WEBVTT FILE

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]