Hi, dance friends. I’m Margaret Fuhrer, editor and producer of The Dance Edit newsletter and podcast. Welcome to this Christmas Eve episode of The Dance Edit Extra—one day early this week!

This is kind of a sad intro to record. In November, shortly after the Radio City Christmas Spectacular began its comeback run, I talked to two members of the Radio City Rockettes: Danelle Morgan, a 16-year veteran of the group, a dance captain and swing, who is very much an expert on all things Rockette; and Courtney Crain, who is a brand-new Rockette this year after coming through the group’s dancer development program. So, two very different lenses on being a Rockette.

Then, last Friday, just as I was getting this episode ready to air, we heard that Radio City had cancelled all remaining performances of the Christmas Spectacular following a COVID outbreak in the company. Which casts all the positive energy in the interview you’re about to hear in a very different, very poignant light.

But it’s an interview that’s definitely still worth listening to, because Danelle and Courtney opened up a little bit more than we’re used to hearing Rockettes open up. They talked about not just why they love being Rockettes, but also about the progress the group still needs to make when it comes to diversity and inclusion, and about what it means, as two 21st-century women, to be part of a show that offers this very old-fashioned depiction of femininity. 

I think you’ll enjoy hearing their takes on all of that, even though they’re no longer taking the stage every day at Radio City. Here are Danelle and Courtney.

[pause]

Margaret Fuhrer:
So I’d like to welcome not one, but two members of the Radio City Rockettes to the podcast today: Danelle Morgan and Courtney Crain. Hi! How are you both doing?

Danelle Morgan:
Great. Really good.

Courtney Crain:
Hey, doing good.

Margaret Fuhrer:
I’m actually realizing with two voices here, I should have you each identify yourselves by name so listeners can tell who’s who. So would you mind giving a quick hello, including your names?

Danelle Morgan:
Sure. Hi, everybody. I’m Danelle Morgan, Radio City Rockette for 16 years.

Courtney Crain:
Hi, I’m Courtney Crain. And this is my first year as a Radio City Rockette.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yes. Two very different perspectives on Rockette life.

Danelle Morgan:
Mm-hmm.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Well, thank you both so much for coming by today, because you’re right in the thick of it, of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. To get started, would you each talk a little about when you first decided, “Yes, I want to be a Rockette, this is what I want to do,” and then your paths to actually achieving that goal?

Danelle Morgan:
Sure. I’ll start. So, I studied at The Ailey School. I’m a New Jersey native, so I would commute into New York City and take dance classes at The Ailey School. So I was more like Graham-based modern as a background growing up, and my path was I was going to go join the Ailey company. That’s what I was going to do. And oddly enough, there was one week where the Rockettes came to The Ailey School and they taught a workshop. And so, back in my first days of dancing, I studied a lot of ballet, tap, and jazz, and so I decided to sort of dust off my tap shoes and go to this Rockettes workshop that was hosted at The Ailey School.

So I went to the workshop, and I thought it was going to be—the Rockettes kick, it’s easy, they smile, it’s pretty. I thought it would be the easiest thing known to mankind. And I went there and it was hard. It was such a challenge that I in no way, shape, or form expected it to be. And so sort of from that moment on, it sort of opened my ears and my eyes up to like, “Oh wait, maybe there’s something to this Rockette thing.” So, I ended up auditioning three times before I was hired, and I did my first show in 2005, I did the show in Chicago. And I just remember at the end of the season sobbing because this experience that was so special and so amazing was over.

And so I sort of… I spent the rest… As soon as the season ended, I was like, “All right, well let’s go, we got to get back into Rockettes.” And it sort of, my first experience with this company was life changing, and it’s something that—the women are my best friends, they’re my sisters. And, in addition to that, I get to do what I love day in and day out. So it sort of, becoming a Rockette, was this unexpected, but amazingly positive, life changing thing for me.

Margaret Fuhrer:
I’m glad that you mentioned that going into it you were like, “Oh, this is going to be easy.” I think that’s a common misconception in the dance world, is like, “Oh, the Rockettes, it’s pretty straightforward stuff.” No, precision dance is incredibly difficult!

Danelle Morgan:
Oh, and they had me fooled, that’s for sure. [laughter]

Margaret Fuhrer:
They do their jobs well, yes. How about you Courtney?

Courtney Crain:
Yeah, I agree! It looks so much easier than it really is. I actually saw the Christmas Spectacular when I was four years old for the first time with my family. I’m from a small town in Louisiana, so coming to New York for Christmas was a really big deal and we were all excited. And I remember being in the audience and just not really knowing what was happening. You’re four years old, and I’m eating the popcorn because that’s all I cared about in the moment was the big cup of popcorn that they give you at Radio City. And then I remember, the curtain comes up and I see the Rockettes, and it’s so strange to think that at four years old, I can still have such a vivid memory of what that was. And just knowing in that moment that that’s what I wanted to do. It sounds crazy to know at four years old, but I just knew, and I’ve known since then.

And when I got into college, I was in school in Louisiana and I was auditioning for the summer programs. I did the summer program for four five years and I was like, “What do I need to do to keep achieving this goal?” I’m like, “I have to move to New York.” So, I moved to New York, I kept auditioning and just kept pushing and pushing. And finally this year I got the call that I was going to be a Rockette, and that—when Danelle says ‘life changing,’ that is a moment that’s life changing. And that’s something that you just dream of and then it comes true. And I just think that this year in particular, being my first year, is such a special year after not having the show last year and then getting to come back, but then getting to come back as a first year—it’s a whirlwind, but in the best way.

And for years I’ve been learning from people like Danelle, who are now in the front of the room. She taught me at pretty much—almost all of the programs that I went through every summer.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Aww, I love that.

Courtney Crain:
And so it’s really special now and now she’s in the front of the room, so it’s almost comforting because I’m like, “Oh, I’m still learning from Danelle,” and that’s just something really special too, to get to dance with women like that is—yeah. It’s just a dream come true.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yeah. And talking about coming back from the pandemic—I mean, obviously it’s been a year, or I guess closer to two years at this point. I think last August, when it was announced that the pandemic had forced the cancellation of the Christmas Spectacular, there was this collective little gasp in the arts world, like, “If the spectacular can’t go on, what can? Who’s going to make it?” I know you were both at very different points in your Rockettes journeys then, but I guess Danelle, let’s start with you. What was that moment like, after all your years participating in this seemingly unstoppable juggernaut, for it all to just stop?

Danelle Morgan:
It was one of those moments where, as you know, we got closer to the season where I sort of, logistically thinking about it, I was like “The show cannot happen.” But I was not willing to admit that it was not going to happen. You know?

So, when the company announced that there would in fact be no show for the 2020 year, it was devastating. And this is our time, we get into the holiday season, this is our time when we not only get to do this amazing job, but I get to connect with some of the people who I love more than anything in the world. And so to not have my place of employment, but also not have my sisterhood that I usually get year after year after year, it was sort of this twofold thing where you sort of had to figure out how to navigate this new world.

Fortunately, we did our social media classes. So we did Instagram live classes where we got to connect, not just with our fans, but we would pop in and make comments and stuff as our friends were teaching classes. So, we were able to stay connected. But the truth is there’s nothing like being on that stage, being in that building with the people that you love the most. And so, it was definitely a tough time, but I think we… Knowing that it wasn’t happening in 2020, knowing that we didn’t have this experience in 2020, I think it makes this 2021 season so much more valuable, and so much more special. And I think there’s, as a collective, this big understanding that we truly can’t take this thing that we love so much for granted. And so the passion that I think we’ve approached this 2021 season, is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s unbelievable.

Margaret Fuhrer:
I’ve talked to a bunch of dancers recently, and I feel like that is the common refrain: “We’re just so glad to be back onstage. We’ll never take this for granted again.”

Danelle Morgan:
Yes.

Margaret Fuhrer:
I mean, I know for a lot of Rockettes, the Christmas Spectacular paycheck, that’s what allows their lives to happen for the rest of the year. So how did you support yourself during the shutdown? And then on top of that, keep dancing, keep that side of your training up?

Danelle Morgan:
Well, I think, as dancers, our number one thing is that we hustle. We figure it out, we get it done. And fortunately, we do have full-time employment with the Rockettes. So, as our dance world was sort of shutting down, a bulk of us were able to sustain our livelihood.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Mm-hmm.

Danelle Morgan:
But I think there was a lot of, “How do I do this? Oh, wait, let me go and teach these Zoom dance classes.” And, as I said, we are so resilient and we make lemonade, and I think that’s what happened in a big way, just across the board for dancers.

Margaret Fuhrer:
And then Courtney, when you got wind of the shutdown, were you sort of hoping “Maybe this is going to be my year”? Where were you and your path at that point?

Courtney Crain:
I was definitely hoping 2020 was going to be my year. It was like, your dreams were kind of crushed. And then you’re thinking, “Okay, now I have two years. How am I going to stay in shape? How am I going to keep in contact with the Rockettes? Are they going to remember me and how hard I’ve worked for these few years?” So, that was hard to deal with too. But luckily, like Danelle said, they were teaching Instagram live classes, and the Rockettes Conservatory was actually done over Zoom. So I was in my apartment by myself, learning Rockette choreography, and yeah, resilience is the word because I was going to do whatever I had to do to keep the goal in reach and to keep in shape and doing what I know I needed to do to get back in 2021. And then that’s what we did, and now we’re here.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yeah. I feel like the dancer story of the pandemic is “Where in my apartment can I make room to dance?”And I was thinking of all the Rockettes, like “Where do you make room for the kickline practice? How do you? Where’s there space for that in your living room?”

Courtney Crain:
I think my downstairs neighbors were kind of mad when I put on the tap shoes, but I went right to work. [laughter]

Margaret Fuhrer:
So, as you were starting to talk about before, both of you: It must have been just wild returning to the stage after that long hiatus. And as you’re saying, Courtney, I guess in some ways there’s no better time to be a newbie because in some sense, every Rockette was a newbie again this year. Can you talk a little about what the energy was like for those first shows back?

Courtney Crain:
The first shows were incredible. I just… Being on that stage in general I think would be incredible, but the audience too was so excited for the Christmas Spectacular to be back. So, I could feel that energy from them. Because the Christmas Spectacular for a lot of people, is the holiday season in New York. And I know for my family, watching them on the Macy’s Parade and things like that, they are Christmas and the holiday season. So, I think feeling the energy from the audience that I have never felt before was… And that theater, I’ve never performed in a theater like that, in a state that big. I mean, they don’t call it the Great Stage for nothing. It was… The butterflies just were overwhelming and my heart was pounding and the curtain raises up and the audience screamed and I was like, “Oh my goodness, this is just indescribable.” You know?

Danelle Morgan:
Yeah. It’s interesting because now as the assistant choreographer and dance captain, I sit in the house and I watch the show.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Mm-hmm.

Danelle Morgan:
So rather than performing with our first audience, I am with the audience. And, I just remember as soon as the curtain started going up and there’s this smoke for “Sleigh Ride” and you could just feel this unbelievable energy. And I just remembered looking around, and I turned to the other dance captain and I said, “This is good. This is so good.” And it just… To see, not just little children so excited, but to see adults seeing the show without any kids with them, screaming for Santa, it shows what this show does to people and the passion that people feel for the Rockettes, for the Christmas Spectacular.

And it was just such a big realization of… We work so hard, and at some point this is work. This is our job, but to see how our job affects people so positively and to see just how grateful, not just we were as performers to have this opportunity, but to see that the audience was just as grateful to have us back, it’s unforgettable.

Margaret Fuhrer:
You know, it’s so funny, I just saw the show last week, and I got teary during “Wooden Soldiers,” which was so unexpected. I was like, “This is not exactly an emotional moment in the show.” But just seeing that number back on stage again, it was sort of like, oh, a tear in the universe has been repaired—you know?

Danelle Morgan:
Yeah. There’s such a big legacy that comes with the Christmas Spectacular. And yeah, it’s like, I keep finding my myself crying in different times. Just moments that… I’m like “What’s going on? Am I okay?” [laughter] But it’s just really being grateful for this opportunity to do what we love again.

Margaret Fuhrer:
So during shutdowns, there was also, of course, there was a huge shift in conversations about race, especially after the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. And that ties into work that I know was already in progress within the Rockettes, which of course, historically, have had a very white reputation, which infamously didn’t have a Black member until Jennifer Jones in 1987. Danelle, I know you were a leader in the Rockettes’ diversity drive back in 2019, and I’m wondering if you can talk a little about what that work involved and how it’s continuing. What remains to be done?

Danelle Morgan:
Yeah. Well, for me, I think what’s interesting is, coming from a place like The Ailey School and then going to join the Rockettes, it was like night and day. And so I’m in this job where you’re supposed to look like everybody, but I don’t look like everybody. It’s like this weird… It’s a strange conundrum.

But what I know about this job is that from day one, when I joined this company, I have—like I keep saying, these are my sisters. I haven’t felt different. I’ve known that I’m different and I look different, but I haven’t felt or been treated different than anybody else, and that’s what I think is unique about this job, where there really isn’t a hierarchy because we all do the same show. So there is this equal playing field innately in this Rockettes thing.

But when I look around it, I don’t see people like me. I’m like, “Why aren’t there people like me here?” So I think from the moment I stepped into this company, there was sort of this personal drive to expand the line. And then, we are a New York City–based company, and for a line to not look like New York City, to me, was a little strange. So, I think it was super important and vital for me to be vocal about the fact that this company does need to do some work.

And it’s been really nice to see the company actually listening and doing work to try and inform change within the company. And so yeah, we have our dance conservatory program. It’s grown, and as far as the women that I’m seeing who are interested in the Rockettes, it’s grown and it’s changed greatly. To do these workshops at The Ailey School, which is a full circle moment for me, to go to IABD, the International [Association of] Blacks in Dance, to go to their conferences year after year, teach classes, and then have people reach out and follow up and ask when we’re coming back… I think there’s such a big… It’s really important for us to not just stand at Radio City and be like, “Come join us,” but instead to go to Harlem School of the Arts and teach these young dancers and be the face of, like, “Hey, you look like me and I look like you. There’s no reason why you can’t do what I’m doing.”

So it’s been really… It’s always been vital for me to make sure there’s accessibility, but it’s been really nice to see the company reciprocating that and working to help grow, and understanding that maybe we do need to change and grow a little bit.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yeah. And some dancers of color—I’m thinking of Misty Copeland, probably most famously—have been saying that this shift since the summer of 2020, it does feel different. It does feel like there’s more possibility for real progress at these historically white dance institutions. Does it feel different from your perspective?

Danelle Morgan:
It does. And I think with everybody being stuck at home in 2020, the whole world was forced to see certain things that maybe they didn’t want to see. And so it just sort of, I think, just as individuals, it changed all of us. And, I think there’s a different awareness, I think, across the board that we didn’t necessarily have before. And again, it’s taking this insane time that we all lived through, and what do you do with that? What do you become and how do you grow from it? And I feel like there’s a collective attempt to grow from these experiences.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yeah. It feels like this whole ordeal that we’ve been through has opened up all kinds of new lines of conversation. Another one involves gender roles in dance, and about the very, often very rigid expectations about how a dancer “should” present masculinity or femininity on stage. And I feel like the Rockettes play an interesting role in that, because they offer a very old school vision of femininity through the costuming and the choreography—all those legs. But you two are both very much women living in the 21st century. So, how do you think about all of that?

Danelle Morgan:
I think what’s interesting about the Rockettes because we do have this legacy of, like you’re saying, the legs.”

Margaret Fuhrer:
Leg-acy!

Danelle Morgan:
Leg-acy. [laughter] But what I think is so amazing about the group of women that I work with, it’s that we are so strong and powerful and confident and independent… and these are maybe like adjectives that are used to describe men typically. But when you look at what we do and how powerful what we do is, and how we work hard, we demand the best of ourselves and of each other. These are typical things that like a “strong man” does, you know? But when you look at what the Rockettes are doing and the power that we are, I think it’s—especially from when they started and how they worked day in and day out living at the theater, it shows that this is a powerful group of independent women that maybe are challenging those norms. Like sure, maybe we wear our rhinestones and our red lips, but I think that, as far as what we’ve done, it’s quite powerful. And also, I think it helps drive these gender norms in a different direction.

Courtney Crain:
Yeah. I agree. I think it’s so much more than dancing in pretty costumes with the red lips. Even just thinking about some of the numbers, like “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” you were talking about how you cried—that is probably one of my hardest numbers in the show. We are physically holding up a whole line of 36 women, and you’re in a plank the whole time, and you’re so strong. And in that moment, I think that’s a moment in the show when I realized “Yeah, this is so much more than just being pretty.” It’s something that does take just a whole line of strong, powerful women, and not just in the “Parade of Wooden Soldiers.” I think in all of the numbers, there’s a moment where I’m like, “Yeah, I am so strong,” and we all are so strong. So, that’s how I feel about that.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Yeah. For sure.

I’m going to pull back the curtain a little on the journalistic process here, because I think for a lot of journalists, the Rockettes—well, in many ways they’re our favorites. Because I mean, you’re always super game. You’re always on. You’re always polished. I mean listeners, you can’t see this, but they both came to this interview, knowing that the video part would not be used, in full makeup, in their Rockettes tanks, ready to go. And that’s fantastic. You’re always going to nail it. We know that. I think the flip side of that is that sometimes Rockettes are so polished and presentational, that’s such a part of the Rockettes brand, that it can be hard to get a good sense of who these real people are who make up this kick line. So what sides of the “real” you do Rockette fans usually not see?

Danelle Morgan:
So I always think about, when I do an interview, for instance—because we are polished, we are. We always want to present our best foot forward. We want to show up looking our best and leave with the best impression. And I think what’s so interesting about that is—I always say whenever I do an interview, there is nothing disingenuous about what we’re saying or what we’re doing. I say it’s like my most A plus version of me. And you want… I want to make mom proud! You want to show up looking the way you should. We work so hard that I think for us to present ourselves in another way, it does a detriment to not just our jobs, but us as human beings.

And I think what’s… I mean, maybe you don’t see as much that we’re silly. We make jokes, we have fun, we’re jovial and playful. But then I also think when you look at some of the… Like on our Instagrams, you look at video of us, you’ll see us having the giggles and the laughs in the background. And we’re people.

Courtney Crain:
That’s true.

Danelle Morgan:
To simply put it we’re human beings. We work hard. We try to succeed. We don’t always succeed, but we try, and try and learn from that. And I think because we present ourselves as put together, it can look like that we’re not, but we aren’t perfect. No, we’re human. We’re just like you, and I think there’s something about us showing up polished and ready to go that adds to the allure of what the Rockettes are. So I think there’s maybe a reason why we want to hang onto that.

Courtney Crain:
I think being first year too, you think that that’s what you have to be and are supposed to be. And I think it’s so… Ever since I walked in the first day, all of the veterans never make you feel that way. Like Danelle said, you are having a good time at the same time that you’re working hard. So, seeing them giggle and have a good time through the process just makes… I do have to do my job, but at the same time, I need to have fun too doing this, cause we’re dancing and we’re getting to dance together, so why not have fun? So I’m thankful that they’ve shown us that you can still have fun and do this because you do. It is very stressful and new things that coming in as your first year, you do have to be perfect and you do have a perception of what the Rockettes are, but they’re all so accepting of our different personalities and different ways that we go into the process. So yeah, being a first year, it’s eyeopening to see that, yeah, the Rockettes are real people, and I am too.

Margaret Fuhrer:
You know, I can’t remember who said this to me—I think it was a ballet dancer who said, someone once said to her like, “Oh, you’re such a dance robot.” Because she was so polished and so on all the time. And she was like, “I’m not a dance robot, I’m a dance superhero—that’s me with my cape on. And you just don’t see me at home when I’m Clark Kent.” They’re two sides of the same coin.

Danelle Morgan:
Exactly. It’s like, we get on the subway after shows and we’re hanging out with the people who were just at the show with us. They have the program with our face on it, but we’ve got our hat on and we’ve taken off our rhinestones and our lashes and you know, we’re human. We’re New Yorkers.

Margaret Fuhrer:
You’re getting harassed by the subway rats, just like the rest of us. My gosh, they’re out of control. [laughter]

So speaking of dancers being superheroes, this is such any incredibly physically demanding show for the Rockettes. I mean, just for context, how many times a week are you performing at the height of the season?

Danelle Morgan:
We’ll do up to four shows in a day. Yeah. And sometimes like this year, I think we’re up to 15 shows in a week.

Margaret Fuhrer:
And how many numbers are you in, in each show?

Danelle Morgan:
We have nine production numbers, and this year we’ve actually, we have an additional production number in the show, “Snow.” So usually we, if we change the show, we’ll like sort of take out one production number, add another one in. We got really excited this year and we just threw another one in.

So we’re like… When I tell you that these women are working so hard, because I watch every show, and to see how hard that these women are working day in and day out, it’s really mind blowing. Cause we continue to push ourselves physically, and to see the drive that… It’s hard to do a show four times in a row, but the last show has the same strength as the first show. It’s nice to see these women just powering it out.

Margaret Fuhrer:
I mean, how do you handle all of that physically? Like how do you actually make it through that? And then how do you handle that mentally, too? That’s a lot, as you were saying—to do the same show four times a day, it’s intense.

Courtney Crain:
Yeah. I think mentally sometimes is more challenging than physically because physically, you know that your body… We rehearse for six days a week, six hours a day leading up to it for six weeks. So, I feel like physically, I know my body could do it. It was more of the mental thing like, “Can I actually make it through?” And knowing that you do have to do nine numbers you’re not stopping when you go off stage, you’re changing in 78 seconds, and that’s also choreographed. And going in new, you’re like, “What, where do I go? Where do I change? How long do I have?” You have no idea going into it. You’re just fresh. So just mentally preparing for, “What am I going to do when I get off from this number? I have to go and put on this costume and then I have to immediately go on to the next number. What are my numbers for that? What am I on the stage? Where do I go?” It’s just all of these things going into your head.

But then sometimes you just have to take a deep breath. Danelle has always told me, “Courtney, you have to breathe.” She’s always said that. And so, I think for me, it’s more of just taking a deep breath, you know what you’re supposed to do, just do it. So mentally it is challenging, but you just—you got to do it.

Danelle Morgan:
You know, it is this mind over matter sort of thing that… When you do take it one step at a time, you make it through. And then you have an audience. We see the little girl who’s dancing in the aisles with us as we’re dancing, doing the kicks with us, we see these things and they… It gives you this honest motivation to continue powering through. And, as physically demanding as it is, then we finish a show. We know we have a burger coming soon. We can replenish. We find our way. [laughter]

Margaret Fuhrer:
That little girl doing the kicks in the aisle by the way was totally my daughter this year. So, thank you for that.

Danelle Morgan:
Aww.

Margaret Fuhrer:
The next generation.

Okay. I’m going to do something mean. What is your favorite number in the current show, and what is your least favorite?

Danelle Morgan:
My favorite number is… Okay. I have like a… I love “Snow.” I love that “Snow” is back in the show. I think it’s really beautiful and the way that it’s choreographed I think is so intelligent. And it really is about, the meaning behind it, is about just how these… You have one woman who starts—and Courtney actually starts “Snow” in the Gold Company—you have one woman who starts this beautiful piece and then it grows little by little. And you see how at the end, you create these 36 women, these 36 individuals dancing as one. And I think it is the truest sort of embodiment of the Rockettes and what we do. And it’s like, if you were to watch the show and look at one woman for the whole show, and then look at another one, you see, these are completely different dancers and movers, but to see how we can come together and create this amazing scene or scene after scene after scene, I think is so special. So, I love “Snow” for that. My least favorite, my least … I mean, that’s really, that’s a hard question though.

Courtney Crain:
That is a hard one.

Danelle Morgan:
I can give you a moment. So in “Snow,” which is my favorite scene in the show, there’s a moment where we are doing the circles, where it’s just so physically demanding that I’m so tired and you’re traveling—literally the stage is one New York City block. So you find yourself moving a whole New York City block, and then you finish the circles and you still have half of the scene left in the show. So, I won’t say it’s my least favorite number, but it is one of the most fatiguing moments where you sort of have to reevaluate life and figure out if you’re going to make it through. [laughter]

Margaret Fuhrer:
That was very diplomatic.

Danelle Morgan:
Then you get a new beginning and then you’re good to go.

Courtney Crain:
No, I totally agree with that. That is a rough part for sure. I think my… Honestly, not everyone says this, but I think “Sleigh Ride,” the reindeer number for me, is maybe my favorite, just because it’s like an adrenaline rush. It’s because it’s the first one and you’re just charging the audience and you just feel that energy right away. And, I kind of agree with Danelle. I have a moment in the show, the quick change from after “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” into “New York at Christmas” is the quickest quick change we have. And that is a moment in the show where I am the most stressed that I won’t make it on stage with all of my costume pieces on.

So, that might be my least favorite moment in the show. Just cause it’s the most stressful, but yeah, reindeer for me is such a cool… and the kick line is so different from all the other kick lines in the number. It’s very challenging. But right when you kick that leg up for the first time, and the audience goes wild, it’s like, “Here we go. Here’s the whole show.”

Margaret Fuhrer:
So the Christmas Spectacular of course only runs a few months a year, but you’re dancers 12 months a year. And I know you were saying, Danelle, that there’s 12-month employment with the Rockettes, but what do you typically do, or what are you planning to do, in the intervening months when you’re not in the Christmas Spectacular?

Courtney Crain:
I love to teach. I teach at local dance studios here in New York, and my mom also has a studio in Louisiana that I fly home to. After the season, I’ll probably fly home and teach there. And I just stay here and audition as well for as many things as possible until it’s time for Rockettes season and then I’ll audition again for that. But yeah, teaching is… I’ve been teaching since I was 18 and it’s another one of my passions, along with performing. So, that’s what I do in the off season. Teach, take class, audition.

Danelle Morgan:
Yeah. I teach dance classes and I also teach Pilates in the off season. I actually, I take class with Courtney all the time in the off season as well. So we spend our off season also being prepared for all… We have so many special events that pop up for the Rockettes throughout the year. So in addition to us teaching in our dance conservatory program, freelance teaching and dancing, we also sort of pop in and out of the hall and do… We’ve done like the Tony Awards or we’ll do, like the VMAs, we’ve performed at. So, there are these moments where you’re sort of expected to be ready to go year round, so we’re always in classes, making sure that we’re always showing up in our best tip top shape.

Margaret Fuhrer:
Mm-hmm. All right. Last question. Big question: What does it mean to be a Rockette in 2021?

Danelle Morgan:
I think this year, 2021, being a Rockette means resiliency. I think after the time away that we had, sort of going back into this whole process—because what we do is so demanding, I was kind of terrified going in and to have to teach the show after not teaching the show for a year, to then have to swing the show after not swinging the show for a year. I felt like we all sort of went in with this, “Can I do this thing that I was able to do so intensely?” Because it’s intense, what we do.

And to see that, from the moment we stepped into rehearsals, everybody was game, everybody was ready to go—”Here we are. We’re here. Let’s do it.” And it was like we didn’t miss a beat. And so I think it shows how resilient we are as a line of women or two lines of women. I think it shows that there’s something special to what we do and that we don’t take it for granted. And if anything else happens, we’ll be back. And we’re back.

Courtney Crain:
I think it means, for me, that my dream has become a reality, which is, sounds cliche, but it’s so true. And I just, after auditioning for four or five years, and then it finally comes true—I just hope that everyone out there, anybody that has this dream or any dream, knows that they can make it happen. It takes hard work, but yeah, dreams can become reality for everyone.

Margaret Fuhrer:
That’s a nice place to end. Thank you both so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate your candor and your insight. Do the Rockettes say “merde”? What’s your “break a leg”?

Danelle Morgan:
We say “merde”!

Margaret Fuhrer:
You say merde? Merde, then! Merde for the rest of the run.

Danelle Morgan:
Thank you so much for having us.

Courtney Crain:
Yes, thank you so much.

[pause]

Another big thank-you to Danelle and Courtney. Hopefully we’ll see both of them back onstage with the Rockettes next season. In the meantime, we’ve got links to their personal Instagram accounts in the show notes, so that you can keep up with them both. 

And thanks to you all for subscribing to The Dance Edit Extra. I’ll see you back here in the new year, on January 8, for our next episode. Wishing you all a happy and hopefully COVID-free holiday. Bye everyone.