1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

3
00:00:10,844 --> 00:00:12,929
["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" playing]

4
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,775
It's gotta be perfect today.
We only have two more chances. Come on!

5
00:00:25,859 --> 00:00:27,110
Come on!

6
00:00:33,908 --> 00:00:36,202
Two, three, four, run, six, seven, eight.

7
00:00:36,286 --> 00:00:39,664
Two, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, and one!

8
00:00:44,961 --> 00:00:46,921
Where is the straight line? Guide left.

9
00:00:47,005 --> 00:00:49,716
The person to your left
gets there before you. Nope!

10
00:00:50,467 --> 00:00:53,845
She gets here before you,
so you got to line up to her.

11
00:00:59,142 --> 00:01:01,561
Let's do it again.
All three groups, come on.

12
00:01:01,644 --> 00:01:04,898
And one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

13
00:01:04,981 --> 00:01:07,067
Two, two, three, four, five, six.

14
00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:08,359
Here we go, one!

15
00:01:15,116 --> 00:01:17,577
Much better. Okay, okay. Are we okay?

16
00:01:18,453 --> 00:01:20,497
Are y'all gonna remember
everything we did?

17
00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:21,414
[kids] Yes!

18
00:01:21,498 --> 00:01:24,501
-Because dancers are what?
-[kids] The smartest people on the planet.

19
00:01:24,584 --> 00:01:27,212
[Debbie]
The most intelligent people in the planet,

20
00:01:27,295 --> 00:01:29,214
and we remember everything, right?

21
00:01:29,297 --> 00:01:30,131
[kids] Yes.

22
00:01:30,215 --> 00:01:32,258
Okay. Go to makeup.
I'll see you in a minute.

23
00:01:32,342 --> 00:01:33,968
[kids chattering]

24
00:01:34,052 --> 00:01:36,763
-[boy] Thank you, Miss Allen.
-You're welcome, sweetie.

25
00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:40,266
[sighs] Oh, God.

26
00:01:40,975 --> 00:01:42,352
Okay, what's next?

27
00:01:43,186 --> 00:01:45,647
["All I Want For Christmas Is You"
intro playing]

28
00:01:49,192 --> 00:01:50,777
Anyone else for hair and makeup?

29
00:02:01,496 --> 00:02:03,915
[female crew member]
I see why she's ended up using the…

30
00:02:07,794 --> 00:02:10,797
-[Debbie] Come on, everybody here!
-[audience cheering]

31
00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,007
[female fan]
That's Debbie Allen. She's famous!

32
00:02:13,925 --> 00:02:16,553
-[Debbie] Hot Chocolate Nutcracker!
-[audience cheers]

33
00:02:18,972 --> 00:02:21,182
-[females fans whoop]
-I am Debbie Allen…

34
00:02:21,266 --> 00:02:23,893
-[audience cheering]
-…and I'm so ha-- Wow! Ooh!

35
00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:31,401
I am so thrilled and so happy

36
00:02:31,484 --> 00:02:34,070
to welcome you as our very first audience

37
00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:36,698
for the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
this year.

38
00:02:36,781 --> 00:02:37,782
[audience cheering]

39
00:02:39,242 --> 00:02:42,203
[kids singing]
♪ Hey, Mr. Santa Claus ♪

40
00:02:42,287 --> 00:02:45,290
♪ Hey, Mr. Santa Claus ♪

41
00:02:45,373 --> 00:02:48,251
♪ Hey, Mr. Santa Claus ♪

42
00:02:48,334 --> 00:02:50,503
♪ Hey, Mister, er ♪

43
00:02:50,587 --> 00:02:53,131
[solo kid 1]
♪ Only one more day ♪

44
00:02:53,214 --> 00:02:55,758
♪ I wish that I could stay up late ♪

45
00:02:56,676 --> 00:03:00,597
♪ Ooh, my mama says I gotta go to bed
'Cause Santa's on his way ♪

46
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,515
[kids vocalizing]

47
00:03:02,599 --> 00:03:05,435
-[solo kid 2] ♪ I got a list so long ♪
-[kids] ♪ So long ♪

48
00:03:05,518 --> 00:03:07,270
[solo kid 2]
♪ It just keeps going on and on ♪

49
00:03:07,353 --> 00:03:11,274
-[kids] ♪ On and on ♪
-♪ Ooh, if he asks me if I was good ♪

50
00:03:11,357 --> 00:03:15,778
-♪ I know just what to say ♪
-[kids vocalizing]

51
00:03:15,862 --> 00:03:20,700
[kids] ♪ Dear Santa
I've been spreading cheer all year ♪

52
00:03:20,783 --> 00:03:23,536
[female solo kid] ♪ And if you
Could grant me this one wish ♪

53
00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:26,956
-[kids] ♪ One wish ♪
-♪ Then every kid could have one gift ♪

54
00:03:27,790 --> 00:03:28,708
[Debbie] Shh!

55
00:03:29,167 --> 00:03:33,796
I know some of you still need to learn
how to point your toes and your feet,

56
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,298
but none of that will come

57
00:03:35,381 --> 00:03:38,218
if you don't learn
how to be quiet and listen!

58
00:03:40,136 --> 00:03:43,264
Welcome to
the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker audition.

59
00:03:43,348 --> 00:03:45,475
Um, I'm really happy to see you.

60
00:03:45,558 --> 00:03:49,062
I see a lot of familiar faces.
I see some new faces.

61
00:03:49,145 --> 00:03:50,480
I am looking for

62
00:03:50,563 --> 00:03:54,525
young dancers that have life and energy

63
00:03:54,609 --> 00:03:57,862
and want to be on stage,
that can become a character,

64
00:03:57,946 --> 00:04:00,990
that can become a doll or a monkey

65
00:04:01,074 --> 00:04:02,951
or a fairy.

66
00:04:03,034 --> 00:04:06,663
So you have to think of yourself
not just as a dancer, but as an actor.

67
00:04:06,746 --> 00:04:11,793
There's a lot of opportunity
for you to show me where I could use you,

68
00:04:11,876 --> 00:04:14,170
and know
that I will do my best to keep you--

69
00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:16,172
keep you where I think you belong.

70
00:04:16,256 --> 00:04:20,301
And if you're not ready
after the end of today, don't feel bad.

71
00:04:20,385 --> 00:04:23,388
Just know that you need
to train a little more. Okay?

72
00:04:23,471 --> 00:04:24,931
We did so well last year,

73
00:04:25,014 --> 00:04:27,809
and everyone is just waiting
for us to come back.

74
00:04:28,309 --> 00:04:33,064
I'd like to introduce our ballet master,
Miss Giana Jigarhan.

75
00:04:33,147 --> 00:04:35,316
-Madame Jigarhan.
-[all applauding]

76
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,906
And today,
she's gonna put you through some paces.

77
00:04:41,990 --> 00:04:44,492
We may teach you
two different combinations,

78
00:04:44,575 --> 00:04:47,537
and then Miss Eartha Robinson
is going to give you a jazz.

79
00:04:47,620 --> 00:04:51,874
This is Miss McDonald, the director
of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy,

80
00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:54,252
and Miss Cathie Nicholas, of course,

81
00:04:54,335 --> 00:04:56,587
who's my right hand and left foot. Okay.

82
00:04:58,256 --> 00:05:01,092
[Giana in Russian accent]
So let me-- Call me the names, échappé.

83
00:05:01,175 --> 00:05:04,262
We'll go, one and two and three and four.

84
00:05:04,345 --> 00:05:05,888
One and two.

85
00:05:05,972 --> 00:05:09,017
And two, one and two, and three, and four.

86
00:05:09,100 --> 00:05:12,395
So some people come
into the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

87
00:05:12,478 --> 00:05:15,064
at age four, five, and…

88
00:05:15,148 --> 00:05:18,818
you know, at 12, they're still here.

89
00:05:18,901 --> 00:05:21,988
They go all the way
through the dance academy,

90
00:05:22,071 --> 00:05:24,699
and so some people are actually

91
00:05:24,782 --> 00:05:26,993
on their seventh Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.

92
00:05:27,076 --> 00:05:28,911
And then we have those first-timers.

93
00:05:28,995 --> 00:05:31,122
[Debbie] Hop, hop, hop, hop.

94
00:05:31,205 --> 00:05:32,790
Up, down, pivot.

95
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,712
There's so many people.
It was a little overwhelming. [chuckles]

96
00:05:37,795 --> 00:05:39,464
There's a lot going on.

97
00:05:39,547 --> 00:05:41,549
-This is my seventh time.
-This is my sixth.

98
00:05:41,632 --> 00:05:44,802
Eight or nine years.
Basically half my life.

99
00:05:45,553 --> 00:05:49,974
And one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

100
00:05:50,641 --> 00:05:52,935
Two, three, four, and that's it.

101
00:05:54,270 --> 00:05:56,773
Will, what makes you think
you couldn't do that?

102
00:05:56,856 --> 00:05:57,732
I-- I don't know.

103
00:05:57,815 --> 00:06:00,777
I like-- I like teaching kids.
They drive me nuts sometimes,

104
00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:03,196
and they're monsters most of the time.

105
00:06:03,821 --> 00:06:04,697
[Debbie] Careful.

106
00:06:05,198 --> 00:06:06,491
-Oh!
-[boy] Whoa!

107
00:06:06,574 --> 00:06:08,826
-Are you auditioning?
-[instructor] Eight. Can I watch you?

108
00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:10,703
-Okay.
-[girl] I just don't want to.

109
00:06:10,787 --> 00:06:12,038
You don't want to?

110
00:06:12,830 --> 00:06:14,832
Well, then sit down.
If you're not gonna audition,

111
00:06:14,916 --> 00:06:16,667
just tell your--
I'll tell your mom, sit down.

112
00:06:18,127 --> 00:06:19,962
[Giana in Russian accent]
I love what I'm doing.

113
00:06:21,214 --> 00:06:24,133
And I always wanted teach children.

114
00:06:24,884 --> 00:06:29,764
In a company, dancers already trained,
and they know what they doing,

115
00:06:29,847 --> 00:06:34,143
but children,
you opening for them, beauty of ballet

116
00:06:34,227 --> 00:06:35,645
and beauty of art,

117
00:06:35,728 --> 00:06:37,480
and through that experience,

118
00:06:37,563 --> 00:06:44,153
I realized they start appreciate,
um, beauty of life too.

119
00:06:45,238 --> 00:06:48,116
I'm gonna keep my eye on you,
and I'll watch you in class.

120
00:06:48,199 --> 00:06:52,120
If I have an opening, I'll come get you,
but now, I think you need to train more.

121
00:06:52,203 --> 00:06:56,582
You just need more class.
You just need more class.

122
00:06:56,666 --> 00:06:58,626
-It hurts my feelings too.
-[crying] I love you.

123
00:07:02,171 --> 00:07:05,258
[Debbie] I'm very happy.
You all did so great. Thank you very much.

124
00:07:05,341 --> 00:07:09,095
-Say, "Thank you, Miss Allen!"
-[kids] Thank you, Miss Allen!

125
00:07:09,178 --> 00:07:11,556
I'll see you tomorrow, one o'clock. Go!

126
00:07:11,639 --> 00:07:13,099
-[clapping]
-[kids chattering]

127
00:07:14,559 --> 00:07:18,396
[Debbie] As a young girl,
The Nutcracker was so important to me.

128
00:07:19,063 --> 00:07:21,107
I was in the flower land.

129
00:07:21,190 --> 00:07:22,066
We sang the…

130
00:07:22,150 --> 00:07:25,945
♪ Welcome to flower land ♪

131
00:07:26,028 --> 00:07:29,449
♪ What tidings have you to bring us? ♪

132
00:07:29,532 --> 00:07:30,783
♪ Ta da da da da da da da da ♪

133
00:07:30,867 --> 00:07:32,869
["Waltz of the Flowers" playing]

134
00:07:36,289 --> 00:07:38,916
"The Sugar Plum Fairy"
was always my dream.

135
00:07:39,709 --> 00:07:42,295
I love "The Sugar Plum," that music.

136
00:07:42,378 --> 00:07:44,464
["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" playing]

137
00:07:52,597 --> 00:07:56,267
[Giana] The original Nutcracker,
Tchaikovsky create the music,

138
00:07:56,350 --> 00:08:02,190
and, uh, Petipa, French choreographer,
he create a libretto for ballet.

139
00:08:02,773 --> 00:08:07,069
First, The Nutcracker was performed
in, uh, Saint Petersburg,

140
00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:10,448
in the Mariinsky Theatre in 1892.

141
00:08:10,531 --> 00:08:12,909
Critics didn't like that,

142
00:08:12,992 --> 00:08:15,411
but public got crazy.

143
00:08:15,495 --> 00:08:16,746
[applauding]

144
00:08:16,829 --> 00:08:19,665
The Nutcracker brand and name
is just so familiar to people,

145
00:08:19,749 --> 00:08:22,335
and then our twist
is the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.

146
00:08:23,961 --> 00:08:26,130
If you go to see New York City Ballet,

147
00:08:26,214 --> 00:08:28,883
they have adults
performing all the principal parts,

148
00:08:28,966 --> 00:08:32,220
with kids that would just get up
and run across the stage, sit on a tree.

149
00:08:32,303 --> 00:08:33,429
But our Nutcracker,

150
00:08:33,513 --> 00:08:35,681
although we have
professionals and teachers

151
00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:37,225
playing some of the roles,

152
00:08:37,308 --> 00:08:38,935
the kids are the stars.

153
00:08:43,147 --> 00:08:48,903
[Debbie] As a young child, I wanted to be
a Black fairy queen flying in the air.

154
00:08:48,986 --> 00:08:51,322
I never saw any of that
when I was growing up,

155
00:08:51,405 --> 00:08:53,866
but I still knew I wanted to be that.

156
00:08:53,950 --> 00:08:55,576
[classical music playing softly]

157
00:08:55,660 --> 00:08:56,911
[audience murmurs]

158
00:08:58,663 --> 00:09:02,166
[Debbie] There had been a couple
of different Chocolate Nutcrackers

159
00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:03,376
all over the country,

160
00:09:03,459 --> 00:09:07,004
but I decided
to take it on and make it fun

161
00:09:07,547 --> 00:09:10,383
and have a cultural identity of music

162
00:09:10,466 --> 00:09:13,135
that was not tied to Tchaikovsky.

163
00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:14,387
[hip-hop music playing]

164
00:09:15,513 --> 00:09:18,641
[Debbie] So the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
takes us on a journey

165
00:09:18,724 --> 00:09:21,102
to real and imagined lands,

166
00:09:21,185 --> 00:09:24,480
all done with different styles
of dance and music.

167
00:09:24,564 --> 00:09:26,107
[percussive music playing]

168
00:09:26,899 --> 00:09:28,317
[flamenco music playing]

169
00:09:31,279 --> 00:09:33,447
In "Flamenco Fire," I am a roach.

170
00:09:33,531 --> 00:09:36,409
-Yeah, we're fairies. We're Egyptians.
-"Egypt." [laughs]

171
00:09:36,492 --> 00:09:37,577
We're "Bollywood."

172
00:09:37,660 --> 00:09:38,661
I do "China."

173
00:09:39,161 --> 00:09:41,622
I'm in "Birdland." I'm in the party scene.

174
00:09:41,706 --> 00:09:43,791
Anything with a guy in it,
I'm in it basically.

175
00:09:43,874 --> 00:09:47,378
I'm playing the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,
or you can just call me "HC."

176
00:09:47,461 --> 00:09:50,339
I'm a spider in the rain forest.

177
00:09:53,342 --> 00:09:56,721
[Debbie] In October, we start rehearsing.

178
00:09:57,305 --> 00:09:59,599
Oh, my goodness.

179
00:10:00,099 --> 00:10:00,933
Shh!

180
00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:03,060
You guys have to do your job.

181
00:10:03,603 --> 00:10:05,730
Your job is to come to rehearsal…

182
00:10:05,813 --> 00:10:07,148
prepared.

183
00:10:07,231 --> 00:10:09,775
You also have to be responsible
at home too.

184
00:10:09,859 --> 00:10:11,110
Miss Allen doesn't play.

185
00:10:11,193 --> 00:10:13,112
You guys have to be role models.

186
00:10:13,195 --> 00:10:16,240
You have to be model citizens
at home, at school.

187
00:10:16,324 --> 00:10:19,035
Is there anybody in here that's three?

188
00:10:20,036 --> 00:10:20,870
No.

189
00:10:20,953 --> 00:10:23,039
-Good. Put your hand down!
-[giggles]

190
00:10:23,122 --> 00:10:25,374
[Cathie]
Is there anybody in here that's four?

191
00:10:25,458 --> 00:10:26,417
Four years old.

192
00:10:26,917 --> 00:10:27,877
Come here.

193
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:29,670
Good girl. Come on.

194
00:10:29,795 --> 00:10:30,963
Shh! Quiet!

195
00:10:31,631 --> 00:10:33,591
Are there any five-year-olds?

196
00:10:33,674 --> 00:10:34,925
Come on down.

197
00:10:35,593 --> 00:10:37,178
Shh! Hey!

198
00:10:38,721 --> 00:10:41,766
[whispering] Yes, come on.
Spread out. We're gonna be on this line.

199
00:10:41,849 --> 00:10:43,225
Spread out, face the front.

200
00:10:43,309 --> 00:10:44,852
Are you five for real?

201
00:10:44,935 --> 00:10:45,978
You're tall.

202
00:10:46,479 --> 00:10:47,396
Come on.

203
00:10:48,022 --> 00:10:49,523
[Debbie] You need to practice.

204
00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:51,067
You're not gonna get there,

205
00:10:51,150 --> 00:10:54,779
switching and going around to the mall
and being cute in heels.

206
00:10:54,862 --> 00:10:59,283
Take those high heels off
and get down on the floor and stretch.

207
00:10:59,367 --> 00:11:02,662
[woman] Debbie expects a lot
of greatness out of these kids

208
00:11:02,745 --> 00:11:05,539
just on every level,
not just one thing, but just everything,

209
00:11:05,623 --> 00:11:10,086
and so, in the world…
things are not easy.

210
00:11:10,169 --> 00:11:12,004
Even in this dance floor.

211
00:11:12,088 --> 00:11:14,340
When they come across this floor,
some will fall,

212
00:11:14,423 --> 00:11:17,593
but if you don't fall at least once a day,
you ain't reachin'.

213
00:11:18,219 --> 00:11:20,805
I need a tilt that goes into six o'clock.

214
00:11:21,472 --> 00:11:22,306
Trust me.

215
00:11:23,265 --> 00:11:25,768
That's what they're gonna see
when you leave DADA.

216
00:11:26,268 --> 00:11:28,062
They don't love you like I do.

217
00:11:28,771 --> 00:11:32,024
I met Debbie when I was 16,

218
00:11:32,108 --> 00:11:33,275
about ten years ago.

219
00:11:34,151 --> 00:11:35,403
[laughing]

220
00:11:35,486 --> 00:11:36,821
["Fame" playing]

221
00:11:36,904 --> 00:11:39,490
So, I did Fame with Debbie.

222
00:11:40,408 --> 00:11:41,909
You've got big dreams.

223
00:11:41,992 --> 00:11:42,952
You want fame?

224
00:11:43,994 --> 00:11:45,538
Well, fame costs,

225
00:11:45,621 --> 00:11:49,500
and right here is where
you start paying with sweat.

226
00:11:49,583 --> 00:11:52,837
She's the same right now.
It's absolutely brilliant.

227
00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,091
I would never walk into a rehearsal
without stretching and doing my tendus

228
00:11:57,174 --> 00:11:59,635
and having my legs ready
and being ready to go.

229
00:12:00,261 --> 00:12:01,470
It ain't gonna happen.

230
00:12:02,054 --> 00:12:04,807
You won't get to the next level.
I'm trying to help you.

231
00:12:05,391 --> 00:12:08,936
Okay, if I'm kicking your ass,
it's 'cause I care. Okay?

232
00:12:09,019 --> 00:12:09,895
[woman] My mama?

233
00:12:11,272 --> 00:12:12,106
Tough.

234
00:12:14,024 --> 00:12:15,109
She's tough.

235
00:12:15,192 --> 00:12:16,193
[laughing]

236
00:12:16,277 --> 00:12:19,029
Effervescent, the most talented,

237
00:12:19,113 --> 00:12:21,949
a mother truly to all.

238
00:12:22,032 --> 00:12:24,577
♪ Fame! I'm gonna live… ♪

239
00:12:24,660 --> 00:12:26,912
[Vivian] She's a groundbreaker.
I mean, this woman

240
00:12:26,996 --> 00:12:29,081
has choreographed the Oscars ten times.

241
00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:30,040
♪ High! ♪

242
00:12:30,624 --> 00:12:33,169
♪ I feel it comin' together ♪

243
00:12:34,295 --> 00:12:36,464
♪ People will see me and cry ♪

244
00:12:36,547 --> 00:12:38,924
Did I ever think I'd be here
on this big lot,

245
00:12:39,008 --> 00:12:42,052
a producer, a director, a star,

246
00:12:42,136 --> 00:12:44,764
a choreographer, a mother?

247
00:12:44,847 --> 00:12:45,681
Absolutely!

248
00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:48,851
♪ Fame! I'm gonna live forever ♪

249
00:12:48,934 --> 00:12:50,186
[music fades and stops]

250
00:12:51,937 --> 00:12:54,690
[Karen]
The pieces that involve more students,

251
00:12:54,774 --> 00:12:58,402
we start with those pieces first,
and we only rehearse on the weekends.

252
00:12:58,486 --> 00:13:01,238
[Debbie] All right, let's go
right at the top of "Toyland."

253
00:13:01,322 --> 00:13:02,823
Enjoy coming alive.

254
00:13:04,325 --> 00:13:05,993
Dolls, little dolls.

255
00:13:06,076 --> 00:13:07,703
["Toyland" music playing]

256
00:13:33,395 --> 00:13:35,606
[Cathie]
Da, da, da, boom, bop! Okay, okay.

257
00:13:35,689 --> 00:13:37,608
What scene were you guys in?

258
00:13:37,691 --> 00:13:39,568
-"Toyland."
-[Cathie] Come on, now.

259
00:13:39,652 --> 00:13:42,196
And what scene are you guys in now?

260
00:13:42,279 --> 00:13:44,698
-[dancers] Well, everything.
-[Cathie] All of them? Yeah, see!

261
00:13:44,782 --> 00:13:46,951
See, "Toyland" is a stepping stone.

262
00:13:47,034 --> 00:13:50,704
Everybody who's everybody
comes through "Toyland."

263
00:13:50,788 --> 00:13:52,456
You are in "Toyland."

264
00:13:52,540 --> 00:13:54,667
I've never even seen a regular Nutcracker.

265
00:13:55,459 --> 00:13:57,461
The only thing I know is Hot Chocolate.

266
00:13:58,796 --> 00:14:00,422
And I-- I kind of like that.

267
00:14:00,923 --> 00:14:02,091
Kylie Jefferson.

268
00:14:02,758 --> 00:14:05,678
She's the youngest person
that I ever put in the Academy.

269
00:14:05,761 --> 00:14:08,389
I remember we walked into…

270
00:14:08,973 --> 00:14:11,016
the Debbie Allen Dance Academy,

271
00:14:11,100 --> 00:14:12,935
in Culver City at the time,

272
00:14:13,018 --> 00:14:16,313
and there were so many people there.

273
00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:20,234
And when we got to the table,
I remember them telling my mom

274
00:14:20,317 --> 00:14:21,902
that I could not audition.

275
00:14:21,986 --> 00:14:23,445
They were like, "She is too young."

276
00:14:23,529 --> 00:14:26,824
She came in in first position,
hair pulled back… [inhales]

277
00:14:27,491 --> 00:14:29,827
…and just so serious,
I'm like, "Oh, yeah."

278
00:14:30,369 --> 00:14:32,830
And Miss Allen said, "Let her audition."

279
00:14:32,913 --> 00:14:36,625
[Debbie] And they all looked at me
and said, "Miss Allen, she's too young,"

280
00:14:36,709 --> 00:14:39,128
and I said, "I can change the rules."

281
00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:42,590
Perfect.

282
00:14:42,673 --> 00:14:45,801
Most of my students come from LA,

283
00:14:45,885 --> 00:14:48,387
from various economic backgrounds.

284
00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:50,806
Some of them live in Beverly Hills,

285
00:14:50,890 --> 00:14:52,725
some of them live in Compton,

286
00:14:53,309 --> 00:14:56,145
and those that are the most serious
about dance,

287
00:14:56,228 --> 00:15:01,692
they come at least five,
maybe six days a week,

288
00:15:02,484 --> 00:15:05,696
and they are required to take
no less than ten, up--

289
00:15:05,779 --> 00:15:08,198
Some of them take 15 classes a week.

290
00:15:08,282 --> 00:15:10,910
She wanted to have a place where,
regardless of what you look like,

291
00:15:10,993 --> 00:15:13,579
if you want to dance, you can come dance,

292
00:15:13,662 --> 00:15:17,416
which speaks to why we have a large group
of people that are on scholarships here.

293
00:15:17,499 --> 00:15:19,293
A lot of our kids can't afford to come.

294
00:15:19,376 --> 00:15:21,545
We find a way to…

295
00:15:22,254 --> 00:15:24,715
get people into the doors
who want to be there.

296
00:15:24,798 --> 00:15:26,383
[Debbie] We go, we go, we go.

297
00:15:26,467 --> 00:15:27,718
We've always been raising money.

298
00:15:27,801 --> 00:15:29,595
A lot of my friends
stopped taking my calls

299
00:15:29,678 --> 00:15:31,388
after that first year. [laughs]

300
00:15:31,931 --> 00:15:33,807
But no, my friends have all been so cool.

301
00:15:34,475 --> 00:15:37,311
We started thinking about,
what brand can we use

302
00:15:37,394 --> 00:15:39,480
that's in our toolbox

303
00:15:39,939 --> 00:15:43,943
that can help generate more income,
that would be familiar to people?

304
00:15:44,026 --> 00:15:48,238
When George Balanchine came to New York
to start the New York City Ballet,

305
00:15:48,906 --> 00:15:50,866
he had to find something
that would raise money,

306
00:15:50,950 --> 00:15:53,452
and The Nutcracker was what did it.

307
00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:57,873
It was The Nutcracker
that helped fund the rest of the year

308
00:15:57,957 --> 00:15:59,583
for the New York City Ballet.

309
00:15:59,667 --> 00:16:01,710
[Eartha] The original Nutcracker

310
00:16:01,794 --> 00:16:05,381
is a story told completely--
It's an opera completely in dance.

311
00:16:05,464 --> 00:16:08,258
Our Nutcracker is a narrative.

312
00:16:08,342 --> 00:16:09,843
Hey, Harvey! It's time to go!

313
00:16:09,927 --> 00:16:12,388
The Nutcracker's awake.
We gotta go battle.

314
00:16:12,471 --> 00:16:15,599
[Eartha] We have a narrator, or narrators,

315
00:16:15,683 --> 00:16:17,935
who are taking us through the journey,

316
00:16:18,018 --> 00:16:22,982
and it's more--
It's comedy in here that is spoken.

317
00:16:23,065 --> 00:16:24,525
It's not mimed.

318
00:16:24,608 --> 00:16:26,735
-[glass shatters]
-[screams]

319
00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:28,904
Ooh! Who turned out the lights?

320
00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:31,407
-Who turned out the lights?
-[audience laughs]

321
00:16:31,490 --> 00:16:34,910
It just caught on like wildfire.
It's a huge part of our fundraising.

322
00:16:34,994 --> 00:16:36,870
It's probably
our largest single fundraiser.

323
00:16:37,788 --> 00:16:40,749
[Debbie] This is gonna tell me
who's doing this tilt. Ooh no!

324
00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:42,167
Get the leg up!

325
00:16:42,710 --> 00:16:47,131
You need to sit in that split
while you're watching TV, doing homework.

326
00:16:47,214 --> 00:16:48,632
You all don't do that enough.

327
00:16:48,716 --> 00:16:51,927
You all are too busy talking to boys
and doing other things.

328
00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:55,222
Get the leg up higher.
Come on. I'm gonna get it this time.

329
00:16:55,305 --> 00:16:56,223
Up!

330
00:16:57,141 --> 00:16:58,100
Up!

331
00:16:58,183 --> 00:16:59,601
Tilt over! Bend!

332
00:16:59,685 --> 00:17:01,186
Yes, bend!

333
00:17:01,270 --> 00:17:04,398
Yes, hold yourself and get the leg up!

334
00:17:04,481 --> 00:17:05,315
That!

335
00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:09,403
Well, my first memory of DADA
would be when I was 11.

336
00:17:10,988 --> 00:17:14,700
I was so scared
'cause I didn't even know,

337
00:17:14,783 --> 00:17:17,327
like, people could be this, like, good.

338
00:17:17,411 --> 00:17:19,872
'Cause I was, like 11,
and I was, like, "I'm the best."

339
00:17:19,955 --> 00:17:21,165
Then I was like, "Nope."

340
00:17:23,542 --> 00:17:27,296
The teachers here, they're hard on you,
and they're tough, but they care.

341
00:17:28,630 --> 00:17:30,758
I just feel like it's a family.

342
00:17:30,841 --> 00:17:33,302
Miss Allen cares
about every single one of us,

343
00:17:33,385 --> 00:17:35,596
which is, like, really good.

344
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,852
[girl] I've been at DADA for nine years,

345
00:17:41,935 --> 00:17:44,313
since I was five, and I'm 14 now.

346
00:17:44,396 --> 00:17:48,400
So… I've basically grown up in DADA.

347
00:17:51,361 --> 00:17:53,572
When they first told me I was Kara,

348
00:17:53,655 --> 00:17:56,658
I was, like, nervous and happy

349
00:17:56,742 --> 00:18:00,162
because I felt like I had
such a big responsibility

350
00:18:00,245 --> 00:18:04,166
to, like, make sure I wouldn't mess up
or, like, screw up the entire show.

351
00:18:04,249 --> 00:18:06,001
Everybody wants to be Kara,

352
00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:08,212
which is the lead role.

353
00:18:08,295 --> 00:18:11,173
She's the little girl
who goes on an adventure.

354
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:14,343
And Miss Allen
always double casts the show

355
00:18:14,426 --> 00:18:17,221
so that people
get to interchange their roles

356
00:18:17,304 --> 00:18:19,640
and have different experiences.

357
00:18:19,723 --> 00:18:20,849
[photographer] Nice.

358
00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:23,811
-♪ Kara, Kara, won't you smile? ♪
-To the camera.

359
00:18:23,894 --> 00:18:27,022
-♪ Take a look, tell me what you think ♪
-Tell me what you think!

360
00:18:27,106 --> 00:18:31,902
I remember Miss Allen, she told me
that I was gonna be Kara for three shows,

361
00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:34,488
and I literally freaked out.

362
00:18:34,571 --> 00:18:36,573
♪ My dear, such a surprise ♪

363
00:18:36,657 --> 00:18:39,535
♪ Surprise
Surprise, surprise, surprise! ♪

364
00:18:39,618 --> 00:18:42,663
-[all] ♪ Kara, Kara ♪
-Kara!

365
00:18:42,746 --> 00:18:44,498
♪ Kara, Kara ♪

366
00:18:44,581 --> 00:18:46,458
[girl] You know we love you!

367
00:18:46,542 --> 00:18:49,419
It's that feeling when it's like
you have a goal, and you reach it,

368
00:18:49,503 --> 00:18:53,549
and you meet it, and it's like, "Yes!"
You know? So I was so happy.

369
00:18:53,632 --> 00:18:55,008
[indistinct chattering]

370
00:18:58,137 --> 00:19:01,348
[Debbie]
Now, let's talk about the Egyptian Doll.

371
00:19:02,099 --> 00:19:07,020
You wanna get right under her little butt,
and you have her hand, if she needs it.

372
00:19:07,104 --> 00:19:09,022
And you press her all the way up.

373
00:19:09,773 --> 00:19:12,860
That is the position,
and you're on the other side.

374
00:19:12,943 --> 00:19:16,655
I was the first Egyptian Doll.
My mother choreographed that on me.

375
00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:18,490
[solemn music playing]

376
00:19:20,242 --> 00:19:21,076
Boo!

377
00:19:21,535 --> 00:19:23,036
And one and two.

378
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,038
One, two, three.

379
00:19:25,122 --> 00:19:27,875
Single turn, open. Head, head.

380
00:19:28,458 --> 00:19:32,754
[Vivian] I really started training
heavily and seriously in dance

381
00:19:32,838 --> 00:19:34,173
at the Kirov Academy of Ballet.

382
00:19:34,256 --> 00:19:37,634
It's about right here
that you start. She splits.

383
00:19:38,135 --> 00:19:39,887
[Vivian] My third year there,

384
00:19:39,970 --> 00:19:43,182
my teacher looked at me one day in class,

385
00:19:43,265 --> 00:19:45,517
and goes, "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!"

386
00:19:46,852 --> 00:19:48,979
And, um,
he looked at me, and he goes,

387
00:19:49,062 --> 00:19:50,647
[in Russian accent]
"You never be dancer.

388
00:19:51,148 --> 00:19:52,524
You go Alvin Ailey."

389
00:19:52,608 --> 00:19:54,193
And that was a dig.

390
00:19:54,693 --> 00:19:57,112
[Debbie] Like Alvin Ailey was nothing?

391
00:19:57,196 --> 00:19:59,072
[chuckles] Alvin Ailey's our premier,

392
00:19:59,573 --> 00:20:02,201
you know,
contemporary American dance company,

393
00:20:02,826 --> 00:20:05,204
and, yes, it's mostly Black people, but…

394
00:20:06,371 --> 00:20:08,081
that means she can't dance?

395
00:20:08,582 --> 00:20:11,543
Child, I was coming through that phone.
I was getting ready--

396
00:20:11,627 --> 00:20:14,922
I sent my husband
because I knew I was not gonna be nice.

397
00:20:15,005 --> 00:20:18,842
For me, having my daughter gone
for a coup-- three or four-- three years,

398
00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:21,053
it was time for her to come back home
in my eyes anyway.

399
00:20:21,136 --> 00:20:22,763
He pulled me out of the school,

400
00:20:23,305 --> 00:20:26,058
and that's when my mother decided

401
00:20:26,141 --> 00:20:28,518
that she was gonna create
the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

402
00:20:28,602 --> 00:20:32,439
And so I started DADA, and she came home.

403
00:20:32,522 --> 00:20:33,982
She was the inspiration.

404
00:20:34,066 --> 00:20:36,235
She's my muse. She always has been.

405
00:20:37,611 --> 00:20:39,863
[Karen]
There's something here for everyone.

406
00:20:39,947 --> 00:20:44,826
You know, every shape,
every size, every color, every culture,

407
00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:46,787
and that makes us very unique.

408
00:20:47,287 --> 00:20:51,041
And she's gonna walk over,
and then you all recede back.

409
00:20:51,124 --> 00:20:52,209
She is the one.

410
00:20:53,377 --> 00:20:55,420
-She's adorable.
-And she's fierce.

411
00:20:55,504 --> 00:20:57,297
-She's fierce.
-[instructor laughs]

412
00:21:01,218 --> 00:21:03,011
[Debbie]
April is cutting where she has to cut.

413
00:21:03,095 --> 00:21:05,555
You all need to keep coming around.
You can do it.

414
00:21:06,974 --> 00:21:10,727
[April] I didn't start actually dancing
until I was eight years old.

415
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:13,397
I came here from North Carolina,

416
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,609
and I-- I received full scholarship
by Debbie Allen.

417
00:21:17,693 --> 00:21:24,199
April is one of the most gifted dancers
I've ever come into my circle.

418
00:21:24,866 --> 00:21:27,411
And I brought her here
so we could nurture her

419
00:21:27,494 --> 00:21:28,620
because she needs it.

420
00:21:28,704 --> 00:21:31,707
[April]
I have a part-time job at El Pollo Loco.

421
00:21:31,790 --> 00:21:32,791
I'm a cashier.

422
00:21:33,458 --> 00:21:36,128
So, right now, I'm a cashier.

423
00:21:40,966 --> 00:21:43,844
People usually see me as a quiet person,

424
00:21:43,927 --> 00:21:45,637
and, like, most of the time,

425
00:21:45,721 --> 00:21:48,432
I have a lot to say,
or I have a lot on my mind,

426
00:21:48,515 --> 00:21:52,936
but I just don't know how to…
you know, I don't know how to say it.

427
00:21:53,020 --> 00:21:57,316
And sometimes, like,
I have so much emotions inside of myself,

428
00:21:58,358 --> 00:22:03,488
and the only way I can get my emotions
or my fear or my anxiety out

429
00:22:03,572 --> 00:22:05,157
is through dance.

430
00:22:10,078 --> 00:22:11,163
[Giana] Ready?

431
00:22:11,246 --> 00:22:12,956
[Bollywood music playing]

432
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:13,874
[Debbie] Breathe!

433
00:22:14,791 --> 00:22:15,667
Beautiful!

434
00:22:16,918 --> 00:22:17,753
Beautiful.

435
00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:20,964
You're the most beautiful people
on the planet.

436
00:22:21,882 --> 00:22:23,800
[Cathie]
Once again, it's about the mirror.

437
00:22:27,679 --> 00:22:30,599
[Debbie]
The most beautiful beings on this Earth.

438
00:22:31,475 --> 00:22:32,434
[shouts] Bop!

439
00:22:33,727 --> 00:22:34,561
Bop.

440
00:22:35,645 --> 00:22:36,480
Bop.

441
00:22:37,397 --> 00:22:39,983
-And one.
-[Cathie] The head, one person moving.

442
00:22:40,067 --> 00:22:41,485
The whole rhythm,

443
00:22:41,568 --> 00:22:45,405
this whole thing has to feel like
one person moving.

444
00:22:46,531 --> 00:22:47,407
[Debbie] Look up!

445
00:22:51,703 --> 00:22:52,537
Down.

446
00:22:55,540 --> 00:22:57,626
[Jalyn] I wanna be in "Bollywood" so bad.

447
00:22:57,709 --> 00:23:00,545
I've been trying to get in "Bollywood"
for the longest.

448
00:23:00,629 --> 00:23:04,674
I know every step, but, you know,
I'm too young to be in "Bollywood."

449
00:23:04,758 --> 00:23:05,592
[Debbie] Upper body!

450
00:23:05,675 --> 00:23:07,427
[Karen]
When we go to a different country,

451
00:23:07,511 --> 00:23:10,389
that allows
for new choreography, new costumes.

452
00:23:10,472 --> 00:23:12,599
It allows for a new part of the story.

453
00:23:13,183 --> 00:23:14,017
[Debbie] Back.

454
00:23:14,601 --> 00:23:15,435
Travel.

455
00:23:19,147 --> 00:23:20,148
Wherever you go,

456
00:23:20,232 --> 00:23:25,195
you have an aura of superiority
and beauty and power.

457
00:23:25,278 --> 00:23:26,154
Power!

458
00:23:26,238 --> 00:23:28,031
This is about women's power.

459
00:23:28,115 --> 00:23:30,575
Women rule the world!
I don't care what they say.

460
00:23:32,828 --> 00:23:33,662
Voom!

461
00:23:34,287 --> 00:23:35,664
Bop. Where am I?

462
00:23:35,747 --> 00:23:36,581
Ta, ta, ta!

463
00:23:37,499 --> 00:23:38,375
Ta, ta!

464
00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:40,168
It's in the eyes, all of it.

465
00:23:42,045 --> 00:23:44,548
"Bollywood,"
you would think it would be my favorite,

466
00:23:44,631 --> 00:23:45,632
it's everybody's favorite.

467
00:23:45,715 --> 00:23:48,552
It's something you, like,
dream about being in until you're in it.

468
00:23:48,635 --> 00:23:51,763
It's five minutes
of straight full-out dancing,

469
00:23:51,847 --> 00:23:53,265
and there's no time to breathe.

470
00:23:54,683 --> 00:23:56,309
[Debbie in background] One. One.

471
00:24:01,481 --> 00:24:04,443
-[Cathie clapping rhythm]
-[Debbie] And jump! Power!

472
00:24:04,526 --> 00:24:06,111
[vocalizing]

473
00:24:06,194 --> 00:24:07,779
Power! Bop!

474
00:24:12,868 --> 00:24:13,827
[music stops]

475
00:24:13,910 --> 00:24:15,495
[Debbie] And stay forever.

476
00:24:15,579 --> 00:24:18,123
Stay. Stay there. Breathe. Stay.

477
00:24:18,707 --> 00:24:20,000
Practice holding it.

478
00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:21,209
It's good for you.

479
00:24:23,170 --> 00:24:24,963
It's getting better, ladies.

480
00:24:25,964 --> 00:24:27,799
Okay, break. Getting better.

481
00:24:27,883 --> 00:24:28,925
Listen to me.

482
00:24:29,009 --> 00:24:32,721
You're going much wider than you need to.
You're killing yourselves.

483
00:24:32,804 --> 00:24:34,514
Okay, breathe,
then we're gonna do "Egypt."

484
00:24:34,598 --> 00:24:36,016
Just breathe. Breathe.

485
00:24:36,516 --> 00:24:37,601
You have two minutes.

486
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,148
Okay, so, Miss Nicholas.

487
00:24:46,109 --> 00:24:48,278
Okay, we're really gonna be okay,

488
00:24:48,361 --> 00:24:50,906
but they're just raggedy.
Too raggedy for me right--

489
00:24:50,989 --> 00:24:54,159
I can't-- uh, '"Fairyland,"
I'm-- I'm not feelin' it. No.

490
00:24:54,701 --> 00:24:58,747
So I'm adding, in yellow,
things that we're going to rehearse.

491
00:25:01,333 --> 00:25:04,127
Okay, now, I gotta go terrorize
the fairies, I'm sorry.

492
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,463
[piano playing "Fairyland" music]

493
00:25:11,134 --> 00:25:12,677
Because I came from DADA,

494
00:25:12,761 --> 00:25:17,891
I didn't realize how big of a deal
that I was a Black girl who does ballet.

495
00:25:17,974 --> 00:25:18,892
[Debbie] Lovely!

496
00:25:20,602 --> 00:25:24,898
[Kylie] Like, the world
is so different from DADA. [chuckles]

497
00:25:24,981 --> 00:25:28,652
'Cause, where I come from, we all do it,
and we were all good.

498
00:25:32,113 --> 00:25:33,114
[Debbie] Lauren Anderson,

499
00:25:33,198 --> 00:25:38,328
who was the first Black ballerina
in a major ballet company,

500
00:25:38,411 --> 00:25:40,121
came here a year ago.

501
00:25:40,205 --> 00:25:43,792
And a one, and two,
pas de cheval, enveloppé.

502
00:25:43,875 --> 00:25:47,379
I never thought, "I wanna be
a ballet dancer," not at the age of seven.

503
00:25:48,797 --> 00:25:51,132
I just thought it was fun
taking the classes.

504
00:25:52,592 --> 00:25:56,638
So I just really didn't realize
the impact of being African American

505
00:25:56,721 --> 00:25:57,931
and a principal dancer.

506
00:26:01,142 --> 00:26:06,064
And I found out there weren't very many.
There weren't any at that time, really.

507
00:26:06,147 --> 00:26:09,359
Unless you were in Alvin Ailey
or Dance Theatre of Harlem.

508
00:26:10,819 --> 00:26:13,572
But I just wanted to dance.
That wasn't my big focus,

509
00:26:13,655 --> 00:26:15,365
that I wanted to be
the first Black anything.

510
00:26:15,448 --> 00:26:16,783
I just wanted to dance.

511
00:26:16,866 --> 00:26:18,827
Plié, one, and stretch.

512
00:26:22,956 --> 00:26:24,624
[lively ballet music playing]

513
00:26:26,710 --> 00:26:28,295
[Lauren]
When I first saw April,

514
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,173
I thought, "Wow!
Where did that come from?"

515
00:26:32,257 --> 00:26:34,884
That's somebody
that's born with everything.

516
00:26:39,848 --> 00:26:40,974
[Debbie] Yes!

517
00:26:42,017 --> 00:26:42,851
Love it.

518
00:26:46,146 --> 00:26:49,149
What I need is something that sustains.
I feel like it's…

519
00:26:49,899 --> 00:26:51,192
I want it to be lighter.

520
00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:52,736
[scats softly]

521
00:26:52,819 --> 00:26:56,656
[April] I don't think I ha--
necessarily have a ballet body right now,

522
00:26:56,740 --> 00:26:58,908
as of this moment… [chuckles]

523
00:26:58,992 --> 00:27:02,746
…because my legs
are just a little bit overdeveloped.

524
00:27:02,829 --> 00:27:04,623
[Debbie scats rhythmically]

525
00:27:05,165 --> 00:27:09,127
And when you get really serious, you start
looking at yourself in a certain way.

526
00:27:09,210 --> 00:27:12,422
Chaîné, chaîné, chaîné,
chaîné, chaîné, chaîné, chaîné.

527
00:27:12,505 --> 00:27:13,923
Stop on a dime.

528
00:27:14,883 --> 00:27:15,759
And stay.

529
00:27:16,343 --> 00:27:21,264
But when I'm in the ballet world,
mostly everyone is pretty thin.

530
00:27:21,348 --> 00:27:24,559
In high school,
I really had no problem with it,

531
00:27:24,643 --> 00:27:27,479
and then you realize
that maybe you should look at it,

532
00:27:27,562 --> 00:27:30,732
because everybody else looks
at weight and…

533
00:27:30,815 --> 00:27:34,277
Everything matters.
Everything is so particular in ballet.

534
00:27:34,361 --> 00:27:36,696
She might not have the perfect legs
and feet. I didn't.

535
00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:38,239
Most people don't.

536
00:27:38,323 --> 00:27:41,034
Most people that do ballet
do not have perfect legs and feet.

537
00:27:41,117 --> 00:27:43,536
It's something you've worked for.

538
00:27:43,620 --> 00:27:44,954
Turnout you've worked for.

539
00:27:45,580 --> 00:27:48,208
You don't-- don't just come out going,
"Chick-a-bah."

540
00:27:48,291 --> 00:27:49,334
Some people do,

541
00:27:50,418 --> 00:27:51,961
but most of us don't.

542
00:27:52,921 --> 00:27:54,506
[soothing music playing]

543
00:28:07,185 --> 00:28:10,355
There have been times
where I was so down on myself

544
00:28:10,438 --> 00:28:13,400
about my body and just, like, so, ugh,

545
00:28:13,483 --> 00:28:16,736
like, negative and insecure about it.

546
00:28:20,865 --> 00:28:21,783
But… [exhales]

547
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,204
I had to stop playing the victim…

548
00:28:27,455 --> 00:28:28,623
towards myself.

549
00:28:29,499 --> 00:28:33,378
There was a moment where I realized,
like, "Look, if I wanna do this,

550
00:28:34,045 --> 00:28:36,631
I have to figure out
what's gonna work for me."

551
00:28:39,509 --> 00:28:41,261
But what was hard was understanding

552
00:28:41,344 --> 00:28:45,640
that the craft that chose me
was not created in my image,

553
00:28:45,724 --> 00:28:48,226
and that was a really hard realization.

554
00:28:49,144 --> 00:28:52,272
But, at the same time,
you know, this craft chose me.

555
00:28:52,355 --> 00:28:55,859
I have no choice but to do it
and to give it my all.

556
00:28:55,942 --> 00:28:58,903
-[classical music playing]
-[Debbie speaking indistinctly]

557
00:29:01,364 --> 00:29:03,116
[Debbie] You know, in Russia, they…

558
00:29:03,199 --> 00:29:07,036
x-ray the children's feet
and their backs and their bodies

559
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:08,413
before they even accept them.

560
00:29:09,038 --> 00:29:11,791
Well, I mean, that's the world of ballet.

561
00:29:11,875 --> 00:29:13,293
[dramatic music playing]

562
00:29:17,630 --> 00:29:22,010
In a opera, uh, they will select
only children who have voice.

563
00:29:24,888 --> 00:29:27,348
They cannot make a voice. It is gift.

564
00:29:27,432 --> 00:29:29,642
Same things with a ballet facility.

565
00:29:29,726 --> 00:29:33,271
They have to have certain physiques
for that.

566
00:29:34,439 --> 00:29:35,732
You cannot make it.

567
00:29:37,817 --> 00:29:40,904
The Kirov
and the Russian method is important.

568
00:29:40,987 --> 00:29:44,240
It is the technique
that I love the best to teach.

569
00:29:45,241 --> 00:29:48,620
And that's why we have Madame Giana
who's from the Bolshoi.

570
00:29:48,703 --> 00:29:51,664
But the dance world is evolving,

571
00:29:51,748 --> 00:29:56,544
so I'm reinventing a bit,
for the teachers,

572
00:29:57,378 --> 00:30:00,256
what their mission is
and how they go about it.

573
00:30:00,965 --> 00:30:02,550
I want the spirit of the dance.

574
00:30:02,634 --> 00:30:05,303
That's not something
you can take a picture of.

575
00:30:05,386 --> 00:30:07,764
That's something you feel and you see.

576
00:30:07,847 --> 00:30:09,098
You experience.

577
00:30:09,182 --> 00:30:10,975
One, two. Not bad.

578
00:30:11,059 --> 00:30:13,853
One, two. One, two.

579
00:30:13,937 --> 00:30:16,314
Okay, not that bad. Go back.

580
00:30:16,981 --> 00:30:18,233
It actually helped.

581
00:30:18,983 --> 00:30:20,068
It looked better.

582
00:30:20,151 --> 00:30:22,737
I'm sorry, Madame Giana,
it looked better.

583
00:30:22,821 --> 00:30:24,030
No, no. I disagree.

584
00:30:24,113 --> 00:30:26,074
-Because they look like this.
-I disagree.

585
00:30:26,157 --> 00:30:27,951
-It's okay. It's all right.
-It's "Oh!

586
00:30:28,034 --> 00:30:29,452
-[dancers laugh]
-Oh!"

587
00:30:29,536 --> 00:30:32,163
It's all right. Five, six.

588
00:30:32,247 --> 00:30:35,583
They're just practicing.
Six, seven, eight.

589
00:30:35,667 --> 00:30:38,920
And one, and two, and one, and two,

590
00:30:39,003 --> 00:30:40,547
and one, and two.

591
00:30:40,630 --> 00:30:44,008
Some of you, uh, don't have the timing,
and you're a little stiff.

592
00:30:44,592 --> 00:30:45,969
You know, you've gotta relax.

593
00:30:46,052 --> 00:30:48,805
I'm sorry, but I have to just say
what I'm seeing right now

594
00:30:48,888 --> 00:30:51,099
because, um, we don't have a lot of time.

595
00:30:51,182 --> 00:30:54,143
And either they're doing it right
right now, or they're not.

596
00:30:54,227 --> 00:30:56,563
Even though we're gonna clean it,
I know that.

597
00:30:56,646 --> 00:30:59,399
But I know, technically,
if somebody's going like this,

598
00:30:59,482 --> 00:31:01,401
that's not gonna change tomorrow.

599
00:31:01,484 --> 00:31:02,652
Go back, ladies.

600
00:31:04,028 --> 00:31:06,781
Five, six, seven, and eight.

601
00:31:06,865 --> 00:31:10,034
And one, and two, and one, and two,

602
00:31:10,118 --> 00:31:13,162
and one, and two, and one, and two.

603
00:31:13,246 --> 00:31:14,205
Much better!

604
00:31:14,289 --> 00:31:16,207
And two, and one, and two.

605
00:31:16,291 --> 00:31:18,793
Much better! Much better!

606
00:31:18,877 --> 00:31:20,628
Sorry, Madame Giana, it's better.

607
00:31:20,712 --> 00:31:22,380
Okay, go back to the beginning.

608
00:31:23,339 --> 00:31:25,592
It's better. You know it is.

609
00:31:25,675 --> 00:31:27,343
[classical musical playing]

610
00:31:35,643 --> 00:31:42,609
[Debbie] The teachers are so vested
and so dedicated to these young people.

611
00:31:43,276 --> 00:31:45,486
They go home with them.
They give them food.

612
00:31:45,570 --> 00:31:48,781
They'll scold them
if they need to pull them together.

613
00:31:49,365 --> 00:31:50,533
You know, we go in.

614
00:31:50,617 --> 00:31:53,453
We're raising--
we're helping to raise these kids.

615
00:32:18,144 --> 00:32:21,064
I grew up in Houston, Texas.
Everything was segregated.

616
00:32:21,147 --> 00:32:24,442
You know, white water fountain only,

617
00:32:25,026 --> 00:32:27,403
colored bathroom…
We had experienced all that.

618
00:32:28,029 --> 00:32:29,489
There was a great dance school,

619
00:32:29,572 --> 00:32:31,991
but I was not allowed to go
because I was Black.

620
00:32:33,326 --> 00:32:36,746
But I was very serious early on.
I knew I really wanted it and…

621
00:32:37,246 --> 00:32:40,875
My mom always says
that, when I was eight years old,

622
00:32:40,959 --> 00:32:43,711
I said to her,
"Mom, I'm trying to be a dancer.

623
00:32:43,795 --> 00:32:45,838
How am I gonna get there
if I don't have lessons?

624
00:32:45,922 --> 00:32:48,091
I need real lessons, Mom.

625
00:32:48,174 --> 00:32:49,592
Real lessons."

626
00:32:52,011 --> 00:32:53,888
At 14 years old,

627
00:32:53,972 --> 00:32:57,183
I was recruited
by Madame Tatiana Semenova,

628
00:32:57,892 --> 00:32:59,978
who came from the Mariinsky school.

629
00:33:00,603 --> 00:33:04,190
I was so excited, I had to get up,
I had to go way across town.

630
00:33:04,273 --> 00:33:07,860
My Uncle Lloyd would take me,
and I-- if I had to take a bus back,

631
00:33:07,944 --> 00:33:10,154
it was two or three buses
to get back home.

632
00:33:11,364 --> 00:33:15,118
And, uh, Madame Semenova
really embraced me in class.

633
00:33:15,201 --> 00:33:19,455
It was a Ford Foundation grant
that paid for all of my classes.

634
00:33:19,539 --> 00:33:21,290
I was a full scholarship student.

635
00:33:22,041 --> 00:33:23,543
And when I danced,

636
00:33:24,419 --> 00:33:27,839
it was a big deal because the board
didn't know that I was there.

637
00:33:27,922 --> 00:33:31,759
I was there probably six or eight months

638
00:33:32,260 --> 00:33:35,596
before the board knew
there was a Black kid in the school,

639
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,516
and some of them did not like it.

640
00:33:39,475 --> 00:33:42,061
But Madame Semenova pushed me,

641
00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:44,731
she scolded me, she humiliated me,

642
00:33:45,481 --> 00:33:46,524
and she loved me.

643
00:33:52,155 --> 00:33:53,531
[classical music playing]

644
00:33:54,657 --> 00:33:58,119
All right,
welcome to "the hell that is Chantel."

645
00:33:58,202 --> 00:34:00,079
-Here we go, so…
-[kids laughing]

646
00:34:00,163 --> 00:34:01,748
I grew up as a foster kid.

647
00:34:01,831 --> 00:34:04,709
This is the one thing
that saves somebody like me.

648
00:34:04,792 --> 00:34:07,462
For somebody else to see and invest in me

649
00:34:07,545 --> 00:34:11,174
and say, "We see what it is that you want.

650
00:34:11,257 --> 00:34:14,260
We're gonna help you do this
and get you from point A to point B,"

651
00:34:14,343 --> 00:34:18,431
I feel like that, in itself,
is the biggest thing that changed my life.

652
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:21,684
Boom, boom. Sit, sit. Boom, up!

653
00:34:22,977 --> 00:34:23,895
Where you at?

654
00:34:24,562 --> 00:34:25,688
I don't know.

655
00:34:25,772 --> 00:34:28,107
If you do this bang again,
I'm about to be…

656
00:34:28,191 --> 00:34:31,652
Elijah, go get me, um,
go get me a little rubber band, please?

657
00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:33,613
[chattering]

658
00:34:33,696 --> 00:34:35,156
[Elijah] Looks so cute, though.

659
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,117
[chuckles] Shut up.
Shut up, Elijah. Five…

660
00:34:38,659 --> 00:34:41,496
Five, six, seven, cross.

661
00:34:41,579 --> 00:34:43,247
Cross and sit, sit.

662
00:34:43,331 --> 00:34:46,584
-I was an understudy, but I came--
-Yeah, Griffin…

663
00:34:46,667 --> 00:34:48,920
Miss Chantel said
I could be in "Candy Cane," so…

664
00:34:49,003 --> 00:34:52,840
Yeah, he was first an understudy,
but then he started trying to dance.

665
00:34:52,924 --> 00:34:57,720
He's tr-- trying really, really hard,
and then he ended up being in the show.

666
00:34:57,804 --> 00:35:02,433
"Candy Cane" is fun. It's hip-hop, so…
you just hype and fun and full out and…

667
00:35:02,517 --> 00:35:04,060
Yeah, "Candy Cane" is really fun.

668
00:35:04,143 --> 00:35:06,312
"Candy Cane," it's an all-boys scene,

669
00:35:06,854 --> 00:35:10,358
and it's hip-hop, and hip-hop's
one of my favorite styles, so…

670
00:35:10,858 --> 00:35:13,486
Unfortunately, I can't be in it,
but it's my favorite scene.

671
00:35:13,569 --> 00:35:16,447
"Candy Cane" is for the boys.
"Fairyland" is the girls.

672
00:35:16,531 --> 00:35:17,573
You gotta have the--

673
00:35:17,657 --> 00:35:20,785
You know, DADA has always had
more boys than any school.

674
00:35:20,868 --> 00:35:23,496
It's because I'm pushing them
and I want them.

675
00:35:23,579 --> 00:35:26,124
And I have to--
I have to have something to give them.

676
00:35:26,207 --> 00:35:28,292
[Chantel] Olivia, go in the center.

677
00:35:31,379 --> 00:35:32,755
Scoot back, back up.

678
00:35:32,839 --> 00:35:35,341
[female dancer]
My favorite scene would be "Candy Cane."

679
00:35:35,424 --> 00:35:37,218
It's, like, the only hip-hop in the show.

680
00:35:37,301 --> 00:35:38,761
It's all boys.

681
00:35:38,845 --> 00:35:41,639
Six, five, behind him.

682
00:35:41,722 --> 00:35:44,809
Are you going to put the girls in?
Going to put the girls in?

683
00:35:44,892 --> 00:35:45,935
Yeah, I'm doing that.

684
00:35:46,018 --> 00:35:48,646
-I'm gonna get in trouble, but whatever.
-[chuckles] Okay.

685
00:35:48,729 --> 00:35:51,190
Da, da, da. Cross, cross, up, down.

686
00:35:51,274 --> 00:35:52,316
So I need-- Yes!

687
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,653
I need to see cross, up…
That's almost like a élevé.

688
00:35:55,736 --> 00:36:00,158
Over my dead body.
No girls in "Candy Cane." [laughs]

689
00:36:00,241 --> 00:36:03,327
-Yeah, that's not happening. No girls.
-It got around.

690
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:05,997
It almost happened, though,
but, you know, it's okay.

691
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,332
-I'm in everything else, so…
-[laughs]

692
00:36:08,416 --> 00:36:11,961
Sorry, girls. You know,
it's only us, you know. [giggles]

693
00:36:12,044 --> 00:36:13,671
-[hip-hop music playing]
-[Debbie] Yeah.

694
00:36:14,881 --> 00:36:16,174
Wow!

695
00:36:16,924 --> 00:36:18,092
Wow!

696
00:36:22,930 --> 00:36:25,892
[man] Oh, it's definitely muscle memory.
When you have Chantel Heath

697
00:36:25,975 --> 00:36:28,519
taking you to the depths
of, like, yourself,

698
00:36:28,603 --> 00:36:30,062
you won't forget it too much.

699
00:36:30,146 --> 00:36:32,273
[laughs, vocalizes]

700
00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:33,482
Now run! [laughs]

701
00:36:33,566 --> 00:36:36,444
And one, and two, down, bring it up.

702
00:36:36,527 --> 00:36:37,570
Yeah.

703
00:36:37,653 --> 00:36:41,616
Slide, one, two. Yup, it's--
The whole thing is still there.

704
00:36:41,699 --> 00:36:45,578
[dancers chant]
Who are we? Candy Cane!

705
00:36:45,661 --> 00:36:48,873
[Chantel vocalizing rhythm]

706
00:36:48,956 --> 00:36:52,543
Throw! [vocalizing rhythm]

707
00:36:52,627 --> 00:36:54,003
Turn, and one.

708
00:36:54,837 --> 00:36:56,088
It's no joke, huh?

709
00:36:57,298 --> 00:37:00,468
Some boys fall apart.
Some boys don't make it. I mean…

710
00:37:01,052 --> 00:37:03,721
You know, they're like, "Oh, my God.
That was hard, that was hard."

711
00:37:03,804 --> 00:37:05,097
I know, sit down.

712
00:37:05,181 --> 00:37:06,265
Just a second.

713
00:37:06,349 --> 00:37:09,393
What I know is, if I was doing it, I'd be…

714
00:37:09,477 --> 00:37:11,854
still dancing right now
'cause the song would still be on.

715
00:37:11,938 --> 00:37:13,648
Let's get it. All right, show's on!
Let's go!

716
00:37:13,731 --> 00:37:15,733
But I tell them,
"Keep coming back, keep coming back,

717
00:37:15,816 --> 00:37:17,652
because one of these days,
you're gonna get it."

718
00:37:17,735 --> 00:37:19,528
I don't know if everyone sticks with it,

719
00:37:19,612 --> 00:37:24,951
but I know for a fact that, if you
are here longer than a-- a semester,

720
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:27,745
me, personally, that it's inside you.

721
00:37:27,828 --> 00:37:29,497
[Chantel]
Boom, boom, sit, sit! Boom, boom…

722
00:37:29,580 --> 00:37:31,791
I've been walking
through the hall, but actually

723
00:37:31,874 --> 00:37:34,460
in the studio for a class here,
it's been a while.

724
00:37:36,629 --> 00:37:40,758
It's like…
That was a lot of sweat in these floors.

725
00:37:41,384 --> 00:37:44,095
If somebody like lifted up
history out of these floors,

726
00:37:44,178 --> 00:37:46,847
it would be kinda gross, but inspiring.

727
00:37:48,266 --> 00:37:50,226
I played
the first Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

728
00:37:50,309 --> 00:37:51,769
in the first production.

729
00:37:53,813 --> 00:37:56,315
I left my biological family behind
when I was 13.

730
00:37:56,816 --> 00:37:59,777
My mother and my three sisters
moved to Arizona, and I--

731
00:38:00,278 --> 00:38:03,406
My mom made the conscious decision
to allow me to stay here.

732
00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:06,409
So I moved in
with Miss Harris, Mama Harris,

733
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:10,079
and then I got full scholarship
in dance here.

734
00:38:10,162 --> 00:38:12,498
The first time
I was the Little Nutcracker, it felt like,

735
00:38:12,581 --> 00:38:15,793
"I'm-- I'm one of the principal roles. I--

736
00:38:16,627 --> 00:38:19,130
Oh, cool!"
It was, like, Miss Allen believed in me.

737
00:38:19,213 --> 00:38:21,132
[up-tempo classical music playing]

738
00:38:24,218 --> 00:38:26,804
Now, Ryan Phuong,
he's the Little Nutcracker.

739
00:38:40,526 --> 00:38:44,155
Thank God I did it first
because I would not wanna follow him.

740
00:38:44,238 --> 00:38:45,281
[chuckles]

741
00:39:01,797 --> 00:39:04,550
[Debbie] I want it to be magical.
You can't just go over here

742
00:39:04,633 --> 00:39:07,428
and hit fourth position
like a Degas statue,

743
00:39:07,511 --> 00:39:09,013
and go here.

744
00:39:09,096 --> 00:39:10,014
No!

745
00:39:10,097 --> 00:39:12,516
It's the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, honey.

746
00:39:13,059 --> 00:39:15,811
Alive! It's like,
"Oh, my God, look at him!"

747
00:39:15,936 --> 00:39:17,563
[gasps, sighs] Oh!

748
00:39:17,646 --> 00:39:19,023
It's gotta be that.

749
00:39:19,106 --> 00:39:21,150
Look at me. Stop. Look at him!

750
00:39:21,233 --> 00:39:23,402
You're so busy looking at yourselves.

751
00:39:23,486 --> 00:39:25,571
Play the scene. [gasps]

752
00:39:26,155 --> 00:39:28,032
"Oh, my God, he's moving!

753
00:39:28,115 --> 00:39:29,533
Look at him! [gasps]

754
00:39:29,617 --> 00:39:31,786
Oh, my God, I touched him!
Oh, my God, he's coming!

755
00:39:31,869 --> 00:39:33,329
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Okay.

756
00:39:33,829 --> 00:39:35,831
-[giggles]
-[all laugh]

757
00:39:35,915 --> 00:39:37,666
Oh, my God! Ah!"

758
00:39:37,750 --> 00:39:39,251
It should be like that.

759
00:39:39,335 --> 00:39:42,254
I came here for, like,
an open class, for hip-hop, right?

760
00:39:42,338 --> 00:39:44,590
I think it was Chantel,
she was teaching,

761
00:39:44,673 --> 00:39:47,426
and that was the only thing
I would ever do is hip-hop.

762
00:39:47,510 --> 00:39:49,345
I did not plan on doing ballet
or anything.

763
00:39:49,428 --> 00:39:51,806
This little boy,
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

764
00:39:51,889 --> 00:39:52,890
I was like, "What?"

765
00:39:52,973 --> 00:39:54,392
[hip-hop music playing]

766
00:39:55,434 --> 00:39:58,604
You put that hip-hop music on,
you would see like this little tornado,

767
00:39:58,687 --> 00:40:01,357
like the little Tasmanian Devil, you know?
[chuckling]

768
00:40:04,485 --> 00:40:06,654
[Debbie] He's been every Nutcracker.

769
00:40:06,737 --> 00:40:10,491
He was the Littlest Nutcracker,
and now he's the young prince.

770
00:40:11,617 --> 00:40:14,870
Ryan thought he was trying
to just take some hip-hop classes,

771
00:40:14,954 --> 00:40:17,164
and that's how we reeled him in.

772
00:40:17,248 --> 00:40:19,166
We give them something that they want,

773
00:40:19,250 --> 00:40:22,378
but we teach them, in order to do that,
you gotta get this first.

774
00:40:22,461 --> 00:40:24,630
Ballet, I… You know, it's…

775
00:40:24,713 --> 00:40:27,508
For me, back then,
I thought only girls should do that.

776
00:40:27,591 --> 00:40:28,926
[classical music playing]

777
00:40:29,927 --> 00:40:32,638
I was really terrified to take class.

778
00:40:34,223 --> 00:40:36,725
[Giana] Ballet training, very tough.

779
00:40:36,809 --> 00:40:40,104
Who will go through the ballet training

780
00:40:40,187 --> 00:40:43,399
and finish that ballet training,

781
00:40:43,482 --> 00:40:47,278
they have strong personality
to go further.

782
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,197
And Miss Allen told me,

783
00:40:50,948 --> 00:40:52,616
who she is,

784
00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:57,538
it's because she went through th--
that tough, strong ballet training.

785
00:41:00,291 --> 00:41:03,711
[Debbie] I went to the North Carolina
School of the Arts to audition,

786
00:41:03,794 --> 00:41:06,964
after I'd been trained
by the Houston Ballet Foundation.

787
00:41:07,465 --> 00:41:09,884
I was so hopeful about that,

788
00:41:09,967 --> 00:41:13,554
and they used me in the audition
to demonstrate,

789
00:41:13,637 --> 00:41:16,140
and when it was over,
I went to the man and said,

790
00:41:16,223 --> 00:41:19,435
"Well, I just wanna know, how--
when would we start?

791
00:41:19,518 --> 00:41:20,978
How is this gonna go?"

792
00:41:21,061 --> 00:41:23,355
And he told me
I was not gonna be accepted,

793
00:41:23,439 --> 00:41:25,733
and that I was not right for dance,

794
00:41:25,816 --> 00:41:28,444
and my body wasn't right,
and I should do something else.

795
00:41:28,527 --> 00:41:30,321
And It broke her spirit.

796
00:41:30,404 --> 00:41:32,531
And she stopped dancing for a year or two.

797
00:41:33,365 --> 00:41:35,201
[Debbie] It was very discouraging.

798
00:41:35,284 --> 00:41:38,078
He told me, you know,
"Definitely don't think about ballet.

799
00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:39,955
Just forget it," and, um…

800
00:41:40,414 --> 00:41:42,082
Wow, that was hard.

801
00:41:43,042 --> 00:41:46,128
So when I came back home
and it was time to go to college,

802
00:41:46,837 --> 00:41:48,756
I was accepted to Howard University,

803
00:41:49,381 --> 00:41:53,385
and so I was, like,
"Okay. I have to let the dance go.

804
00:41:53,469 --> 00:41:56,305
I love it, but it doesn't love me."

805
00:41:57,056 --> 00:41:58,265
And it was hard.

806
00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:02,937
My mom just was really brokenhearted
when I got off that plane.

807
00:42:03,020 --> 00:42:04,688
That was the hardest part.

808
00:42:05,773 --> 00:42:07,900
You know, when I got off that plane,

809
00:42:08,651 --> 00:42:11,862
and she was at the airport,
and she met me in tears.

810
00:42:12,571 --> 00:42:14,740
And she said, "Deborah, you failed."

811
00:42:16,909 --> 00:42:18,327
"Deborah, you failed."

812
00:42:23,207 --> 00:42:24,667
[inspirational music playing]

813
00:42:30,965 --> 00:42:34,134
My mom said, "You come home this summer,
you don't go and dance.

814
00:42:34,218 --> 00:42:37,137
I'm gonna save the money
that I've been putting aside

815
00:42:37,221 --> 00:42:38,847
to send you away to dance

816
00:42:39,431 --> 00:42:40,558
and buy a car."

817
00:42:40,641 --> 00:42:43,018
I'm like,
"No! No, Mom, no. No, I want to."

818
00:42:43,561 --> 00:42:46,105
And that was the summer
that I met Martha Graham

819
00:42:46,689 --> 00:42:48,274
and Meredith Monk

820
00:42:48,357 --> 00:42:49,817
and Twyla Tharp

821
00:42:49,900 --> 00:42:50,985
and Alvin Ailey.

822
00:42:51,068 --> 00:42:54,947
It was a new wave of dancers
who were breaking the traditional mold,

823
00:42:55,030 --> 00:42:57,658
doing something new and exciting.

824
00:42:57,741 --> 00:43:00,202
When I saw Alvin Ailey,
it was everything for me.

825
00:43:00,286 --> 00:43:03,664
I was like, "Child, take these snowshoes,
honey, put them somewhere else.

826
00:43:03,747 --> 00:43:06,375
I wanna dance about feelings."

827
00:43:13,799 --> 00:43:14,883
[rhythmic tapping]

828
00:43:18,721 --> 00:43:22,266
I've been trying
for years to f-- figure out

829
00:43:22,349 --> 00:43:27,104
what-- how could I really use
the language of tap in the show.

830
00:43:27,187 --> 00:43:29,231
This year, Savion Glover's coming.

831
00:43:30,858 --> 00:43:33,611
I've asked him to create
a piece called "The Train."

832
00:43:33,694 --> 00:43:37,156
[scatting on drumbeat]

833
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,326
[Savion]
Miss Debbie Allen had an idea early on,

834
00:43:40,409 --> 00:43:42,620
and then she put that idea

835
00:43:43,287 --> 00:43:45,664
in my thought process,
and I was thinking about it

836
00:43:45,748 --> 00:43:47,458
for the whole time,
and then I came back,

837
00:43:47,541 --> 00:43:49,877
and, um, I was ready to go.

838
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,589
And her idea was that, you know,
to get this train thing moving,

839
00:43:53,672 --> 00:43:55,841
to get us from one scene to the next.

840
00:44:00,387 --> 00:44:02,181
[Debbie] Thank you. Thank you!

841
00:44:02,264 --> 00:44:04,975
Beyond the choreography,
I just want them to come out

842
00:44:05,059 --> 00:44:06,518
with a sense of empowerment,

843
00:44:07,603 --> 00:44:10,939
a sense of greatness,
a sense of achievement,

844
00:44:11,023 --> 00:44:12,941
a sense of expression!

845
00:44:13,025 --> 00:44:18,072
This ability to think
about making someone think differently.

846
00:44:21,617 --> 00:44:23,035
[girl] That was just my style.

847
00:44:23,118 --> 00:44:25,746
He just told me
to freestyle at the beginning,

848
00:44:25,829 --> 00:44:30,292
and so I just created my own little thing
at the beginning and end.

849
00:44:38,550 --> 00:44:42,388
I wanna be just available
as a human being,

850
00:44:42,471 --> 00:44:47,017
and I like that exchange,
that allows me to learn from them.

851
00:44:48,352 --> 00:44:51,271
And hopefully, they learn from me.

852
00:44:51,355 --> 00:44:53,482
-[drumming]
-[cymbal crashes]

853
00:45:01,281 --> 00:45:02,741
[Debbie] We're gonna have a session--

854
00:45:02,825 --> 00:45:05,828
We're gonna start having sessions
during the week

855
00:45:06,453 --> 00:45:09,832
because, otherwise,
I don't think you're gonna get there,

856
00:45:09,915 --> 00:45:13,836
and I-- I need to rearrange
some of your places.

857
00:45:16,463 --> 00:45:19,133
And they're just
not getting the doll dance,

858
00:45:19,216 --> 00:45:23,429
and I don't want them
to be on stage and not look fantastic.

859
00:45:23,512 --> 00:45:26,765
I just got kicked out of "Dolls,"
like my sister too.

860
00:45:26,849 --> 00:45:31,395
'Cause, um, she wants me
to be in the party scene.

861
00:45:34,606 --> 00:45:38,360
[Eartha loudly] So you've gotta be in it
from the very top.

862
00:45:38,861 --> 00:45:41,238
I can't be a monkey over here like this.

863
00:45:42,948 --> 00:45:43,907
[man] Ooh.

864
00:45:43,991 --> 00:45:45,659
I'm ready for fairies,

865
00:45:46,618 --> 00:45:49,621
so when y'all in that wings,
I want y'all like this.

866
00:45:50,164 --> 00:45:51,749
Ready to go!

867
00:45:52,458 --> 00:45:55,252
I need arms swinging.
What happened to that?

868
00:45:55,335 --> 00:45:59,339
[shouting] And a one, two, three, four.

869
00:45:59,423 --> 00:46:02,885
And a up, up, up, up.

870
00:46:02,968 --> 00:46:04,595
Yes, Tobal!

871
00:46:04,678 --> 00:46:05,637
[all cheering]

872
00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:09,850
[Eartha]
I need to make her a monkey. [laughs]

873
00:46:13,353 --> 00:46:16,482
-I'm the-- Yes!
-[male instructor laughing]

874
00:46:17,357 --> 00:46:20,110
[sighs] Come on, girl, get in there.

875
00:46:20,778 --> 00:46:22,654
-[dancers cheering]
-[Eartha laughs]

876
00:46:23,739 --> 00:46:25,991
I got the job of doing "Rainforest,"

877
00:46:26,074 --> 00:46:30,204
and "Rainforest"
is one of the biggest production numbers

878
00:46:30,287 --> 00:46:31,163
in the show.

879
00:46:31,246 --> 00:46:33,457
[tribal music playing]

880
00:46:33,540 --> 00:46:36,710
[Debbie]
"Rainforest" is beautiful. Butterflies,

881
00:46:36,794 --> 00:46:39,087
monkeys, panthers.

882
00:46:39,922 --> 00:46:40,756
[panther roars]

883
00:46:41,673 --> 00:46:45,677
When you think about herds of animals
on the plains in Africa,

884
00:46:45,761 --> 00:46:48,597
the migration,
everyone's going in the same direction,

885
00:46:49,389 --> 00:46:52,601
and so there is a--
a journey that's taking place.

886
00:46:54,895 --> 00:46:57,439
Oh, my God, how big is the cast?

887
00:46:57,523 --> 00:46:59,691
You know, I don't wanna say it out loud!

888
00:46:59,775 --> 00:47:01,819
Delorse, my costumer, might slap me.

889
00:47:01,902 --> 00:47:03,570
When she saw the cast of people,

890
00:47:03,654 --> 00:47:06,907
she said, "Miss Allen, really?"
I'm like, "Yeah, Delorse."

891
00:47:06,990 --> 00:47:08,617
[loud chattering]

892
00:47:09,243 --> 00:47:11,328
Shh. No more talking, please.

893
00:47:11,411 --> 00:47:14,540
Who does not have a costume? Hm?

894
00:47:14,623 --> 00:47:16,959
[Delorse]
Well, we have a cast of almost 200.

895
00:47:18,043 --> 00:47:21,964
Each person is wearing,
you know, three-- two to three things.

896
00:47:22,047 --> 00:47:23,423
Some kids are wearing five.

897
00:47:24,341 --> 00:47:25,634
Okay, girls.

898
00:47:26,385 --> 00:47:28,095
She went to go get more costumes.

899
00:47:28,178 --> 00:47:31,223
[loudly] I still hear talking. Okay!

900
00:47:31,306 --> 00:47:33,892
We're just… It's a little busy.

901
00:47:33,976 --> 00:47:35,644
Everybody like their costumes?

902
00:47:35,727 --> 00:47:38,522
-[kids] Yes!
-Excellent.

903
00:47:38,605 --> 00:47:40,566
[Debbie] That's two people missing.

904
00:47:40,649 --> 00:47:42,317
Oh! One, two. There's two.

905
00:47:42,943 --> 00:47:45,028
-Who's missing?
-[costume helper] JoAnn and AuDrya.

906
00:47:45,112 --> 00:47:46,446
[Debbie] And where are they?

907
00:47:46,530 --> 00:47:48,574
Some lady was trying
to say JoAnn hit her car,

908
00:47:48,657 --> 00:47:50,784
but she didn't,
so they're on their way. [chuckles]

909
00:47:53,495 --> 00:47:56,832
I was eight
when I started at DADA.

910
00:47:57,875 --> 00:48:02,296
This year, I've been kinda like
getting there when I wanted to,

911
00:48:02,379 --> 00:48:04,923
like, just trying to be a teenager,
I guess.

912
00:48:05,007 --> 00:48:06,049
[Debbie shouts] JoAnn!

913
00:48:06,133 --> 00:48:08,176
You don't just walk in my rehearsal.
What happened?

914
00:48:08,802 --> 00:48:10,470
-For what?
-[JoAnn] Speeding.

915
00:48:10,554 --> 00:48:11,388
Stay here.

916
00:48:14,433 --> 00:48:15,934
One, plié.

917
00:48:16,018 --> 00:48:17,477
Go warm up at the bar.

918
00:48:17,561 --> 00:48:19,021
One, plié.

919
00:48:19,855 --> 00:48:22,566
And down, down…

920
00:48:22,649 --> 00:48:25,944
[JoAnn] Whenever I feel
that I let her down, it was very…

921
00:48:26,778 --> 00:48:28,822
[sighs] Like, it got to me every time.

922
00:48:28,906 --> 00:48:31,241
So, I'm like,
"Dang, I can't let her down no more.

923
00:48:31,325 --> 00:48:32,618
We can't have these talks.

924
00:48:32,701 --> 00:48:35,787
The next few talks we have to have
have to be good talks."

925
00:48:35,871 --> 00:48:40,208
[laughs] Like, instead of just
her telling me to get it together.

926
00:48:40,292 --> 00:48:41,668
It takes a lot.

927
00:48:42,294 --> 00:48:45,547
I don't know.
I think it comes down to heart and will

928
00:48:45,631 --> 00:48:48,467
and wanting it for yourself,
wanting something more.

929
00:48:49,217 --> 00:48:50,052
And…

930
00:48:51,011 --> 00:48:51,845
Yeah.

931
00:48:52,304 --> 00:48:53,805
Working your butt off.

932
00:48:53,889 --> 00:48:58,727
I'm trying to help you
learn professional work ethic.

933
00:48:58,810 --> 00:49:00,270
Say "work ethic."

934
00:49:00,354 --> 00:49:01,271
[dancers] Work ethic.

935
00:49:01,355 --> 00:49:02,564
Work ethic.

936
00:49:02,648 --> 00:49:03,732
[dancers] Work ethic.

937
00:49:03,815 --> 00:49:06,193
This should apply
to everything you do in life.

938
00:49:06,276 --> 00:49:09,363
Your homework,
how you do your work at school,

939
00:49:09,446 --> 00:49:10,405
what other jobs

940
00:49:10,489 --> 00:49:13,617
and other career aspirations
that you have.

941
00:49:13,700 --> 00:49:17,329
If you work in the post office,
if you are a teacher,

942
00:49:17,412 --> 00:49:20,123
if you are a maintenance person,

943
00:49:20,207 --> 00:49:22,709
if you work in Washington,

944
00:49:22,793 --> 00:49:25,462
your work ethic must be the same.

945
00:49:25,963 --> 00:49:30,133
If you work with children,
your work ethic should even be better.

946
00:49:30,217 --> 00:49:32,844
Adolescence is difficult,

947
00:49:33,345 --> 00:49:36,932
and it's sort of like
your mind leaves you for a bit

948
00:49:37,015 --> 00:49:39,142
and you're just sort of out in orbit.

949
00:49:39,226 --> 00:49:42,688
You're exploring yourself,
you're exploring things around you,

950
00:49:42,771 --> 00:49:47,067
but the fact that you have something
to go to three or four times a week

951
00:49:47,693 --> 00:49:49,820
and be responsible to

952
00:49:49,903 --> 00:49:51,446
helps you be responsible

953
00:49:51,530 --> 00:49:54,449
with your school work,
your homework, your chores at home,

954
00:49:54,533 --> 00:49:58,370
and it gives you a sense of gratitude.

955
00:49:58,453 --> 00:50:01,081
How do you think
you're going to get where we are?

956
00:50:01,164 --> 00:50:03,542
Where are you trying to go in life?

957
00:50:04,042 --> 00:50:07,170
Every day
is not just a rehearsal for Nutcracker,

958
00:50:07,254 --> 00:50:09,798
it's a rehearsal
for the rest of your life.

959
00:50:09,881 --> 00:50:11,216
You come in here late,

960
00:50:11,299 --> 00:50:14,511
that's where you're gonna be
on your next job, and you're fired.

961
00:50:15,012 --> 00:50:18,181
You walk into a Broadway show late,
you're fired.

962
00:50:18,682 --> 00:50:22,019
The understudy is on.
They don't care how much they like you.

963
00:50:22,102 --> 00:50:24,021
You're not professional.

964
00:50:24,104 --> 00:50:25,814
-Do you understand?
-[dancers] Yes.

965
00:50:25,897 --> 00:50:29,651
Every day is your rehearsal for life,
not just the Nutcracker.

966
00:50:29,735 --> 00:50:32,070
Take it seriously. Make it into something.

967
00:50:33,113 --> 00:50:35,532
We have a lot of work to do.
I wanted to see you…

968
00:50:35,615 --> 00:50:38,869
Look, we're not in a bad place,
but we have literally a month,

969
00:50:38,952 --> 00:50:42,205
which means we don't have a month
'cause we don't rehearse every day.

970
00:50:42,289 --> 00:50:44,416
-So this is your homework.
-Thank you, Miss Allen.

971
00:50:44,499 --> 00:50:45,834
[dancers] Thank you, Miss Allen.

972
00:50:45,917 --> 00:50:48,003
[Debbie shouts]
Don't come to my rehearsal late.

973
00:50:48,545 --> 00:50:51,423
Don't come to any rehearsal late again,
and I mean it.

974
00:50:51,506 --> 00:50:52,632
Thank you. Dismissed.

975
00:50:52,716 --> 00:50:55,135
-[dancers] Thank you, Miss Allen.
-Thank you, Miss Cathie.

976
00:50:55,218 --> 00:50:56,970
-Thank you.
-[Debbie] Yes.

977
00:50:57,054 --> 00:50:58,555
-Thank you.
-Yes.

978
00:50:59,264 --> 00:51:00,640
-Yes.
-Thank you.

979
00:51:00,724 --> 00:51:02,142
Don't come late, AuDrya.

980
00:51:02,768 --> 00:51:04,394
If you're late, just stay out.

981
00:51:04,478 --> 00:51:05,353
-Thank you.
-Yes.

982
00:51:05,437 --> 00:51:06,605
-Thank you, Miss Allen.
-Yes.

983
00:51:06,688 --> 00:51:08,273
-Thank you.
-Hmm!

984
00:51:08,899 --> 00:51:09,983
Mm-mm.

985
00:51:10,692 --> 00:51:12,277
-Thank you, Miss Allen.
-Yes.

986
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:14,654
-Thank you, Miss Allen.
-More joy. You're beautiful.

987
00:51:14,738 --> 00:51:16,698
No, do you know how beautiful you are?

988
00:51:16,782 --> 00:51:18,158
I don't think you do.

989
00:51:18,241 --> 00:51:20,118
You're so beautiful.

990
00:51:20,702 --> 00:51:23,288
Embody that. Embrace that when you dance.

991
00:51:23,371 --> 00:51:24,206
Go away.

992
00:51:24,831 --> 00:51:25,665
Yes.

993
00:51:25,749 --> 00:51:27,667
Thank you. Get rid of those nails.

994
00:51:27,751 --> 00:51:29,628
-Thank you, Miss Allen.
-Yes.

995
00:51:29,711 --> 00:51:30,962
Thank you. You'll be doing it.

996
00:51:31,046 --> 00:51:37,469
[Karen] The window of opportunity
to enter in the dance world is small.

997
00:51:37,552 --> 00:51:40,097
You have to do it by a certain time.

998
00:51:40,180 --> 00:51:42,599
You have to pull yourself up

999
00:51:42,682 --> 00:51:47,395
in a way that, by the time
you definitely are out of high school,

1000
00:51:47,479 --> 00:51:50,065
you have to be able
to audition and compete.

1001
00:51:51,066 --> 00:51:55,779
April, you come from this side of stage,
and you basically tell them all to come.

1002
00:51:55,862 --> 00:51:58,698
[April]
I auditioned for Dance Theatre of Harlem,

1003
00:51:58,782 --> 00:52:01,827
and I wasn't accepted into the company.

1004
00:52:01,910 --> 00:52:03,578
Then I was auditioning for other places,

1005
00:52:03,662 --> 00:52:06,331
thinking that I would get in
somewhere else,

1006
00:52:06,414 --> 00:52:07,749
but it just didn't happen.

1007
00:52:09,292 --> 00:52:10,544
Like, as a dancer,

1008
00:52:10,627 --> 00:52:14,339
you're always trying
to find the next place to go

1009
00:52:14,422 --> 00:52:15,966
or trying to improve.

1010
00:52:16,049 --> 00:52:19,594
And sometimes, it feels like,
you know, you're just stuck auditioning

1011
00:52:19,678 --> 00:52:21,471
and not getting anything.

1012
00:52:21,555 --> 00:52:24,391
So, it's just, like,
the life of a dancer is very hard,

1013
00:52:24,474 --> 00:52:27,644
but, like, I can't imagine myself
doing anything else.

1014
00:52:29,104 --> 00:52:32,607
[Savoy] I applied to 12 schools.
I would always say, when I was younger,

1015
00:52:32,691 --> 00:52:35,402
I was like, "I'm applying for dance.
I don't have to do anything.

1016
00:52:35,485 --> 00:52:37,028
My grades don't matter.
Nothing matters.

1017
00:52:37,112 --> 00:52:39,823
I'm just gonna dance." And like, no.

1018
00:52:39,906 --> 00:52:41,658
Like, it's honestly, like, worse.

1019
00:52:42,242 --> 00:52:43,869
So, I'm freaking out a little bit.

1020
00:52:43,952 --> 00:52:49,332
It takes so much focus to succeed.

1021
00:52:49,416 --> 00:52:51,585
You can't let things get you down.

1022
00:52:51,668 --> 00:52:53,628
Whether your teacher is too mean,

1023
00:52:53,712 --> 00:52:55,213
or it's too easy,

1024
00:52:55,797 --> 00:52:58,383
you can't let it disturb you.

1025
00:52:58,466 --> 00:53:00,927
[Eartha] Six, hold. Up!

1026
00:53:01,011 --> 00:53:02,387
I need to learn that too…

1027
00:53:03,430 --> 00:53:06,183
because I do the same thing still.
You know what I mean?

1028
00:53:06,266 --> 00:53:09,519
I-- I-- I don't get a choreography job,
I'm immediately like,

1029
00:53:09,603 --> 00:53:12,314
"I'm not good enough. Forget it,"
and I quit.

1030
00:53:12,397 --> 00:53:14,274
Up, eight.

1031
00:53:15,108 --> 00:53:18,486
We have to work hard at what we do.
I don't care if you're eight years old.

1032
00:53:18,570 --> 00:53:21,114
There's eight-year-old actors
and actresses in movies right now

1033
00:53:21,198 --> 00:53:22,741
that are doing huge scenes.

1034
00:53:23,575 --> 00:53:25,702
You have to be engaged,
it doesn't matter how young.

1035
00:53:25,785 --> 00:53:27,162
[jazzy music playing]

1036
00:53:29,331 --> 00:53:31,124
[JoAnn]
I wanted to be, like, a company dancer,

1037
00:53:31,208 --> 00:53:34,294
so I wanted to go to school,
train, train, train,

1038
00:53:34,377 --> 00:53:37,505
graduate, then, hopefully,
get into a company like Alvin Ailey.

1039
00:53:39,090 --> 00:53:43,136
Everybody has that dream.
Everybody wants to dance professionally.

1040
00:53:44,221 --> 00:53:46,223
You see that in Savoy.

1041
00:53:46,306 --> 00:53:48,391
You see that in April.

1042
00:53:48,475 --> 00:53:50,268
You see that in JoAnn.

1043
00:53:56,524 --> 00:53:58,735
[Eartha] Sometimes,
you see it in their eyes, like…

1044
00:53:59,694 --> 00:54:01,529
Are they gonna make it?
Are they gonna make it?

1045
00:54:01,613 --> 00:54:04,491
Come on, girl.
You can make it! You can make it!

1046
00:54:04,574 --> 00:54:08,536
And, uh, you know, I know a lot of people
who don't become dancers,

1047
00:54:08,620 --> 00:54:10,872
who are incredible surgeons,

1048
00:54:10,956 --> 00:54:13,458
but have dance still under their belt.

1049
00:54:16,086 --> 00:54:18,213
[Debbie]
Well, Steve Jobs took dance class.

1050
00:54:18,296 --> 00:54:19,339
He did.

1051
00:54:19,881 --> 00:54:23,927
He bailed out of his math class
to go and take dance class.

1052
00:54:24,970 --> 00:54:26,680
That says a lot to me.

1053
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:33,770
Like, I wanna go to New York
and go to these schools,

1054
00:54:33,853 --> 00:54:36,273
but I don't think I can do it,
then my mom is like,

1055
00:54:36,356 --> 00:54:40,694
"Oh well, this Ailey scholarship audition
is coming up in New York, so…"

1056
00:54:41,945 --> 00:54:46,157
And I'm, "Wait, am I going? Are we going?"
She's like, "You and Savoy are."

1057
00:54:47,409 --> 00:54:50,704
I'm like, "Oh, wow."
So it's just us two, both 17…

1058
00:54:50,787 --> 00:54:52,872
[chuckles]
…getting on a plane by ourselves

1059
00:54:52,956 --> 00:54:55,333
and going to New York
to audition for this school.

1060
00:54:56,334 --> 00:54:58,003
And then I went to San Francisco

1061
00:54:58,086 --> 00:55:01,339
for LINES.
I felt really comfortable there.

1062
00:55:01,423 --> 00:55:03,174
Very comfortable.
So after I got a scholarship

1063
00:55:03,258 --> 00:55:04,884
to their summer program, it gave me hope.

1064
00:55:04,968 --> 00:55:06,344
"Maybe I can dance in my future."

1065
00:55:09,556 --> 00:55:11,933
-[instructor] Good job.
-[applauding]

1066
00:55:12,017 --> 00:55:16,521
Then after that, they were asking,
um, for, like, payment deadlines,

1067
00:55:16,604 --> 00:55:17,939
right after the intensive.

1068
00:55:21,860 --> 00:55:24,988
[woman] Housing for a month
in San Francisco is…

1069
00:55:25,071 --> 00:55:27,741
because they don't provide housing
at the intensives,

1070
00:55:27,824 --> 00:55:29,492
it's just off the chain.

1071
00:55:29,576 --> 00:55:30,994
And going to Ailey,

1072
00:55:31,077 --> 00:55:33,872
she wasn't awarded any scholarships,

1073
00:55:33,955 --> 00:55:36,833
so just for a summer,
to go to Ailey, or…

1074
00:55:37,709 --> 00:55:40,337
It was pretty close to,

1075
00:55:40,420 --> 00:55:42,630
with tuition and housing,

1076
00:55:43,131 --> 00:55:44,716
probably like six, seven grand.

1077
00:55:45,258 --> 00:55:46,426
And that's just not…

1078
00:55:47,677 --> 00:55:50,555
anything, as a single parent,
I-- I could ever afford.

1079
00:55:51,806 --> 00:55:55,352
Yeah, that's when I figured out,

1080
00:55:55,435 --> 00:55:57,228
"Okay, maybe dance isn't for me,"

1081
00:55:58,229 --> 00:56:00,231
and things went left.

1082
00:56:00,315 --> 00:56:01,858
And then I was just like,

1083
00:56:02,776 --> 00:56:06,112
"Um, I need to find out
what I'm about to do

1084
00:56:06,196 --> 00:56:07,947
for the rest of my life." [chuckles]

1085
00:56:21,878 --> 00:56:23,463
[Chantel] See you on Wednesday.

1086
00:56:23,546 --> 00:56:24,422
[soft chattering]

1087
00:56:25,340 --> 00:56:26,174
[shushing]

1088
00:56:31,679 --> 00:56:34,391
[Terry] I started doing aerial
a long time ago, and Debbie was like,

1089
00:56:34,474 --> 00:56:36,559
"Okay,
how can we put aerial into the show?"

1090
00:56:36,643 --> 00:56:38,603
So, we started flying the Fairy Queen.

1091
00:56:40,772 --> 00:56:44,317
This year, Kylie Jefferson and April
were both the Fairy Queen,

1092
00:56:44,401 --> 00:56:47,112
but for my shows,
I mostly worked with Kylie.

1093
00:56:47,195 --> 00:56:51,324
Kylie's like a big sister to me.
I've always looked up to her.

1094
00:56:51,408 --> 00:56:55,745
She graduated from DADA
and went to Complexions,

1095
00:56:55,829 --> 00:56:58,623
one of the best
contemporary dance companies.

1096
00:56:58,706 --> 00:57:00,083
[Terry] Okay, boom! Hover.

1097
00:57:00,166 --> 00:57:04,087
I got into my dream company,
Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

1098
00:57:04,170 --> 00:57:06,756
[Terry] Down. Now…

1099
00:57:07,590 --> 00:57:11,261
[Kylie] I had been working
with the company for a few months.

1100
00:57:11,344 --> 00:57:14,013
I went over my partner's shoulder
for a lift,

1101
00:57:14,097 --> 00:57:18,393
and I just remember
hearing something, like, pop.

1102
00:57:19,102 --> 00:57:20,270
Crack, something.

1103
00:57:20,353 --> 00:57:23,606
It was a loud noise in my rib,

1104
00:57:23,690 --> 00:57:26,901
and I screamed onstage.

1105
00:57:26,985 --> 00:57:31,573
That was probably
the worst injury that I've ever had.

1106
00:57:33,032 --> 00:57:35,618
I came offstage, and I collapsed.

1107
00:57:36,327 --> 00:57:40,748
And I was just bawling
and in tears and in so much pain.

1108
00:57:42,584 --> 00:57:44,669
I thought it was over.

1109
00:57:44,752 --> 00:57:48,089
I kinda almost, like,
wanted it to be over.

1110
00:57:48,173 --> 00:57:52,343
I was like, "I don't wanna dance anymore."
My heart was so broken.

1111
00:57:53,386 --> 00:57:55,889
In this world,
there's gonna be a lot of pain.

1112
00:57:56,431 --> 00:58:00,226
Pain to your body,
but also it can be to your feelings.

1113
00:58:00,310 --> 00:58:04,397
But you have to pull up,
and you have to measure up to that.

1114
00:58:04,481 --> 00:58:07,442
You have to get-- like the athletes,
you have to stay in the game.

1115
00:58:07,525 --> 00:58:08,735
Are you gonna stay in the game?

1116
00:58:08,818 --> 00:58:09,777
Okay.

1117
00:58:10,361 --> 00:58:13,573
[shouts] Quiet! Shh.
Quiet! We're starting all over.

1118
00:58:14,449 --> 00:58:15,825
Music, go.

1119
00:58:16,618 --> 00:58:17,911
[uplifting music playing]

1120
00:58:18,495 --> 00:58:20,205
Bounce, bounce, bounce.

1121
00:58:20,997 --> 00:58:23,500
Bounce, bounce, bounce, happy.

1122
00:58:23,583 --> 00:58:25,418
Happy, right from the beginning.

1123
00:58:25,502 --> 00:58:27,962
Character's as important as the dancing.

1124
00:58:28,046 --> 00:58:31,216
And that's part of being onstage,
that's part of being a professional

1125
00:58:31,299 --> 00:58:33,760
is the entire package

1126
00:58:33,843 --> 00:58:37,680
that I'm trying to help them touch
and understand what it is.

1127
00:58:40,433 --> 00:58:44,521
[Karen] The party scene
pretty much involves everyone in the cast,

1128
00:58:44,604 --> 00:58:49,067
so rehearsing the party scene
is pretty amazing.

1129
00:58:49,150 --> 00:58:52,195
[kids] ♪ This is Christmas, ooh… ♪

1130
00:58:52,278 --> 00:58:54,113
[Debbie] Yes, Sophia, yes!

1131
00:58:54,197 --> 00:58:55,114
[laughs]

1132
00:58:55,198 --> 00:58:57,325
♪ We can, can, can… ♪

1133
00:58:57,408 --> 00:58:59,911
[Debbie] And up! Down! Down! Up!

1134
00:58:59,994 --> 00:59:03,665
[Karen] We don't have enough space here.
We need ten studios, really.

1135
00:59:05,250 --> 00:59:08,586
[Debbie shouting]
No talking! There's no talking!

1136
00:59:09,504 --> 00:59:11,381
[Karen] We always remind the students

1137
00:59:11,965 --> 00:59:15,760
that it's their dream
that we're helping them shape.

1138
00:59:15,843 --> 00:59:19,138
It means nothing if they don't respect it.

1139
00:59:19,222 --> 00:59:20,223
Quiet!

1140
00:59:20,932 --> 00:59:24,435
-[Debbie] You come out…
-[Cathie] Shh! Shh!

1141
00:59:24,978 --> 00:59:26,813
Could you all shut up?

1142
00:59:26,896 --> 00:59:28,189
My God.

1143
00:59:28,273 --> 00:59:30,900
I mean, if I could just fire
some of you right now,

1144
00:59:30,984 --> 00:59:32,485
it would make my life easier.

1145
00:59:33,111 --> 00:59:35,863
I'm trying to get you ready
for the professional world.

1146
00:59:35,947 --> 00:59:39,742
You won't work anywhere
the way you act in this room.

1147
00:59:40,743 --> 00:59:44,247
I don't care who you are.
I don't care what your role is.

1148
00:59:44,330 --> 00:59:47,250
Talk while I'm working, and you are fired!

1149
00:59:48,209 --> 00:59:50,837
If that doesn't mean
anything to you, great.

1150
00:59:51,462 --> 00:59:52,422
We'll find out.

1151
00:59:52,505 --> 00:59:54,090
We're gonna find out right now.

1152
00:59:54,173 --> 00:59:57,176
The rest of this rehearsal,
talk one more time.

1153
01:00:00,847 --> 01:00:03,308
You're so disrespectful
to all these professionals here

1154
01:00:03,391 --> 01:00:05,226
trying to make this show incredible.

1155
01:00:05,810 --> 01:00:07,437
I'm trying to do your bows.

1156
01:00:07,520 --> 01:00:10,565
[silence]

1157
01:00:10,648 --> 01:00:13,568
This is how it should sound all the time,
like this.

1158
01:00:13,651 --> 01:00:16,696
That's how it should sound, like that.

1159
01:00:23,953 --> 01:00:26,581
Miss Allen's nice… to me.

1160
01:00:27,373 --> 01:00:30,335
I don't know about all the rest of them
'cause they bad.

1161
01:00:31,044 --> 01:00:34,297
She don't know I'm bad.
She know I got in trouble once.

1162
01:00:34,380 --> 01:00:36,716
She didn't yell at me, though,
but she like me.

1163
01:00:36,799 --> 01:00:38,801
I like Miss Allen. She nice.

1164
01:00:39,427 --> 01:00:40,845
[nostalgic music playing]

1165
01:00:42,096 --> 01:00:45,016
[Debbie] When Madame Semenova
was teaching me at Houston Ballet,

1166
01:00:45,099 --> 01:00:46,476
do you think we would talk?

1167
01:00:47,101 --> 01:00:52,315
Do you think I would open my mouth
to speak when she's talking?

1168
01:00:53,608 --> 01:00:56,611
Oh, my God, she taught with that cane.
She would whack you.

1169
01:00:56,694 --> 01:01:01,407
That's why I taught with a cane on Fame,
in tribute to Madame Tatiana Semenova.

1170
01:01:02,950 --> 01:01:06,287
You know, she lived long enough
to see me become very successful

1171
01:01:06,371 --> 01:01:09,165
on Broadway and television,

1172
01:01:09,707 --> 01:01:12,460
and I remember our last lunch together,

1173
01:01:12,543 --> 01:01:15,004
Madame opened a bottle of champagne…

1174
01:01:16,339 --> 01:01:18,091
and she told me I had to keep the cork

1175
01:01:18,174 --> 01:01:20,385
because that was good luck.
I still have the cork.

1176
01:01:21,135 --> 01:01:23,680
We sat, and she pulled out
the programs she had saved,

1177
01:01:23,763 --> 01:01:26,933
programs with my name
and other students' names

1178
01:01:27,016 --> 01:01:29,102
that she had trained and loved.

1179
01:01:30,520 --> 01:01:33,481
And as we were drinking the champagne
and eating,

1180
01:01:33,564 --> 01:01:37,318
she says, "Well, you know,
I had to find you-- I had to find you."

1181
01:01:37,402 --> 01:01:39,112
I said, "What do you mean?" She says,

1182
01:01:39,195 --> 01:01:44,867
"Well, we would not keep the Ford grant
if we did not diversify the students.

1183
01:01:44,951 --> 01:01:47,161
I needed to find a Black student."

1184
01:01:49,080 --> 01:01:52,083
And I sat there,
and it kind of took me aback

1185
01:01:53,376 --> 01:01:54,544
because I was like…

1186
01:01:56,129 --> 01:01:58,589
I thought I was chosen
because I was really good,

1187
01:01:59,215 --> 01:02:00,591
not because I was Black.

1188
01:02:02,844 --> 01:02:05,346
But then I thought about it, and I said,

1189
01:02:06,222 --> 01:02:07,265
"I was good."

1190
01:02:10,643 --> 01:02:14,689
[Karen] We have two
and a half days in the theater

1191
01:02:14,772 --> 01:02:16,649
to get ready for opening night.

1192
01:02:16,733 --> 01:02:18,651
[Cathie] Are you on the line?
Are you on the line?

1193
01:02:18,735 --> 01:02:22,321
Load-in has to happen first,
then everybody's trying to get-- wonder,

1194
01:02:22,405 --> 01:02:24,198
"When are we getting on stage for tech?"

1195
01:02:24,282 --> 01:02:27,410
So Miss Allen brings in
the people who fly first,

1196
01:02:27,493 --> 01:02:29,078
and then maybe the mice,

1197
01:02:29,162 --> 01:02:32,749
and then the smaller groups
get to do what they need to do,

1198
01:02:32,832 --> 01:02:33,875
and then the masses happen.

1199
01:02:35,668 --> 01:02:37,962
Uh, no, no, no, no.
Where are you going? No.

1200
01:02:38,045 --> 01:02:39,505
Straight line. No, no, no.

1201
01:02:39,589 --> 01:02:43,009
-[You can't hear it upstairs--
-[Debbie] We need to figure that out.

1202
01:02:43,092 --> 01:02:44,260
[chattering]

1203
01:02:47,305 --> 01:02:49,015
-[Debbie] Unify us.
-[cast] Unify us.

1204
01:02:49,098 --> 01:02:50,683
-Don't divide us.
-Don't divide us.

1205
01:02:50,767 --> 01:02:52,268
-Unify us.
-Unify us.

1206
01:02:52,351 --> 01:02:53,686
-Don't divide us.
-Don't divide us.

1207
01:02:53,770 --> 01:02:55,772
-Unify us.
-Unify us.

1208
01:02:55,855 --> 01:02:57,565
-Don't divide us.
-Don't divide us.

1209
01:02:57,648 --> 01:02:59,233
-May this ring.
-May this ring.

1210
01:02:59,317 --> 01:03:00,735
-Of our power.
-Of our power.

1211
01:03:00,818 --> 01:03:02,153
-Of our passion.
-Of our passion.

1212
01:03:02,236 --> 01:03:03,946
-Of our joy.
-Of our joy.

1213
01:03:04,030 --> 01:03:06,199
-Of our joy.
-Of our joy.

1214
01:03:06,282 --> 01:03:07,909
-Remain.
-Remain.

1215
01:03:07,992 --> 01:03:09,577
-Complete.
-Complete.

1216
01:03:09,660 --> 01:03:11,621
-Forever.
-Forever.

1217
01:03:11,704 --> 01:03:13,623
-With Hot Chocolate.
-Hot Chocolate.

1218
01:03:13,706 --> 01:03:15,208
-Hot Chocolate.
-Hot Chocolate.

1219
01:03:15,291 --> 01:03:17,919
-Hot Chocolate Nutcracker!
-Hot Chocolate Nutcracker!

1220
01:03:18,002 --> 01:03:23,549
-Hot Chocolate Nutcracker!
-Hot Chocolate Nutcracker!

1221
01:03:23,633 --> 01:03:26,427
All right,
so April is our Fairy Queen today.

1222
01:03:26,511 --> 01:03:27,553
Good luck, April!

1223
01:03:27,637 --> 01:03:28,513
[cast cheering]

1224
01:03:31,224 --> 01:03:35,228
And we're welcoming back Prince--
Kris Nobles as our Prince.

1225
01:03:35,311 --> 01:03:36,229
[cast whooping]

1226
01:03:37,814 --> 01:03:40,399
All right, sign up
for your theater tickets

1227
01:03:41,609 --> 01:03:44,362
and get ready for the show.
I'll see you on the stage.

1228
01:03:51,452 --> 01:03:55,039
[Karen] We start what we call
the children's performances.

1229
01:03:55,122 --> 01:03:56,582
Whatever theater we're in,

1230
01:03:56,666 --> 01:04:00,920
children are invited
from everywhere around Los Angeles

1231
01:04:01,003 --> 01:04:03,464
to come in
and see the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,

1232
01:04:03,548 --> 01:04:07,593
so children get to see
the very first performance every year.

1233
01:04:07,677 --> 01:04:08,970
[uplifting music playing]

1234
01:04:24,861 --> 01:04:28,406
[Debbie] Welcome, you all,
to the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.

1235
01:04:28,489 --> 01:04:30,324
[audience cheering, applauding]

1236
01:04:33,411 --> 01:04:36,080
My name is Debbie Allen,
and I'm here to…

1237
01:04:36,163 --> 01:04:37,415
[audience cheering]

1238
01:04:39,333 --> 01:04:40,293
[Debbie] Thank you.

1239
01:04:40,835 --> 01:04:43,921
When you watch the show today,
I want you to think about,

1240
01:04:44,005 --> 01:04:45,089
what do you wanna be?

1241
01:04:45,172 --> 01:04:47,216
Do you wanna be
one of the dancers up here?

1242
01:04:47,300 --> 01:04:49,260
Do you wanna be one of the singers?

1243
01:04:49,343 --> 01:04:51,804
Do you wanna design the costumes?

1244
01:04:51,888 --> 01:04:53,806
Do you wanna do the makeup?

1245
01:04:53,890 --> 01:04:55,558
Do you wanna do the lighting?

1246
01:04:55,641 --> 01:04:57,643
There are many opportunities.

1247
01:04:57,727 --> 01:04:59,520
-Okay?
-[audience applauding]

1248
01:04:59,604 --> 01:05:04,025
All right,
so, I gotta go and get into character.

1249
01:05:04,108 --> 01:05:06,152
[in a mousy voice]
I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go!

1250
01:05:06,235 --> 01:05:08,738
I gotta go get--
get my character together.

1251
01:05:08,821 --> 01:05:10,948
I'm running. I'll see you later!

1252
01:05:11,032 --> 01:05:12,950
[audience cheering, applauding]

1253
01:05:15,828 --> 01:05:17,830
[audience applauding, whooping]

1254
01:05:28,507 --> 01:05:31,177
♪ Hang on the mistletoe ♪

1255
01:05:31,260 --> 01:05:35,222
♪ I'm gonna get to know you better ♪

1256
01:05:36,557 --> 01:05:38,476
-[adult male singer and kids]
♪ This Christmas ♪

1257
01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:41,562
[Nicholas] It's Christmas,
and everybody's having the big, fun party,

1258
01:05:41,646 --> 01:05:44,065
but then Frankie, Kara's brother,

1259
01:05:44,148 --> 01:05:47,318
he gets jealous that Kara
gets the Nutcracker instead of him.

1260
01:05:47,401 --> 01:05:50,529
So him and his friends
try to steal the Nutcracker from her,

1261
01:05:50,613 --> 01:05:52,907
but then the Nutcracker breaks.

1262
01:05:52,990 --> 01:05:56,077
So then, she gets sad, then magic happens,

1263
01:05:56,160 --> 01:05:58,496
and she's going
to all these different places.

1264
01:05:58,579 --> 01:06:00,122
[solemn music playing]

1265
01:06:02,208 --> 01:06:04,585
[Jalyn] I was just really nervous
before I went on,

1266
01:06:04,669 --> 01:06:07,588
and my mom was backstage,
helping me get ready.

1267
01:06:08,089 --> 01:06:11,384
And she was just telling me,
"Whatever happens, you can't change it,

1268
01:06:11,467 --> 01:06:14,553
but, as long as you do your best,
you know it's gonna be okay."

1269
01:06:14,637 --> 01:06:16,847
And that's what helped me
get through the show.

1270
01:06:22,019 --> 01:06:26,107
What makes me happiest about this place
is to watch their faces.

1271
01:06:26,190 --> 01:06:28,859
Some of them
that have never been in theater before

1272
01:06:28,943 --> 01:06:30,569
get standing ovations,

1273
01:06:31,278 --> 01:06:33,155
and to watch their faces, it's like…

1274
01:06:33,948 --> 01:06:34,865
it's unbelievable.

1275
01:06:34,949 --> 01:06:36,325
[epic music playing]

1276
01:06:39,745 --> 01:06:41,747
[Eartha] You wanna keep growing.

1277
01:06:41,831 --> 01:06:44,500
You never feel that you have arrived,
or you've made it,

1278
01:06:44,583 --> 01:06:46,210
or there's nothing else left.

1279
01:06:46,836 --> 01:06:50,756
Always keep growing.
Open yourself up to greater possibilities.

1280
01:06:50,840 --> 01:06:52,842
This is what they take away with them.

1281
01:06:53,843 --> 01:06:54,844
[music stops]

1282
01:06:54,927 --> 01:06:56,554
[audience applauding, whooping]

1283
01:06:58,139 --> 01:06:59,140
[applause fades]

1284
01:06:59,807 --> 01:07:01,809
[cicadas singing]

1285
01:07:01,892 --> 01:07:03,894
[mysterious music playing]

1286
01:07:11,152 --> 01:07:15,197
[Karen]
The process, from September to December,

1287
01:07:15,281 --> 01:07:16,741
it's pretty intense

1288
01:07:16,824 --> 01:07:19,410
Those students who participate,

1289
01:07:19,910 --> 01:07:23,622
I would say, grow tenfold,

1290
01:07:24,290 --> 01:07:25,958
in learning their craft,

1291
01:07:26,042 --> 01:07:28,294
in becoming a family,

1292
01:07:28,377 --> 01:07:32,798
being on stage in front of 1,800 people,

1293
01:07:32,882 --> 01:07:34,508
bearing their soul.

1294
01:07:34,592 --> 01:07:37,928
Children are not the same
once they do the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.

1295
01:07:38,012 --> 01:07:39,847
They're brand-new.

1296
01:07:41,515 --> 01:07:44,977
[Chantel] Some of these kids had no idea
that they even want to dance,

1297
01:07:45,061 --> 01:07:48,939
but when they're introduced to it
and fall in love, it's something special.

1298
01:07:49,023 --> 01:07:53,903
And then some of them are off on Broadway,
doing things they never thought they could

1299
01:07:53,986 --> 01:07:56,822
and I think
that's what the arts does for people.

1300
01:07:56,906 --> 01:07:59,950
It can take you
wherever you want to be in the world.

1301
01:08:00,034 --> 01:08:01,285
[Bollywood music playing]

1302
01:08:07,416 --> 01:08:12,254
[Vivian] As a dancer,
it takes discipline and determination

1303
01:08:12,338 --> 01:08:16,342
and the willingness to continue,

1304
01:08:16,425 --> 01:08:19,386
no matter how many times you fall down.

1305
01:08:20,346 --> 01:08:21,847
[music stops]

1306
01:08:21,931 --> 01:08:25,476
Because success
is one step beyond failure.

1307
01:08:25,559 --> 01:08:26,977
[percussive music playing]

1308
01:08:39,949 --> 01:08:43,119
[Savoy]
My dream, dream, dream school is USC.

1309
01:08:43,202 --> 01:08:46,413
My audition is in, like, a couple weeks,

1310
01:08:46,497 --> 01:08:48,624
so I'm freaking out
a little bit, but, like,

1311
01:08:48,707 --> 01:08:52,253
it's cool-- I got a new leotard for it.
My mom bought me a new leotard. [laughs]

1312
01:09:04,473 --> 01:09:06,642
-[music stops]
-[audience applauds, whoops]

1313
01:09:06,725 --> 01:09:08,227
[rhythmic jazz music playing]

1314
01:09:13,899 --> 01:09:15,901
[JoAnn] One day,
I had a long talk with my friend,

1315
01:09:15,985 --> 01:09:18,154
and she told me, like,
"You need to teach."

1316
01:09:18,237 --> 01:09:21,574
I'm like, "Really? I didn't know."
She's like, "Yeah, that's your thing."

1317
01:09:21,657 --> 01:09:23,492
I taught my first class, and it was like,

1318
01:09:23,576 --> 01:09:27,663
"Wow, like, I do like to teach.
Maybe I should continue doing this."

1319
01:09:35,671 --> 01:09:38,007
[Chantel] The kids forget sometimes
when we're teaching them…

1320
01:09:38,090 --> 01:09:42,887
They think that, "Oh, they must be old,"
and, "Oh, they don't do this anymore."

1321
01:09:42,970 --> 01:09:46,765
They don't get to see the-- the--
the professional side of what we still do.

1322
01:09:46,849 --> 01:09:49,393
So here I am, the teacher one day,

1323
01:09:49,476 --> 01:09:52,479
but in that audition,
with some of these major artists,

1324
01:09:52,563 --> 01:09:53,689
on tours,

1325
01:09:53,772 --> 01:09:57,526
I'm right there in the same playing field
as some of my students.

1326
01:09:58,360 --> 01:10:00,196
It's good. It's healthy competition.

1327
01:10:04,658 --> 01:10:08,370
[Giana] Some surprises happen
during the teaching years.

1328
01:10:08,454 --> 01:10:11,582
Some student
that doesn't look very promising,

1329
01:10:11,665 --> 01:10:15,044
through the hard work and open mind,

1330
01:10:15,127 --> 01:10:16,837
will jump up.

1331
01:10:18,380 --> 01:10:20,716
[percussive music playing]

1332
01:10:32,144 --> 01:10:33,687
[hip-hop music playing]

1333
01:10:55,542 --> 01:10:58,462
If I ever make my own dance studio,
I want it to be, like,

1334
01:10:58,545 --> 01:11:02,716
a dance studio where you can come
and pay how much you're able to pay.

1335
01:11:02,800 --> 01:11:06,553
There's a lot of good dancers out there,
and they just-- they're not in dance class

1336
01:11:06,637 --> 01:11:08,180
'cause they don't have enough money.

1337
01:11:08,264 --> 01:11:10,182
[scatting and percussion playing]

1338
01:11:23,112 --> 01:11:27,032
[Savion] They can take this information
and go on and be better dancers.

1339
01:11:27,116 --> 01:11:31,662
They can take this information and go on
to be better humans, humanitarians.

1340
01:11:31,745 --> 01:11:34,790
It's the learning. It's the teaching.
It's how they receive it.

1341
01:11:34,873 --> 01:11:37,835
I want them to just walk out different.

1342
01:11:37,918 --> 01:11:39,336
[classical music playing]

1343
01:11:43,257 --> 01:11:44,591
[Lauren] I love the way…

1344
01:11:46,176 --> 01:11:48,012
it felt to become music.

1345
01:11:48,846 --> 01:11:52,057
If you could physically think
of what it feels like to be music,

1346
01:11:52,725 --> 01:11:54,727
to physically become music,

1347
01:11:55,436 --> 01:11:56,937
that's what it's like dancing.

1348
01:11:57,604 --> 01:12:01,942
Like… to become the note
or the instrument or the beat.

1349
01:12:05,321 --> 01:12:08,198
-That's what it's like to dance.
-[applauding in distance]

1350
01:12:11,994 --> 01:12:13,746
[Kylie] By the end of my recovery period,

1351
01:12:13,829 --> 01:12:18,125
Miss Allen called to ask
if I wanted to do the Fairy Queen part.

1352
01:12:18,709 --> 01:12:24,590
And I was scared. I was so scared
because I knew that Miss Allen called,

1353
01:12:24,673 --> 01:12:30,179
that means I am gonna
have to get back to the real work.

1354
01:12:43,734 --> 01:12:48,113
It was hard, but doing Fairy Queen
made me wanna dance again.

1355
01:12:48,197 --> 01:12:50,407
Like, I got that… like, that fight back.

1356
01:12:51,241 --> 01:12:53,827
I don't know how. I don´t,
like, know what made it,

1357
01:12:53,911 --> 01:12:55,913
but maybe
because I had to overcome myself.

1358
01:13:02,461 --> 01:13:04,713
[April]
I think the biggest sacrifice is…

1359
01:13:04,797 --> 01:13:05,964
time.

1360
01:13:06,048 --> 01:13:09,635
You spend so much time
training and training and training.

1361
01:13:10,302 --> 01:13:12,179
You sometimes just have to sacrifice

1362
01:13:12,262 --> 01:13:15,557
the regular middle-school,
high-school life

1363
01:13:15,641 --> 01:13:17,768
so when you're 20-something,

1364
01:13:18,352 --> 01:13:19,770
you're phenomenal.

1365
01:13:23,649 --> 01:13:26,402
[Karen] There's something about dance…

1366
01:13:26,485 --> 01:13:29,905
When you know
you're leaving your first dancing school,

1367
01:13:29,988 --> 01:13:32,658
and you're getting ready
to go out into the world,

1368
01:13:33,325 --> 01:13:37,246
with that wealth of information
that you've been receiving

1369
01:13:37,329 --> 01:13:41,375
since you were five years old
or seven years old or eight years old

1370
01:13:41,458 --> 01:13:45,754
is no longer just in your head,
but it is in your body.

1371
01:13:45,838 --> 01:13:48,674
It's in the way you talk.
It's in the way you walk.

1372
01:13:50,175 --> 01:13:52,136
That's when you become a dancer.

1373
01:13:52,219 --> 01:13:56,807
When the essence of what it is
and the essence of who you are

1374
01:13:56,890 --> 01:13:58,934
come together as one,

1375
01:13:59,726 --> 01:14:02,354
that's when you become an artist.

1376
01:14:12,448 --> 01:14:14,408
[audience laughs softly]

1377
01:14:16,410 --> 01:14:18,579
[applauding gradually intensifies]

1378
01:14:19,997 --> 01:14:22,583
This is a lifelong proposition.

1379
01:14:24,334 --> 01:14:25,669
It's a marriage.

1380
01:14:26,253 --> 01:14:29,798
It is, and it's one that I want to see…

1381
01:14:31,175 --> 01:14:33,469
have a continuation.

1382
01:14:34,470 --> 01:14:39,099
So that even past my prime
or ability to do what I do,

1383
01:14:39,183 --> 01:14:40,809
it will keep going.

1384
01:14:42,019 --> 01:14:44,229
'Cause I'm always gonna be
one of those kids.

1385
01:14:44,771 --> 01:14:45,981
I don't care if I'm 90.

1386
01:14:46,064 --> 01:14:48,525
I'm always,
in my heart, one of those kids

1387
01:14:48,609 --> 01:14:50,360
looking for that opportunity,

1388
01:14:50,444 --> 01:14:52,446
looking for who's gonna train me,

1389
01:14:52,529 --> 01:14:55,657
how am I gonna get to be
who I really know I could be?

1390
01:14:55,741 --> 01:14:57,242
Where's my opportunity?

1391
01:14:57,951 --> 01:15:00,871
I'm always gonna be
one of those kids in my heart.

1392
01:15:02,164 --> 01:15:04,583
["All I Want For Christmas Is You"
intro playing]

1393
01:15:08,670 --> 01:15:12,007
So listen to me.
Front line, you're the first ones out.

1394
01:15:12,090 --> 01:15:14,676
If you're not perfect,
everything else is a disaster.

1395
01:15:15,177 --> 01:15:18,138
You have to be what? Perfect.

1396
01:15:18,222 --> 01:15:22,059
[female singer]
♪ Underneath the Christmas tree ♪

1397
01:15:22,142 --> 01:15:25,145
[male singer]
♪ I just want you for my own ♪

1398
01:15:25,938 --> 01:15:30,400
[female singer]
♪ More than you can ever know ♪

1399
01:15:30,484 --> 01:15:36,782
♪ Make my wish come true ♪

1400
01:15:36,865 --> 01:15:42,621
♪ All I want for Christmas… ♪

1401
01:15:42,704 --> 01:15:45,123
-[female singer holding note]
-[audience applauding]

1402
01:15:47,543 --> 01:15:50,546
-♪ Is you ♪
-[song continues]

1403
01:15:51,755 --> 01:15:54,508
[Debbie] Five, six, five, six, go,

1404
01:15:54,591 --> 01:15:58,053
and one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

1405
01:15:58,136 --> 01:16:00,847
Two, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

1406
01:16:00,931 --> 01:16:01,765
and one.

1407
01:16:02,933 --> 01:16:03,976
Five, good!

1408
01:16:04,059 --> 01:16:07,646
And one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

1409
01:16:07,729 --> 01:16:08,689
Two, two, three…

1410
01:16:08,772 --> 01:16:11,817
[Jalyn] In ten years,
I wanna be at the Royal Ballet.

1411
01:16:11,900 --> 01:16:15,571
It's my dream to go there
and be able to dance on their stage, so…

1412
01:16:15,654 --> 01:16:17,155
[Debbie] Five, six, seven, eight.

1413
01:16:17,239 --> 01:16:19,283
One, two, three, four, five!

1414
01:16:20,284 --> 01:16:21,159
Go!

1415
01:16:23,370 --> 01:16:26,039
I wanna go to Stanford
and double major in kinesiology and dance.

1416
01:16:26,123 --> 01:16:27,165
Ooh, look at you! [laughs]

1417
01:16:27,249 --> 01:16:29,668
[Debbie] Two, three, four, five, go.

1418
01:16:29,751 --> 01:16:32,838
[Cathie] One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight.

1419
01:16:32,921 --> 01:16:34,840
[female student 1]
Hopefully, I'll become somebody

1420
01:16:34,923 --> 01:16:38,510
that changes the world, honestly,
'cause I-- I wanna see that happen.

1421
01:16:39,261 --> 01:16:42,931
[Cathie] One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven and one.

1422
01:16:43,640 --> 01:16:45,434
And five, six, seven…

1423
01:16:45,517 --> 01:16:47,144
I wanna be, like, a well-known dancer.

1424
01:16:47,227 --> 01:16:49,646
Maybe a choreographer,
but I love to dance.

1425
01:16:49,730 --> 01:16:51,773
Like, it's my passion.

1426
01:16:51,857 --> 01:16:55,193
[Cathie] One… drop, and here we go.

1427
01:16:55,277 --> 01:16:58,447
Probably be a lawyer, or-- and a dancer.

1428
01:16:59,072 --> 01:17:01,533
I'll probably have to do both of them
at the same time.

1429
01:17:02,909 --> 01:17:06,747
[Cathie] Five, six, next,
and one, two, three, four, five, six…

1430
01:17:06,830 --> 01:17:08,749
[female student 2]
In five years, I just wanna be

1431
01:17:08,832 --> 01:17:11,376
in the college of my choice, dancing.

1432
01:17:11,460 --> 01:17:13,920
I just really wanna be… [clicks tongue]

1433
01:17:14,004 --> 01:17:15,422
…stable.

1434
01:17:18,383 --> 01:17:20,969
I wanna have a permanent role on a TV show

1435
01:17:21,053 --> 01:17:22,929
or in a movie or something.

1436
01:17:23,013 --> 01:17:26,475
[Cathie] One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight.

1437
01:17:27,100 --> 01:17:29,770
In five years, I want to travel,

1438
01:17:29,853 --> 01:17:32,522
either on Broadway
or with a dance company.

1439
01:17:32,606 --> 01:17:35,942
[chorus]
♪ All I want for Christmas is you, baby ♪

1440
01:17:36,026 --> 01:17:40,656
I wanna be a lot of things. I wanna be
an author, an engineer, a dancer…

1441
01:17:41,615 --> 01:17:44,910
the president
of the United States. [chuckles]

1442
01:17:49,164 --> 01:17:51,667
[audience applauding, whooping]

1443
01:17:54,336 --> 01:17:56,213
[male actor]
Merry Christmas, everybody!

1444
01:17:56,296 --> 01:17:57,964
[electronic dance music playing]

1445
01:18:18,360 --> 01:18:20,028
I'm doing Kara for the first show,

1446
01:18:20,112 --> 01:18:22,781
and then I'm doing "Bollywood"
for the second show. [chuckles]

1447
01:18:44,261 --> 01:18:46,263
[Wayne] I got accepted to be on Broadway

1448
01:18:46,346 --> 01:18:47,472
at 20 years old

1449
01:18:47,556 --> 01:18:49,266
for the production of The Prom.

1450
01:18:49,349 --> 01:18:51,727
I was talking to my mom,
She was like, "We're not surprised."

1451
01:18:51,810 --> 01:18:54,771
I was like, "What? Wh-- Why?"
She was like, "We all saw it."

1452
01:18:55,689 --> 01:18:58,442
Recently, I started acting.
I'm on a show called Young Sheldon,

1453
01:18:58,525 --> 01:19:00,694
and I play, like,
a recurring character called Tam.

1454
01:19:00,777 --> 01:19:03,029
This job is killing me.
You wouldn't understand.

1455
01:19:03,113 --> 01:19:04,364
You realize I have a job?

1456
01:19:16,877 --> 01:19:18,503
[laughs]