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[00:00.04]College student Rhapsody Stiggers is one of 38 students

[00:06.40]at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee

[00:09.64]taking a dance class that is the first of its kind.

[00:15.60]Her teacher, Amarisa LeBar,

[00:18.80]is a current member of the Radio City Rockettes,

[00:22.96]a famous precision dance team in New York City.

[00:28.84]Stiggers has been dancing since she was two years old.

[00:32.84]She has taken many kinds of dance classes.

[00:36.44]However, the 20-year-old has never had a dance class

[00:41.68]as difficult as this one.

[00:45.80]The class is the first for-credit college course

[00:49.76]taught by a Rockette dancer.

[00:53.48]The dance instructor teaches the detailed,

[00:56.72]precise technique the Rockettes are known for.

[01:01.24]The dancers move and kick together in perfect time.

[01:06.56]Stiggers is skilled in dance forms including ballet,

[01:10.64]modern, jazz, salsa, and West African.

[01:15.60]But she said that "no other style of dance

[01:19.20]really emphasizes the precision of every single body part."

[01:25.84]She added that this high level of attention to precision

[01:30.48]makes this a very different dance class.

[01:35.24]Teacher LeBar has been a Rockette for about five years.

[01:40.84]She is 25 years old and started teaching

[01:44.40]at her mother's dance business at the age of 16.

[01:50.08]She finds sharing the Rockettes' style

[01:52.96]with college students intense.

[01:56.88]"Teaching on a Rockette level is completely different

[02:00.68]and is a lot more difficult to do

[02:03.80]because we really tune in to the perfection of our movement,"

[02:08.96]LeBar told the Associated Press.

[02:13.44]The Rockettes use tap, ballet, and jazz forms in their dances.

[02:19.96]The class also teaches strength training and choreography.

[02:26.28]Dancers learn methods that can be used in many other kinds of dance.

[02:32.88]The class is not only difficult, it is also

[02:36.84]one of the most popular dance classes

[02:40.24]at the performing arts school.

[02:43.64]Places in the class fill up fast, said Mila Thigpen.

[02:49.00]She heads dance at the conservatory.

[02:53.56]The Rockettes group is known for a yearly performance

[02:57.12]called the "Christmas Spectacular."

[03:01.28]In that show, they perform one of their best-known moves

[03:05.56]– high kicking at exactly the same time.

[03:10.00]Dancing like a Rockette not only requires precision,

[03:13.88]it requires hard work.

[03:16.72]Rockettes rehearse six hours per day, six days a week.

[03:22.20]Another important requirement?

[03:24.40]Students must love being part of a team.

[03:28.72]"So, to be a Rockette, first off you have to have a love

[03:33.64]of wanting to work together as a team," said Julie Branam,

[03:38.76]who began her dancing career 36 years ago.

[03:43.40]She is director and choreographer

[03:46.08]of the Rockettes show "Christmas Spectacular."

[03:50.40]That show first performed in 1933.

[03:54.16]It is said that 69 million people

[03:58.40]have seen the Rockettes perform it over the years.

[04:03.28]To make sure every dancer moves the same,

[04:06.36]everything the performers do is examined closely, Branam said.

[04:13.32]"We're checking what 36 people do in that line

[04:17.08]over and over again ... ‘Is your head at the same angle?

[04:22.04]Is you arm at the same height?'"

[04:26.08]She added: "So, it's the willingness of wanting to work as one

[04:31.40]to make the effort of the 36 (dancers) look beautiful."

[04:38.04]The college-level class is an extension

[04:41.28]of the Rockettes' dancer development program.

[04:44.96]Only promising dancers are invited.

[04:49.68]Rhapsody Stiggers has been very moved by the experience.

[04:54.16]In fact, one day she may try out for the Rockettes.

[04:58.52]She said it is a fun goal to have.

[05:03.16]"If I don't get in," she said,

[05:05.56]"it's still useful knowledge that I've learned

[05:09.12]that can carry on into the rest of my career."

[05:13.32]I'm Anna Matteo.

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Words in This Story

precision –adj. the quality of being exact and making no error

technique –n. a way of doing something that uses a special knowledge or skill

style –n. a particular form or design of as it relates to something

emphasize –v. to place importance or call attention to

tune in --v. (phrasal) to listen to and pay attention to something carefully

choreography –n. the job of telling dancers how they will dance and move during their performances

rehearse –v. to prepare for a public performance by practicing it repeatedly

career –n. the path someone's work or profession follows