An Early 'Christmas Spectacular' Comes to Darien

For more than 100 second-grade girls, it was ‘a little bit of Christmas right this very minute’ during their practice at the Darien Soccer Association fields at Cherry Lawn Park Tuesday afternoon.

Four members of the fabled Radio City Rockettes dropped by the verdant fields of the 26-plus acre park on Brookside Road, interrupting the practice being held by Coach Chris Flaherty and his staff.

Rockettes Tiffany Billings, Melinda Farrell, Taylor Shimko and Samantha Berger captured the youngsters’ attention as they posed for photos, autographed show schedules and even fluorescent-colored soccer balls for an hour on Tuesday. And at one point, a couple of the Rockettes gamely traded soccer ball kicks with the girls.

“It was pretty awesome. I like them,” said Ryan Smaldon, 5, who posed for a photo with his three-year sister Caroline. Caroline, who takes lessons at the Darien School of Dance, said she “really liked the sparkly diamond bracelets” the dancers wore as part of their holiday costumes.

Their mom, Evie Smaldon said the family previously has seen the ‘Christmas Spectacular’ and will definitely “have to go back” after meeting the dancers.

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“We’ve all moved out from the city. You would never have this happen in a park in New York City. It’s so nice,” Smaldon said.

The visit by the quartet of Rockettes with the team of 120 second-graders was facilitated by Liz Ezbiansky who said she worked for 12 years with the Rockettes.

“This is a built-in audience with soccer and fun for the girls. It’s so fun for the kids to be up close with the Rockettes,” Ezbiansky said. “So many of the girls have seen them and for them to come to this location and for the girls to see people they admire, it’s great. They have gone to the shows and wait outside the stage door … here, they can actually see them in their own hometown.”

The Rockettes’ visit was a prelude to their six-day a week, eight-hour day rehearsals in preparation of the Christmas spectacular show at Radio City Music Hall that debuts Nov. 13 and continues through Jan. 3. (Their rehearsals begin on Friday.) They also participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the tree-lighting at Rockefeller Center.

Their effervescent personalities easily engaged girls and boys alike who wanted to know about their training, their rehearsal and show schedules and costume changes. But most of all, the youngsters wanted autographs, and photos that mothers, nannies and grandmother obligingly took.

In addition to the visit in Darien, another pair of Rockettes visited in youngsters at Rosie’s Frozen Yogurt in Old Greenwich, and The New Canaan Inn, an independent seniors living facility in New Canaan, in partnership with Patch.

Performances of the 2015 Radio City Christmas Spectacular begin Nov. 13, and run through Jan. 3, at Radio City Music Hall.

For ticket information, log onto radiocitychristmas.com or check out the Rockettes on their Facebook page.

Photos: The Radio City Rockettes visit with youngsters at Cherry Lawn Park in Darien on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Credits: Barbara Heins.