Eager kids and teens in baggy pants, colorful fashion-forward athleisure and worn-in sneakers huddle outside of the famous Millennium Dance Complex in Studio City, California. About 150 people, ranging from what appears to be as young as 5 years old to 30+, including this reporter, signed up for an exclusive dancing session with the stars of the new Disney film “Descendants: The Rise of Red," which premiered on Disney+ July 12. Before arriving to the class, a quick search on the studio's Instagram reassured me that my loose black pants with red stripes, red tank sports bra and tennis shoes would suffice.
I hadn't taken a professional class in years, much less one at an iconic Los Angeles dance studio. As a handful of other reporters and I wait in the hall of the complex, we pump one another up. What we thought would be a press-only event with other journalists, turns out to be a special class for aspiring and professional dancers and fans to attend.
Are we in over our heads? Many Disney Channel original movies are known for ear-worm pop soundtracks and infectious choreography. The moves to “We’re All In This Together” made a generation envision high school as one big dance party. “The Cheetah Girls” sequel made me plan a trip to Spain years later and “Strut” like I meant it in the Barcelona heat.
Now, instead of following Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and the rest of the amigas cheetahs from my living room with friends, I was learning from the pros..
