Local student shines on Radio City Music Hall stage
By Erick Rommel
Head Staff Writer
As many young dancers do, 12-year-old Angelica Generosa says a small prayer with her father before she takes the stage. Since the beginning of November however, the stage for the seventh grade student from Our Lady of Victories School, Sayreville, has been in New York City in front of thousands daily during the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
“We say a little prayer to guide me before we go on stage,” Angelica said. “We ask the Lord to help me do well so I won’t get hurt and that I’ll enjoy it. Then, we pray the Our Father.”
“We are very thankful for every reason,” said her father, José. “Religion is a big part of our family. I keep telling her you have to be thankful for the blessings that you have in your life.”
Angelica says the prayers help focus her performance. “It makes me be peaceful before I go on stage,” she said. “I don’t have to worry for anything.”
A dancer since she was four years old, Angelica began competing at age nine. In 2003, the American Dance Awards named her its young dancer of the year and the 2004 Starbound National Dance Competition named her Junior Miss Starbound. In addition, the New York City Dance Alliance named her its junior female National Outstanding Dancer. When her show at Radio City Music Hall is complete, she will spend her weekends dancing in a national tour for the alliance through June.
“My motto is, ‘Always be your best and God will do the rest,’” Angelica said. “Performing in front of a lot of people is a lifetime experience for me. I think it’s really fun and exciting.”
In the Christmas Spectacular, Angelica performs the role of Clara during the Nutcracker Suite. She also plays the elf in the little elf house and the king’s daughter during the living Nativity.
“It is really cool how they brought the Nativity to life on stage,” she said. “It’s like learning about Jesus and how he was born.”
Performing in New York through Jan. 2 means a lot of schedule juggling for José and his wife Venus.
During the week, he and Angelica take her younger brother to school at Our Lady of Victories. Then he and Angelica board a bus to commute from their home in South River to New York. She performs a minimum of two shows, often not returning home until after midnight.
“It’s a demanding schedule,” José said. “I stopped working. Someone has to be with her all the time.”
Despite the difficulties, José, an immigrant from the Philippines, says he’s proud his daughter is living her dream, something he could not have imagined before coming to the United States.
“I grew up in a third world country,” he said. “We’re middle class people, but there we don’t have the opportunity to see what you can do if you’re talented. Here, you can enroll your children, see if they’re talented and support them all the way.”
Also supporting Angelica are her classmates from Our Lady of Victories School, who attended a Dec. 1 performance of the show. “They were sitting all way up there in the mezzanine. I saw them a little bit,” said Angelica, who explained she was more nervous than usual because her friends were there and she wanted to do her best for them.
After the show, Angelica took them on a stage door tour of Radio City Music Hall.
Looking ahead, Angelica hopes to attend the School of American Ballet in New York and wants to continue her career as a professional ballerina.
“We’re so proud of her,” José said. “Every time we see her, we’re excited. I can’t even imagine, my daughter is dancing out there.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law