S2: Ep Bonus - A Day in the Life of a Dancer

Summary

The Turning - Seasons 1, 2 & 3 Episode: S2: Ep Bonus - A Day in the Life of a Dancer Release Date: April 27, 2023 Hosts: iHeartPodcasts and Rococo Punch

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Introduction: A Glimpse into Dance Theatre of Harlem

In this captivating bonus episode of The Turning, host Erica Lance takes listeners behind the scenes of the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) during a particularly challenging period in Tallahassee, Florida. Set in the summer of 2022, the episode provides an intimate look into the lives of the dancers as they navigate last-minute rehearsals, personal struggles, and the pressures of an impending performance.

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Rehearsal Challenges and Last-Minute Changes

The episode opens with Erica arriving at a last-minute evening rehearsal. The Dance Theatre of Harlem, a touring company based in New York, has unexpectedly split for this tour. Half of the dancers are in Houston, leaving the Tallahassee group scrambling to fill numerous gaps in the performance lineup.

Notable Quote:

"This is pretty good, but I actually need to go back to the big lift at the top. You guys need to be a wall."
[03:32] Frank

Virginia Johnson, the artistic director, leads the rehearsal, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and adaptability as dancers like Micah and Delaney step into new roles on short notice.

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Personal Stories: Overcoming Doubts and Building Confidence

Erica delves into the personal journeys of several dancers, highlighting their individual struggles and triumphs within the elite ballet company.

Micah Bullard's Journey: Micah, a 24-year-old dancer in his second season with DTH, shares his initial insecurities about classical ballet and how he overcame doubts cast by instructors who suggested he might be better suited for contemporary dance.

Notable Quote:

"I remember walking into the DTH building and it really felt like I was in some fantasy book or something... I was just Micah, and I was an individual."
[05:18] Micah Bullard

Micah discusses his journey from hiding his perceived weaknesses to embracing new challenging roles, demonstrating remarkable growth and resilience.

Crystal Serrano's Struggles: Crystal, another dedicated dancer, grapples with injuries sustained during rehearsals. Despite dancing on two sprains, she remains committed to perfecting her pas de deux with Claudio.

Notable Quote:

"My toes just ache. My heels are all red from the pointe shoes digging into them. My arches are cramping. My Achilles. Yeah, my calves are really tight."
[20:05] Crystal Serrano

Her determination underscores the physical and emotional demands placed on professional dancers.

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The Art of Dance: Rehearsals and Performances

Erica provides a detailed account of the rehearsal process, illustrating the meticulous preparation and the seamless coordination required for a flawless performance.

Technical Rehearsals: Virginia Johnson conducts thorough tech rehearsals, ensuring that lighting, music, and stage spacing are perfectly synchronized. Dancers like Annabelle and Claudio practice intricate lifts and turns, honing their skills under pressure.

Notable Quote:

"There's so much throwing around. One wrong move or, like, too much force, or like, him missing my arms, and I'm already jumping into his arms. It could go really wrong."
[09:34] Annabelle

Performing Under Pressure: As the performance time approaches, tensions rise. Dancers must adapt quickly to unforeseen challenges, such as missing costumes and last-minute choreography alterations.

Notable Quote:

"Is it this one?"
[30:01] Ingrid

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Performance Night: Chaos and Triumph

The climax of the episode centers around the final performance, aptly named "Return," choreographed by Robert Garland. Erica describes the ethereal atmosphere created by fog machines and dynamic lighting, setting the stage for a mesmerizing display of talent and passion.

Dynamic Choreography: The performance blends classical ballet with social dance movements, celebrating cultural influences and showcasing the versatility of the dancers.

Notable Quote:

"It's like you just get me."
[05:58] David

Unexpected Improvisation: Mid-performance, David Wright, a dancer stepping into his first principal role, improvises an aerial move that wasn't rehearsed. This spontaneous act surprises both his peers and the audience, highlighting his fearless commitment to excellence.

Notable Quote:

"He was doing flips. He was like surprising all of us because he didn't do that during rehearsal... and we didn't fall."
[32:44] Micah

Emotional Crescendo: Despite minor mishaps, the performance concludes on a high note with David's solo bow, symbolizing personal achievement and collective success.

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Reflection: The Reality Behind the Glamour

Post-performance, Erica reflects on the stark contrast between the fairy-tale image of ballet and the arduous reality faced by dancers. The episode emphasizes the balance between artistic expression and the relentless demands of their profession.

Notable Quote:

"There's so much hardship. But then, honestly, when you're on that stage, you feel that part... it becomes real. Yeah, it is you."
[12:32] Annabelle

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Conclusion: A Day of Dedication and Passion

As the episode wraps up, listeners gain a profound appreciation for the dedication and passion that define the dancers of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The narrative underscores the relentless pursuit of perfection, the strength found in community, and the transformative power of dance.

Final Thoughts: Erica highlights the unwavering spirit of the dancers as they prepare for future tours, embodying resilience and a shared love for their art.

Notable Quote:

"But good show tonight, dancers. Tim, thank you so much for making this happen. It's been crazy. Really good work."
[33:58] David

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Behind the Scenes: Production Credits

The Turning is a production of Rococo Punch and iHeartPodcasts, crafted with care by a dedicated team including Erica Lance as the narrator, Aylin Lance Lesser as a writer and producer, and Emily Forman as the story editor. The immersive storytelling is complemented by expert mixing and sound design from James Trout.

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For more insights and behind-the-scenes content, follow Rococo Punch on Instagram or visit theturningcocopunch.com.

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Transcript

[Annabelle]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Crystal]

Ugh.

[David]

Come on.

[Erica]

Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient. Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the.

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I feel like my true self with you.

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[David]

1234 and stop.

[Erica]

I'm in a dance studio in Tallahassee, Florida. It's summer 2022. In front of me are about a dozen dancers. They're in a last minute evening rehearsal. It wasn't originally on the schedule, but there's a show tomorrow and they have a lot to do before then.

[David]

Better? Yes. Surprise us.

[Erica]

From Iheart podcasts and Rococo punch. This is the turning room of mirrors. I'm Erica Lance. Today, a day in the life of a dancer. It's 27 hours to curtin.

[David]

Okay. Because it is better for the stage to be this way. So you guys, this is pretty good, but I actually need to go back to the big lift at the top. You guys need to be a wall. Three backs next to each other.

[Erica]

Dance Theatre of Harlem is a touring company. This means even though they're based in New York, they're on the road for months at a time. I met them here in Tallahassee. This is not a memorable tour stop. Nothing out of the ordinary happens. In a few months, they may have forgotten all of this. That doesn't make it any less grueling. The company split up this week. Half went to Houston on tour and half came here to Tallahassee.

[David]

5, 6, 7, 8. They shift to perfect. 6, 5, 6.

[Erica]

They've scheduled a last minute evening rehearsal the night before the show. Because with all of these dancers missing, there are a lot of holes to fill on stage. A bunch of dancers need to learn new material fast.

[Micah]

Is Keenan gonna go when David went before?

[David]

Keenan's gonna go when Dylan went before.

[Erica]

The artistic director, Virginia Johnson, leads rehearsal. She stands at the front of the studio, her back to the mirror. Right now, they're reviewing the grand finale of the show. Dancers enter with tricks and fancy moves, one after the other. A dancer named David has been promoted to a principal role. So now his spot is empty.

[David]

So we need somebody to do double tour one. Micah.

[Erica]

Micah Bullard covers his eyes bashfully when he's handed the new part. Micah's 24 years old and one of the newer company members. It's his second season with the Dance Theater of Harlem.

[Micah]

I remember walking into the DTH building and it really felt like I was in some fantasy book or something. Just seeing all this Melnin in ballet costumes I had literally never seen before. I've never seen this many black people doing ballet ever. It felt like the Chronicles of Narnia. It felt like walking through the wardrobe and seeing, like, this magical land that that existed this entire time. It was the first time I didn't feel like the black one or the black guy. I was just Micah, and I was an individual.

[David]

I felt like you guys coming in was good. So it was really just this. We need to do again. Yeah, okay.

[Erica]

Micah is in this elite ballet company, but there have been times when he's struggled with his confidence in classical ballet. A couple of times in the past, teachers told him to consider contemporary dance instead of ballet.

[Micah]

There was a point before all this happened where I just felt like I was really free in my movement. I always used to dance for me. And then, you know, after my competence was hit, all I would think about was my lack of turnout and all the skills I wasn't able to do. So I would start hiding in the back. I would start not doing certain combinations. If I knew that it wasn't going to go well, I would start second guessing myself. And I was so scared that someone was going to find out that I wasn't strong enough to be where I was. This virtually just turn off Ben. Okay?

[Erica]

And then Micah and Delaney in rehearsal today, Micah wears gray joggers and a tee, but his tall body, elongated posture, and graceful limbs make him look regal. Even when he leans on the bar watching, he's practicing multiple new parts for this show. One is a lead role.

[Micah]

Making sure that all the lifts and promenades and everything are right. That's always nerve wracking, but I don't know. I think it'll go well. We'll just have to rehearse it.

[David]

Crystal, in the beginning, you were turning your shoulders on that first thing. Should everybody be turning their shoulders?

[Erica]

Another person adapting to last minute changes is Crystal Serrano. Crystal has a duet in the show. She's danced this pas de deux for six years, but her normal partner isn't here, so someone else has to learn the part.

[Annabelle]

Well, this is my sixth partner.

[Erica]

The guy who dances it with her these days isn't here in Tallahassee. He's in the group that went to Houston. So now Claudio Davis has to learn it.

[Micah]

For Chris because of the height difference.

[Erica]

Claudio watched a video of the dance to teach himself the steps. Tonight's their first real rehearsal, and they have to perform it tomorrow.

[David]

5, 6, 6, 7.

[Erica]

Crystal and Claudio run the pas de deux straight through. It's from the first of three ballets in this show. This one's called Balamouk.

[Annabelle]

So this whole pas, we're like slingshotting one another. We're doing a push, pull effect, so counteracting each other, but still somehow flinging each other back into one another, kind of like tango. And it's really playful and sassy and you get really close and uncomfortable.

[Erica]

Miss. Pas de deux has a lot of spinning. Being this close to the dancers, I realize how acrobatic it is. It's different than watching from the audience. I can feel the floor bounce and rumble as they move. Right away, I'm almost hit by Crystal's leg when Claudio swings her around him in a circle. Crystal loves this stuff.

[Annabelle]

When I was 15, I had a director call me the daredevil. Cause I would just fling myself at the guy, and they're like, be careful. Some of them don't know. And I'm like, well, they're gonna learn. I love being lifted. I just absolutely love partnering. Cause there's this trust that you build with a person. It's my favorite thing to do.

[Erica]

Of course, she knows it can be.

[Annabelle]

Dangerous, especially with this paw, because there's so much throwing around. One wrong move or, like, too much force, or like, him missing my arms, and I'm already jumping into his arms. It could go really wrong.

[Erica]

Crystal's actually dancing on two sprains right now. She got them from partnering the first time they run the dance. Crystal can hear. They're not with the music. Quadio's rushing.

[Annabelle]

Because I have done it before. I know the musical cues. But as a male dancer, they usually lead you. I had to kind of, like, look at him or tell him whisper, like, slow down or stretch this out. Things like that.

[Erica]

He has a lot to remember in this first run. And Claudio, who's a big guy, is using a lot of force.

[Annabelle]

Have you ever been in the water and you kind of have water up your nose? The first one, I feel like he spun me so fast. I felt like I was underwater. Air went on my nose, and I was like, oh, my God.

[Erica]

Because he's so powerful, Crystal can feel him think, can tell he's thinking hard to get it right.

[Annabelle]

I try to connect with him through his eyes, so he knows that I'm here. That's my favorite thing about doing a paw. Because if you connect with that person, you kind of calm them down on both ends.

[David]

There's a little bit of the meter that you're missing in the beginning. So 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. You have the hitch kick on this. It's a little bit too late that you were doing that.

[Erica]

After that first run through, artistic director Virginia Johnson walks them through the trouble spots.

[David]

Attitude here.

[Annabelle]

Okay, so that's a moment.

[Micah]

Yeah, I think I just have to wait.

[David]

I just was nervous. Can we go from the very beginning? Just for a little bit? When you do this and you lean on him, then you have to. You have to counterbalance each other's weights. It's going to work really well with the two of you, but it's not happening yet.

[Erica]

As the three of them talk, they use their bodies to show what they mean. Crystal And Claudio seamlessly step into complicated lifts together.

[Annabelle]

Let my arms stretch. Yeah, like that. And then here, give me a second. And then this was really good. Well, I started dancing when I was five. I didn't think that ballet was real. I thought that it was something like being a superhero or a unicorn, something magical, you know, something that you hear about, but it's not attainable. And I think of the music box type of ballerina, this beautiful image of a female dancer in like a tutu and she's just propped up on this pedestal. It's always about a little girl in a fantasy, that image of perfection.

[Erica]

How does real life as a dancer compare to this fairy tale, whimsical, imagined creature that you didn't even think was real?

[Annabelle]

There's so much hardship. But then, honestly, when you're on that stage, you feel that part. When the curtain rises and you're in this crown, in this beautiful sparkling tutu, you feel like that mystical beauty that you've always seen but didn't think it was real. But you are that part in your head, you know, and so it becomes real. Yeah, it is you.

[David]

Are there any questions? Are there any questions?

[Erica]

After a few hours, it's time to wrap up for the night.

[David]

Thank you. Dancers rest well.

[Erica]

The dancers fit in a few more steps of practice on their own. Get dressed, check their phones and make their way to the bus back to the hotel. 24 hours to go.

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[Erica]

So we are here at the theater today. It's the tech rehearsal and they're going to run everything with the lights and the music on stage. See how the spacing is. Spacing is different on this stage and make sure everyone knows all the steps. And then tonight after rehearsal is the show.

[David]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

[Erica]

The artistic director, Virginia Johnson, leads the tech rehearsal on stage. Seven and a half hours to curtain six, seven, eight.

[David]

Was that the same arm? Yes. Good. Okay.

[Erica]

You've got about 10 minutes.

[David]

Okay, thank you.

[Erica]

The dancers are the ones on stage, but there's a whole team of people to make this show happen. Stage managers, tech and lighting crew to start. Downstairs is a maze of hallways. Someone from the company has taped up laminated colored arrows all over the place to tell you where to go. A green arrow for the green room, yellow arrow for the stage. An arrow for the artistic director's room, for catering, for physical therapy. There's also a room down here with a rolling hanger cart full of costumes. Steam billows out. One person steams costumes while another sews a skirt. Yep.

[Crystal]

That'S all I do.

[Erica]

Katie Freeman, the wardrobe supervisor, sits at the sewing machine like she lives in front of it. She's been touring with the company for years.

[Crystal]

I make sure everything's steamed and repaired, change on stage, manage their shoes. I make shoe paint that matches everyone's skin tone.

[Erica]

She remixes the paint as their colors change with the seasons or today, because some of the dancers spent a lot of time in the Florida sun at the hotel pool. Tech rehearsal lasts hours, and by the end, I am exhausted just from standing around. I can't imagine how the dancers feel. They break at three for food. Four and a half hours to Curtin. There's a catered buffet. They grab stuffed roasted red peppers on paper plates and plop down in groups at plastic tables.

[Crystal]

You're catching us at the very end of tour. So we were a little more lively a month ago.

[Erica]

Delaney Washington smiles even when she complains. She's one of the youngest dancers in the company.

[Crystal]

I'm the baby, so they like to make fun of me.

[Erica]

She takes some Celebrex for her herniated discs.

[Crystal]

Two of them in my lower back.

[Erica]

So what does that mean for you?

[Crystal]

My toes just ache. My heels are all red from the pointe shoes digging into them. My arches are cramping. My Achilles. Yeah, My calves are really tight. My body needs a break. I don't even know. Like, I cannot put on a pointe shoe, but I have to.

[Erica]

In a few hours, everyone hurts. A lot of them have injuries of one kind or another. They're only halfway through this tour, but there's something they're all looking forward to.

[Crystal]

We get to go home tomorrow, the first week we'll have in New York since April.

[Micah]

Yeah, we've been on work for like two months.

[Erica]

Yes.

[Micah]

We've been going back to New York for like 60 hours though, which is.

[Crystal]

Honestly, Honestly kind of worse.

[Micah]

Kind of worse? Yeah.

[Crystal]

That is not true, cuz it's just enough time to do laundry and settle down and then you have to leave again and repack.

[Erica]

The dancers walk back to the hotel in the muggy Florida heat. They have an hour there to kill a lot of 20 minute power naps. They return to the theater in sweats. On stage, they stretch quietly at portable bars.

[David]

Alright, dancers, let's begin with our plies. What you need for plies? Two demis. Grand forward, back, side, side.

[Erica]

Then they warm up again with another ballet class.

[David]

We'll just do one side and balance.

[Erica]

As always. They start with slow plies. Big knee bends, deep stretches. They glide their arms through basic positions. It feels meditative, this exercise. The slow plies are something they do twice a day, always at the beginning of class. All right, one person is skipping warm ups though. Ingrid Silva is downstairs in the women's dressing room. It's not every day you see someone in costume changing a diaper.

[Ingrid]

Not every day at all. But that has been part of my routine now for what, six months?

[Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Erica]

Her daughter Laura is a year and a half old.

[Ingrid]

No, we have to put the shorts on.

[Erica]

Ingrid danced during her pregnancy. And after Laura was born, she warmed up at the bar with Laura strapped to her chest. She literally danced with you the whole class?

[Ingrid]

Yes, like from inside my belly to the outside of it. It was kind of cool. And I think that's why she's so connected to dance and so connected to ballet, because she's been doing it for a long time now.

[Erica]

Laura tours with Ingrid. The entire company helps watch her.

[Ingrid]

I mean, I was nervous on going on stage because all I could think about was her, like, is she okay? Is she happy? Is she eating? Like, is anybody watching her? What if she falls? And things like that? But I feel like now it's more.

[Erica]

At ease, even with a baby in tow. In the past two days on tour with her, I've never seen Ingrid anything but calm. She has a sense of peace about her.

[Ingrid]

Say yes.

[Advertiser]

Yes.

[Ingrid]

Now we're gonna put some makeup on, right? Santa evai. Santa, help Mommy.

[Erica]

Ingrid puts on eyeshadow, false eyelashes, a bright red lip. Laura sits on the table between her mother and the mirror. She holds makeup brushes and tiny fists and sweeps them across her face, mimicking her mom.

[Ingrid]

Happy baby. If she'll become a ballerina, we don't know.

[David]

Oh my God, my feet are swollen.

[Erica]

The other dancers finish the onstage warm up and pile into the dressing room. She questions for music. I was gonna say 90s R&B.

[Advertiser]

90S.

[Erica]

45 minutes to curtain. The room is busy but calm. Sure, they're getting ready for a performance, but that's routine. They do this every night. They sit at the dressing mirrors. Some are topless or naked. They take turns playing with Laura before Crystal puts on the costume she'll wear for the pas de deux with Guadio. She sits on top of the dressing table. She leans her face toward the mirror. She starts the transformation into that music box ballerina she pictured as a kid.

[Annabelle]

I just like to be really close so I can see every detail.

[Erica]

What are you doing right now?

[Annabelle]

Doing my eyeshadow. Yeah. Making sure that I contour and make my eyes look bigger than they are with bright colors and shapes and shading.

[David]

Change.

[Erica]

Intermission return half hour. 30 minutes to go. Wardrobe supervisor Katie checks on everyone every day.

[Crystal]

A zipper pisses me off.

[Erica]

Her apron holds needles, threads, scissors, bobby pins, Sharpies and Advil.

[Crystal]

I have to sew some people into costumes. Yeah, that's missing her earrings. I gotta put some butt glue on the cheeks to keep everything in.

[Erica]

Butt glue? Butt glue.

[Crystal]

It's this awesome body adhesive that, like, keeps everything in place.

[Erica]

Wow. At eight minutes to curtain, some people still aren't in costume. DTH Company, this is your 10 minute call. I head to the stage. There's a fog machine that they've started going, so the stage is starting to get a little hazy. And you can see the light from the lights above sort of streaming down in stripes in, like, rays through the haze. And it smells like Halloween fog machines. It's very otherworldly. I walk onto the stage. The audience doesn't know that behind the red velvet curtain, dancers are filtering in. They stretch and chat. Some sit on the floor. Katie's here, the wardrobe person, cutting some threads off of Micah's costume. They're gonna do their curtain speech now.

[Crystal]

And then we'll get rolling.

[David]

Okay. Knock em dead.

[Erica]

Virginia reminds the dancers of the mood of the opening scene.

[David]

Remember, you're on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Your future depends on your happiness. Make it happen. Make it. And point your feet at the same time.

[Micah]

Don't forget to point your feet.

[David]

This is south of 1, 2, 3.

[Crystal]

4.2.

[Erica]

This way. Oh, that's better.

[David]

Okay.

[Erica]

Mard mered. Virginia says it means shit in French. Dancers speak for good luck. In the final moments before the curtain opens, they stand in the center Cluster that starts the piece. One of them bounces, remembering steps. She shakes her head to test the pins in her hair. One of them makes the sign of the cross. Ingrid bends her knees slowly in place. Delaney and Micah say something and laugh. Claudio rubs his hands together. Crystal stands completely still. One by one, they settle into position. Face forward, arms over your chest. Feet together, head down. The stage lights go down. The curtain lifts. What happens next is hard to describe. I've heard this music many times by now. I've seen them practice these steps this exact moment. But this time is different. They move in and out of lights that filter through fog and change color over time. The dancers cast long shadows. Their costumes are red, orange, bright yellow and green. Their movements are silky, fluid in a way I can hardly believe. In the blink of an eye, they might shift from this chaos of each doing their own steps to moving perfectly in unison, then back into chaos. They spin in and out of formations. The fact that this all happens without words makes it feel like a trance. It's beautiful. The piece revs up as it goes, and the lifts and turns become more acrobatic. Claudio swings Crystal around him and their pas de deux, like they practiced throughout the evening, dancers come on and off stage, make their way to the basement to change for the next number or arrest. It's organized chaos. I hit Crystal by accident in the face with my arm. And I said, oh, shit. Live theater. Micah's disappointed.

[Micah]

After the first piece, I messed up the last section. I just started getting, like, doing my old part in a different. So at one point I was facing the wrong direction, but I don't think it was too noticeable. But I'm a huge perfectionist, so I was like, dang it, the whole time. Other parts actually went the best. It's gone, but all I'm going to think about now is, you messed up that one part.

[Erica]

Then it's time to change for the next number. But there's a problem.

[Ingrid]

Is it this one?

[Annabelle]

Does it say Lilith Lily?

[Erica]

So I. Who has my costume. A costume is missing, and Delaney has nothing to wear.

[Crystal]

I'm naked, though.

[Erica]

They need Katie. Wardrobe queen Delaney wraps a towel around herself and runs to the wardrobe room. Soon Katie's steaming a new leotard for her. No longer naked, Delaney now paces backstage before the second piece, shaking out her limbs.

[Crystal]

This one makes me a little nervous. Last week was my first time doing this piece, so. Thank you, Alex. So I still have those. Like, it's still little new jitters.

[Erica]

Bet she puts those aside by the time of the final piece. The dancers are tired, but I feel the energy rise, like they're loosening up. One more to go. Stand by. House to house. Standby. House out. Stand by. Warmers out. Stand by. Main curtain out. Standby. Micah is excited. The final piece is a high energy dance that Dance Theater of Harlem performs constantly.

[Micah]

It's the crowd favorite. People go crazy for it.

[Erica]

And Micah knows his friend David Wright has his big role in this one.

[Micah]

Tonight, the principal part for the first time.

[Erica]

David's first principal role.

[Micah]

I had one rehearsal Friday and then one. One rehearsal yesterday.

[Erica]

Warmer's out and lights one. Go. The dancers rev up and in the wings they get goofy, hype each other up, motion to each other from across the stage. Main curtain out. Go. Soundtrack 1 and lights 1.5. Go. This last piece is called Return, choreographed by Robert Garland.

[Micah]

Probably my favorite piece in the wrap. It's to James Brown music and Aretha Franklin. And it uses, you know, classical ballet technique throughout, but it also uses a lot of social dance movement that you'll.

[Erica]

See black people do at clubs, in the house, on the street. And relating it to ballet influences. Daphne Lee is another dancer in the company. You'll see the four female dancers do this kind of funky move, and then they change it completely to the ballet version of it. And then they change it back into. Into the black version of it. By the final movement, the guys are dancing in the wings while they wait to enter. It feels like a party. In the grand finale, David takes the center while everyone else dances around him. They whisper encouragement to him while they dance.

[Micah]

They would just say, come on, David, you've got this. While still trying to do their own choreography.

[Erica]

And then it's his big solo.

[Micah]

So then we were doing the soul train line. Really. I'm just trying to remember the steps.

[Erica]

And then David makes a split second decision. He starts to improvise.

[Micah]

He was doing flips. He was like surprising all of us because he didn't do that during rehearsal. Just kind of in the moment, thought, I'm gonna do this. And then all of a sudden he did an aerial. I did a side aerial on stage that I hadn't rehearsed and we didn't fall. And we were all like, audibly like David. Yeah, it was. It was great. And he. He tore it up.

[Erica]

They line up to bow. All together. Then in twos. David takes a final bow alone. His first principal role bow. After the curtain finally lowers, David collapses. He lies on his back, a huge smile on his face. The other dancers cluster around him and clap. The show wasn't perfect, but they're going out on a high. They'll get a week off back in New York and then they'll do it all again. They'll learn new parts, have new injuries, travel to new cities and dance.

[David]

But good show tonight, dancers. Tim, thank you so much for making this happen. It's been crazy. Really good work. Really good work. And guess what? Friday's a day off. You definitely earned it. You definitely earned it. So travel safely. Travel safely. Thank you. Thank you. Now get out of your costumes. Thank you. Good show. Good show.

[Frank]

SA.

[Erica]

The Turning is a production of Rococo Punch and I Heart Podcasts. It's written and produced by Aylin, Lance Lesser and me. Our story editor is Emily Forman, mixing and sound design by James Trout. Jessica Carisa is our assistant producer. Andrea Aswahe is our digital producer. Our executive producers are John Peratti and Jessica Alpert at Rococo Punch at Katrina Norvell and nikki itor@iheartpodcasts. For photos and more details on the series, follow us on Instagram Rococo Punch and you can reach out via email. Theturningcocopunch.com I'm Erica Lance. Thanks for listening.

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[Annabelle]

This is an iHeart podcast.