Imagine if Denver Broncos punter Britton Colquitt had to unleash a head-high kick to the pigskin 300 times a game.
While it would speak to a historically wretched Sunday at the office for the Broncos’ offense, it would be just another hour on stage for the Rockettes, the dance troupe that calls New York City’s Radio City Music Hall home.
And unless sportswriters are keeping a secret, Colquitt doesn’t perform his heroics in makeup and high heels.
Dancers are athletes, make no mistake. And the 36 women who make up the Rockettes, who will perform five shows in Denver in mid-November, maintain a fitness regimen designed to hone strength, stamina and flexibility.
Their gym routines have direct, useful applications for non-dancers looking to stay in shape. A recent afternoon found two Rockettes — area natives Alana Niehoff and Jenee Brown — running through a regimen at Denver’s Push Gym with trainer Kathryn O’Connell.
“We do up to 17 shows a week and sometimes four shows a day during our season, so it’s taxing,” said Niehoff, 28, who grew up in Aurora. “It’s like being a runner. The further you get into a race, the more tired you get. But there’s also the exhilaration of getting to the end.”
But dancers, like runners, can’t operate solely on adrenaline. A base line of fitness comes into play, one developed not just by the 90 minutes a day of rehearsal, but by time in the gym or studio doing stretches and exercises.
The main emphasis is on the biomechanics of the legs, including the quadriceps and hamstrings of the upper leg, the calf muscles, the iliotibial band of the outer thigh, and the hip flexors that support that joint.
Abdominal muscles and those in the lower back are also emphasized, not just for all the bending and kicking but for maintaining posture.
Dancers stay busy.
“I do a lot of cardio, running on the treadmill,” said Brown, 28, who grew up in Thornton. “We try to get 90 minutes of activity each day, and sometimes it’s another 90 minutes on top of that, because that’s how long the dance classes are.”
Dancers also must be intensely aware of posture and body alignment, which their strength routines also enhance.
Then there is the matter of that all-important set of equipment, their feet.
Dancers have as many issues with their feet and toes as a long-distance backpacker.
“Like any dance job, there’s a potential to get blisters, corns and those unpleasant things,” Niehoff said. “Your feet can get pretty beat up.”
A bit of preventive medicine is the trick, the two agreed. “I used to get really bad blisters,” Brown said. “But you learn how to put athletic tape on your toes and heels before they get blistered. Tape any hot spot as soon as it starts acting up. Don’t wait.”
William Porter: 303-954-1877 or wporter@denverpost.com
Flexercise beneficial
tickets for the rockettes. The Rockettes bring their Radio City Christmas Spectacular to the Pepsi Center in mid-November for five shows. Tickets range from $39.50 to $69.50, plus service charges. They are available at the Pepsi Center box office, online at and by phone at 1-866-461-6556. Shows are 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 13, and 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Nov. 14.
