Why I Love Being a Rockyette

Click on photo for larger image.

 

Last September when I signed up for Broadway dance classes with the Rockyettes, I had no idea what I lie ahead.

 

The Rockyettes' last dance performance of the season was on June 13, we turned in our glittery costumes and celebrated with a good-bye lunch on June 18. Our classes resume in September, but I am down in the dumps trying to figure out how I will spend my free time. I was never good at free time and if a course was offered on “how to relax,” I definitely would fail.

 

I love being a Rockyette because…

 

I feel healthy.

While I've heard murmurings of hip and knee replacements, strokes, heart attacks, cancer and rods in backs of some of the Rockyettes, at this point, I seem to be the only one diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I like their attitude. They’ve heard it all, and it’s no big deal. The show must go on regardless.

 

I feel young.

Someone in the audience, who presumably was visually impaired, asked “Who is that little girl dancing with your group?” I chuckled when I discovered she was inquiring about me. Isn’t it ironic to look like a little girl but have an old person’s disease like Parkinson's?

 

I feel tall.

In the above photo, I’m the “little girl” on the far left. With the top hats, it’s difficult to determine if I’m the shortest dancer in the group, but at 5”1” (and shrinking) it’s safe to assume that I’m not the tallest. Dancing with tall women makes me feel tall.

 

I have high performance needs and love to entertain.

The Rockyettes certainly helped with my high performance needs. With nine performances in the month of May alone, as a group we’ve had lots of opportunities to entertain.

 

I admire Ann Kennedy, the director of the Rockyettes (also the founder, producer, instructor, choreographer and costumer).

Her unfailing patience and ready smile have brought joy to our lives as well as those for whom we have danced.

 

I am blessed to be a Rockyette.