Further problems ensued because some kids were reluctant to come after missing a few sessions, Roth says, "Kids are sometimes ambivalent about coming. They are afraid that they won't catch up with the group or that they missed the crucial step." In attempt to mitigate this problem, Citystep instructors make an effort to work with these children before or after the rehearsal in "extra help sessions."
Even when the children came to the Saturday classes, Citystep had trouble finding space where they could rehearse. At first the Saturday program was scheduled to meet in the studios above the Freshman Union, but Citystep lost that space because the Union did not have enough weekend staff, Roth says. Fortunately, the MAC agreed to give the dance company a place to work. "Saturday session meant there was a constant battle to find space," Roth says.
As a result, Roth says the organization is considering changing next year's Saturday program to an after-school one.
The undergraduates who participate in Citystep say they view their work as more than just teaching dance.
"My role was to prepare the kids for the experience of performing on the mainstage and to make sure their experience was a good one," says Diane M. Paulus '88, one of the three directors of Citystep.
Although Shannon says she came to Citystep to further her dancing, she remained involved with the program for other reasons. "I came for the dance more than for the public service at first, but now both sides have grown," Shannon says.
Where Go Our Feet? marks the first time that Citystep has performed on the Loeb. In the past, the show has been held in school auditoriums such as the one in the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.
The prospect of performing at the Loeb enhanced the year-long creative process, Paulus says. The stage is much bigger than in other local theaters, and the lighting and sound equipment is more sophisticated, she says. "As performing on the Loeb mainstage became a reality, the show grew artistically," Paulus says.
The new location also allows Citystep to provide the kids with a unique experience. "These inner-city kids don't otherwise have the opportunity to perform on a stage like the Loeb," Shannon says.
But Citystep's presence at the Loeb prompted some controversy earlier this year. Only two student shows a year are given Mainstage slots, and some students argued that because Citystep is not an official member of the Harvard/Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) and is a dance performance, it should not be allowed to perform at the Loeb.
But Paulus defends the Citystep production's right to perform at the Loeb. "What we have is a real dramatic show and we only applied to the mainstage on the merits of this year's production," Paulus says. "There has been a precedent involved because Gilbert and Sullivan [which is also not an HRDC member] performed there before us."
Where Go Our Feet? centers on the children's lives after school and features the six Super Steppers as the main dancers. The children encounter problems in either their extra curricular activities or their home lives. The problems range from striking out at a Little League game to having parents who argue continuously.
The major production numbers include the street gang scene, featuring the Graham and Parks kids, a baseball game scene starring the Tobin School students and a scene in which the Longfellow children act out the Tarzan story. The finale features 140 Citystep kids and undergraduates.
Although last Friday's opening night performance garnered a standing ovation, the Citystep directors say they were left unsatisfied. "We did our opening night performance and we went out for dinner. We thought to ourselves, 'There is something wrong with the show.' Then we sat there at [the restaurant] and mapped out the problems we had with the show on a napkin," says Paulus. "A lot of things were not reading, were not coming across like we wanted."
"The show needed a little simplification and pacing," Shannon says. In order to accomplish these things they changed the costuming and staging, she says. "We dressed the kids in more colorful coustumes and the undergraduates in less colorful clothes in the supermarket scene," Shannon says. "We also brought action that was crucial to the story line more downstage."
In addition, the directors called a special Saturday morning rehearsal for the Super Steppers. "All of a sudden nine months of work comes off in an hour," Shannon says. "Our goal this year was to tell a story. We didn't want a group of dances connected by a weak line, and the story just wasn't coming across."
Adding an intermission and a brief narration before the performance also helped the show to run more smoothly, Paulus says. "They [Super Steppers] were able to take the changes which refers to something in their training. They dealt like pros," Paulus says.
The directors say that Friday night's disappointment helped them to teach the cast the important lesson that everyone needs to improve.
"Once they do opening night, the cast thinks that they can take the easy road," Paulus says. "If you allow yourself to change things, you can make your product even better."
Shannon agrees and says, "Saturday it was totally there. The kids as well as the undergraduates learned what is important to us: it is necessary to continue to improve. The creative process shouldn't end."