For the most of you that watched After the Kiss, this year’s dance production, there’s only one word that comes to mind: effortlessness.
But what does it take to make a perfect pirouette?
“Dance is actually really physically demanding. I have to keep up my stamina and make sure I’m liftable,” says Kyoko H. (12). “The dance production takes up a lot of your time and that’s a commitment we all know and make”.
Jene S. (10) who played Magnus, Maleficent’s son in the other cast, agreed. “I think dance is a sport. It’s major cardio work and we have to make our bodies do things we don’t normally do.”
But dancing is more than hard physical labor. The strong romantic storyline between Aurora, the prince and Magnus demanded the dancers also be actors.
“The romantic theme is only awkward at first since you have to pretend to act really intimate,” says Kyoko, “but we’re all like one really big family.”
Even when slip-ups or drops happen, the dancers’ strong bonds with each other overcome any possible awkwardness.
Jene says, “Anything that happens between dancers is just funny. For example, during dress rehearsals Maleficent had this really long dess so we sometimes slipped on it, but we just laughed it off and learned from it.”
Kyoko says, “Every once in a while you get dropped. I actually have a little scar from falling, but it’s not really awkward. Everyone’s just like, it happens, and we laugh about it!”