Centreville's Emily Stacks, 18, is kicking up her heels in a big way. This 2002 Westfield High grad, daughter of Marnie and Steve Stacks of Sully Station, is in New York City dancing with the famed Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.
It's pretty heady stuff for a teen-ager, but Stacks — who's danced for 10 years and performed the last six years with Encore Theatrical Arts Project — has earned her shot at the big time.
"She was one of the kids who was a slow starter but, by the time she was 15, everyone knew she was an exceptional dancer," said Encore director and choreographer Raynor van der Merwe. "She started getting scholarships and national recognition."
Indeed, Stacks received a scholarship to Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester and was planning to start there, last month, as a dance major. But fate intervened when van der Merwe saw an ad in the New York trade paper, Backstage, for a Rockettes audition.
"Raynor called me in July, about three days before the audition," said Stacks. "I'd auditioned for them, the past three years, and they told me to come back when I was 18 — so I did." She said the audition wasn't difficult, but it was long and tiring.'
"We auditioned at Radio City Music Hall, from 7 a.m.-5 p.m., for two days," she said. "About 700 people tried out, and only about 20 got the job." The hopefuls were taught some of the choreography from the renowned, Christmas Spectacular shows the Rockettes perform each year.
"They broke us into groups of three to audition," said Stacks. "We learned different dances, and they made cuts throughout. I was nervous, but I was more having fun. I wasn't worried about getting the job — I was there to do my best and get seen."
She'd been there before, but had never seen the Rockettes' show. Said Stacks: "It's kinda funny that I'll be in it before I get to see it." She said the hardest part was "the waiting around, seeing if you were going to get cut." However, it wasn't a stressful situation, she said.
"The choreographer and director made it fun," said Stacks. "They'd look for people's talent and then look at how tall you were [she's 5 foot 8 inches, and the Rockettes range from 5 foot 6 inches to 5 foot 10 inches] and how you fit with other people."
Just 36 Rockettes perform on stage at a time, but there are actually 72 of them, alternating among 205 shows a year. Finally, at the end of Stacks' second day of auditions, came the big announcement of which girls made the grade.
"They called out our names and said, 'You're officially a Radio City Rockette — congratulations,'" she said. "I thought, 'Oh, my gosh.' I couldn't believe it; I still can't believe it now — I'm on cloud 9."
Her contract is for the Christmas show, which runs Nov. 7-Dec. 29, every day, for up to six shows a day. Then, if the Rockettes want her to perform in other shows, it's a possibility. Meanwhile, Stacks left Centreville on Oct. 1 and began rehearsing, Oct. 9.
"I have an apartment about 15 blocks from Radio City, so I can walk to it," she said, shortly before leaving Virginia. "I've been to New York before, but never lived there by myself, so I'm apprehensive and excited at the same time. I don't know what to expect."
Stacks plans taking as many classes as she can at the Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. "They have incredible teachers there," she said. "I'm kinda hoping [the Rockette experience] will give me a foot in the door to other auditions because they'll know that I worked hard and take [dancing] seriously. They'll see me as a professional, instead of as a kid who's come to audition."
She likes all styles of dancing and usually practices about 30 hours a week. She intends to eventually return to school (her scholarship's on hold for a year) but, if more jobs come her way, she'll stay in the Big Apple.
As for van der Merwe, she believes this is just the beginning for her former student. "I'm so incredibly proud of her," she said. "We're taking two busloads up there to see her in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular."