Students at Bonnie Lindholm’s School of the Dance in Palatine are setting their sights particularly high these days, and with good reason. One of their teachers, Corrinna Lindholm, has joined the high-stepping ranks of the world-famous Rockettes, performing through Dec. 27 in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Rosemont Theatre.
“One day I’m just their teacher. Then they come to the show, and they act as if they’ve never seen me before!” quipped Lindholm, who teaches children ages 8 and up in tap, ballet, jazz, pointe and lyrical styles at her mother’s school.
“I’ve been taking classes from Corrinna for seven years, and my sisters also study with her,” said Kelly Megleo, 19, of Palatine. “The fact that she became a Rockette made me see you really can reach your dreams as a dancer.”
“I’m always encouraging my older students to consider dancing as a profession,” Lindholm added. “I also tell them what my mother told me, which is to learn every type of dancing possible, because versatility is so important in this business.”
A native of Buffalo Grove, Lindholm started dancing at age 2, literally following in the footsteps of her mother, Bonnie, of Buffalo Grove.
“Corrinna just about learned to walk on the dance floor,” her mother recalled. “I’d bring her with me when I was teaching, and by 2 she was tagging along in a class with her older brother. . . . Raising a Rockette certainly didn’t cross my mind at the time; I was just worried about keeping her standing up in class!”
The youngster took classes at her mother’s studio through junior high and started teaching there when she was just 15. She attended high school at the prestigious Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Upon graduation, she joined Twyla Tharp and the American Ballet Theatre in New York. After a year she then moved to Los Angeles with her brother, Terry, also a dancer, and worked in a variety of film and stage projects before returning to Buffalo Grove to perform, teach and choreograph.
Now 28 and in her second year with the Rockettes, the dancer has an impressive resume, including dancing in several major Disney productions and choreographing shows. She has worked with the Chicago Bulls, dancing in and choreographing halftime shows; choreographing for the Miss Pre-Teen USA pageant in Chicago; and most recently orchestrating the dance numbers in Chicago’s Festival of Lights holiday parade, in which 36 of her students, including Megleo, also performed.
She ranks her Rockettes experience at the top of her dancing accomplishments. As one of only 200 Rockettes in the nation, Lindholm appears in seasonal shows as well as at special events and corporate performances throughout the year.
“It’s such an incredible honor to be chosen as a Rockette. I grew up watching the Rockettes on TV, and now I’m the one up on stage. It’s still overwhelming at times,” she said. “Being a Rockette is also a huge responsibility, because the group’s reputation is legendary. If I were to make a mistake, I’d let down the whole line. I put a lot of pressure on myself, because teamwork is everything to this show.”
Lindholm is one of five Chicago-area women in the 18-member dance team performing at the Rosemont Theatre. At 5 foot 7, with a 36-inch inseam, she is a “perfect fit” for the organization, which requires its dancers to be between 5 foot 5 1/2 and 5 foot 9 and demonstrate superior skills in tap, modern, jazz and ballet. The women also must display a “radiant energy that will come across the footlights to their audience,” according to the guidelines laid down in the Rockettes’ handbook.
Eileen Grace, assistant choreographer for the Chicago show, said, “Corrinna really sparkles in front of an audience. She really seems to love what she does. From the very first day, she was a very strong and precise dancer. She’s been a delightful, hard-working addition to the show.”
Her admission to the Rockettes’ ranks came as no surprise to one of her former teachers, Al Gilbert of Hollywood, a dance master and choreographer of international renown.
“Corrinna is a terrific, total dancer,” Gilbert said. “She shines on stage, and she has the beauty to go with it. Plus, her attitude is extremely professional and has been ever since she was a child. She truly has star quality.”
She also has stamina. For the Christmas show, Lindholm began rehearsals in October, dancing seven days a week, six hours a day–always in 2 1/2-inch-high heels. She will perform in 56 shows in Chicago’s four-week run.
“Even though I’ve been a dancer my whole life, I never realized until I became a Rockette how difficult it is to be so unbelievably precise and sharp in dancing. When I first started rehearsing, every bone in my body hurt,” Lindholm explained. “And yes, your feet do absolutely kill from dancing in high heels so long. But you go on and keep smiling.”
The Chicago show varies only slightly from the New York original, with a few more numbers and a few fewer dancers. The two-hour program features more than 100 cast and crew members, 300-plus costumes, three camels, five sheep, two donkeys and a dog. But it’s the Rockettes who steal the show.
Among Lindholm’s favorite numbers in this year’s show are the all-bear version of the Nutcracker (she’s the one in the panda suit); the wooden soldiers piece from the original 1933 Radio City Music Hall show; two Chicago-only numbers called “Bizzazz” and “Holiday Season”; and “The Living Nativity” grand finale, featuring the entire 55-member cast of dancers and singers.
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular made its debut in Chicago last season, when 75,000 people attended. This year’s run is longer by two weeks, and its success is mirrored in similar new shows in Branson, Mo.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Detroit; and Los Angeles. The original New York show is celebrating its 65th season.
Lindholm (who dances fifth in line from the right as the audience views the stage) hopes to be with the Rockettes for a long time to come. But like all the dancers in the troupe, she must audition every year, typically vying with about 2,000 other dancers.
“Auditioning is kind of nerve-racking, but it also makes it all the more exciting to be a Rockette. It’s truly an incredible experience that I’ll carry with me throughout my life.”
The dancer credits her father with getting her to her first, life-changing audition for the Rockettes. Terry Lindholm, a former dancer who works as a jeweler as well as part-time administrator at the family dance studio, heard about the audition on the radio at 10 o’clock the night before the actual event. He called Corrinna, who was reluctant. But by 11:30, he had persuaded her to go, with the added encouragement of her husband, Dan Stoner, a dancer-turned-commercial pilot.
“The audition was very intense, lasting for about three hours, and included a lot of tap, jazz and ballet,” she said. “I got kept to the very end, so I knew I’d done well. But because the auditions are national, I didn’t hear back for three months. It was a long wait.”
Her father, who will see Corrinna perform in the Radio City show about 20 times this season, said, “We always knew that Corrinna would do special things with her dancing, but to see your daughter walk out on stage with the Rockettes is truly moving. It gives me goosebumps, in fact.
“After all her hard work and a lifetime of dance classes, it’s wonderful to see your child get the adulation of an audience at this level. No matter where else her career takes her, she’ll always be able to say, `I was a Rockette.’ It really is a dream come true for her and all who love her.”
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For tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Rosemont Theatre, call 312-559-1212; prices range from $19.50 to $54.50.
