Did you know that the Rockettes wear special tap shoes with microphones in the heels? Did you know that they store the shoes in a special case that charges up the batteries? I didn’t know this and found it pretty interesting. After all, inquiring minds should know trivia such as how a Rockette charges her tap shoes.
Image via Facebook.com
I was pretty disappointed to find out that the Radio City Christmas Spectacular was not touring to Chicago this year. It’s going to Durham, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, and Boston, Massachusetts. I was seriously interested in buying tickets but I’m not leaving Chicago. I’m hoping for snow, and I don’t travel in snow.
Image via nytix.com
I can remember the year that my kids’ Grandpa and Grandma took us to Radio City on one of our Christmas pilgrimages to the holy grail of holiday homecomings, New York City. I couldn’t get enough of The Big Apple, and still feel blessed that we had a number of years of visiting NRB’s parents with our children at Christmas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Christmas Tree and the Christmas tree and ice skating at Rockefeller Center were annual treats.
Image via essential-new-york-city-guide.com
New York was a wonderful place to spend Christmas. The retirement home in Arizona — not so much.
Since the Rockettes weren’t coming to Chicago, I had to settle for the HGTV Radio City Holiday special where Thom Filicia decorates Radio City for the holidays. I do love my holiday decorating shows… You can see this show on HGTV; it’s running one more time on December 13. That’s next Monday, if you want to set your recording devices.
I’ve always been interested in the whole Rockettes mythology, and then someone I almost knew became a Rockette! Heather Lang was the captain of our local high school’s award-winning dance team and as Homecoming Queen in 1999, chose to be unescorted. I loved the thought of that then and I still love the idea of her courage. I don’t actually know her, but I know people who do.
So what does one do after having been the star of the show in high school? One goes to New York and becomes a commercial dancer. Here’s Heather Lang in an interview, talking about her life as a dancer in New York. It brings the whole Rockette mythology down to one person. I loved the intimacy of this interview.
Hopefully you’re still reading both this year’s and last year’s posts. Although I did an 18 Days post last year, it was pretty much the same as this year’s post about our band, and the link isn’t working anymore. Don’t bother, but keep reading this year’s countdown. And COMMENT! There’s no Christmas present like a comment on one’s writing. If you’re reading this via a Facebook link, please press that magic button. I “like” you, too.
