This show is not to be missed!
Disclosure: I’d like to extend a very special thank you to my friends at GoGo SqueeZ for not only providing me with tickets to the show, but also sponsoring the kick class for myself and Greenleigh. It was a once in a lifetime experience and will not be forgotten!
