Group planned to help rock band
‘Guster’ close Saturday night show
By:John Patten
The members of Hillsborough Senior Dancers known locally as the "Hillsborough Rockets and Rockettes" had hoped to be cutting the rug at Radio City Music Hall Saturday night, but instead the rug’s been pulled from underneath them.
After practicing for the last four weeks to participate in a concert by rock band "Guster" at the famous 7,000-seat hall, the dancers were informed late Tuesday that they cannot dance on the stage reserved for the more famous dancers.
"It’s heartbreaking," said Gloria Padgett, choreographer of the group. "We had one member who had 22 grandchildren and nieces and nephews planning to come up and see her."
According to Guster Assistant Manager Mariah Miller, left-footed Radio City officials called at the last moment to squash the dancers’ appearance on one of the most famous stages for dancing in the world.
"I think Radio City was afraid that the Rockettes would think we were mocking them," Ms. Miller said Wednesday, as the band scrambled to change its show’s finale now that the seniors can’t dance.
Ms. Miller said the group tries to offer something new to each of its shows, and the Hillsborough dancers were intended to be part of a spectacular finale with a horn section.
"They (the band’s members) thought it would have been the coolest thing they’d done yet," Ms. Miller said.
It’s tough to understand why Radio City Music Hall would have concerns about a group of amateur dancers, most of whom are more than 80 years old, sharing the stage with the professional group, but it’s even harder to ask them. Repeated attempts to find a spokesperson for Radio City for comment were to no avail.
Ms. Miller said the group had fully explained to Radio City’s management what their show entailed weeks ago and was given the green light. That’s when they contacted Ms. Padgett.
The idea to include the Hillsborough dancers in the show came at the suggestion of a Tufts University student named Alan Cohen, who saw the Hillsborough Senior Dancers perform at an area nursing home. Later, while working as an intern with band, he suggested incorporating the Hillsborough dancers into the band’s show.
The idea was to have senior citizens performing with the Tufts-based band for the young audience as a way of bridging the generation gap.
Ms. Miller said the band members wrestled with the news, considered ignoring the ban and sneaking the dancers onto the stage. That idea was dismissed, but they tried to present a videotape of the Hillsborough dancers to Radio City, and wrote letters to Radio City management complaining of the last-minute change.
Unfortuntely, none of it is very helpful to the Hillsborough dancers and their families. Wednesday, Social Services Director Mary Ellen Stahley, who helps coordinate the dancers appearances, was working to try and obtain ticket refunds for about 30 residents who planned to go to the show to see the dancers.
And, of course, the dancers are crushed their dreams of dancing at Radio City Music Hall ending on a bad note.