Golden opportunity for dancers
Call it Monday Morning Fever. Mariah Carey's "All That Glitters" movie started filming here yesterday, but some local dancers were still sweating over whether they will get hired for the film. Loosely based on "A Star Is Born," the picture features Carey as an '80s club singer who becomes a megastar. Choreographer Neisha Folkes held auditions at the downtown Randoph Dance Theatre Monday morning to fill 20 dancer spots. More than 100 fit-looking hopefuls showed up.
Folkes was searching for hip, young male and female movers and shakers. That left me out on so many counts I lost track. "And you'd have to wear a G-string," said Folkes at the try out, adding some playfulness to her mockery. Some of the selected dancers - they'll be notified by phone tomorrow - will appear in a video shoot within the movie. The guys will wear only G-strings and body paint. "And they have to be strong, masculine and sexy," said Folkes who will also appear in "All That Glitters" as a dance instructor.
How tough is it to pick? "I can almost see them coming through the door," admitted Folkes, a Juilliard and Alvin Ailey troupe graduate. One of them was 21-year-old Rhett George, a graduate of Brampton's Mayfield School For The Arts. He's currently working in "The Lion King" ensemble as a dancer while under-studying Simba. He's an eye catcher. But like most dancers, he's not banking on the job.
"If I get it," George said of the All That Glitters' gig, "I'm hoping I can work something out with the Lion King scheduling." His first professional job was beating out the hundreds of dancers who tried out for the Toronto production of "Rent" five years ago.
Melissa Leifer, 18, has less experience and was less confident about her chances. "I'm not really sure what to expect," she said, just before she was called on to dance before Folkes. Leifer has been dancing for 10 years and will start the Ryerson dance program in the fall. In the meantime, she auditions two or three times a week around town. Her approach? "Look like you're having fun," she suggested offering a begrudging half-smile, "even through all this stress." (Toronto Sun)
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