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By Jac Chebatoris
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"Remember, you're in a fat suit!" the instructor yells out. Those aren't the typical words of encouragement you would hear during a workout at a swank New York City gym, but then neither is the background music blasting from the speakers: "Here Comes Santa Claus."
"When we kick, we've gotta use those abs!" the class leader commands. The kicks she's referring to are the world famous "eye-high" kicks that are the trademarks of those holiday icons, the Radio City Rockettes. And the fat suit? It's a reference to the Santa costume that instructor--and Rockette--Lora Anderson, 29, must don for the Santa Dance number in the "Christmas Spectacular" at Radio City Music Hall. For the next hour in Studio 1 at an Equinox gym in midtown Manhattan, Anderson and her co-Rockette, Meg Huggins, 29, will teach the Rockette Workout to a handful of thirtysomethings, not to mention a couple of fiftysomethings, in spandex. When asked why she took the class, Lee Bickley, 31, says, "Every girl wants to be a Rockette."
Here's her chance: the Rockettes have incorporated dance moves from their show into a sweat-inducing, heart-racing, too-fun-to-be-good-for-you exercise, which will make you wonder if it's not too late to quit your day job. Huggins has a ballerina's body with a showgirl's edge. Even though she's dressed in plain black workout clothes, the glamour is not lost. Sparkly hoop earrings dangle from her ears to form a dazzling frame for her bright blue eyes. Huggins oozes Rockette. She begins to lead the class in one of the traditional moves--The Soldier Walk--taken from the original choreography of 1933's "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." She and Anderson have been part of the Rockettes for eight years (near veterans), and Anderson says, "It's the best job I've ever had."
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Now it's time for the class to get to work. "Don't bend your knees, just lift those hips and squeeze your glutes," Huggins says. It sounds easy enough, but reduces the group to a bunch of confused Energizer bunnies with dying batteries. The high-stepping knee raises and coordinated--to put it generously--arm movements of the Santa Dance lead into the Rag Doll with its deep waist bends and stretches. Halfway through the class, Rockette-wannabe Bickley's fair complexion is flushed from exertion. "Who knew we'd actually get a good workout, too?" she huffs. Therein lies the secret: the Rockettes are not just a bunch of pretty ladies rouged up and dancing around in little Santa suits to jazzy jingles. They are performing athletic moves that demand precision and stamina, effortlessness and grace.
These 21st-century Rockettes have moved beyond the long tradition of the "dancing daughters," as they were referred to by their creator, Russell Markert, who founded them in 1925. Their ambitions are as high as their kicks. The current Rockette line consists of Broadway actresses, Pilates studio owners and a Harvard law student. They've kept the elegance intact, but they've been modernizing and adding educational programs. In addition to the Equinox class--which is seasonal and open only to club members--Rockettes teach a weeklong "Summer Intensive" training program that offers students at venues across the country a chance to learn Rockette jazz, tap, formations and kick line. There is also the Rockette Experience--a three-hour workshop in several cities that gives aspiring dancers a chance to see if they have what it takes to hit the Radio City stage. They will learn the choreography, have a Q&A session with a Rockette and ultimately undergo a mock audition.
"Now you get to be a Rockette," Anderson says near the end of the hour at the Manhattan class. The buzz is palpable. The group lines up for the quintessential Rockette "Happy Holidays" kick line number and even though the reflection in the mirror shows sweat pants and T shirts, you just know that all they see are sequins and glamour.
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