By Angela Barbuti

Ami Price

Christmas in New York City would not be the same without the Rockettes. The iconic group of girls, who have been kicking their way into our hearts at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for what seems like forever, are celebrating their 85th anniversary. Ami Price, one of the 80 dancers, has been part of the sisterhood that is the Rockettes for 10 years. “They are my best friends. They were all guests at my wedding, and the people I invite over for Christmas,” she said.

The Rockettes are celebrating their 85th year. How is the show different this year?
We have a costume retrospective, showing costumes throughout the 85 years. We’re always adding new numbers. There’s a new scene with Kayla and her mother that shows a 3D video game, which uses the world’s largest LED screen. They use digital projection on the walls of the theater to make you feel a part of the scenes. You’re part of Santa’s workshop and you’re part of the Living Nativity.

I read that you practice six hours, six days a week in preparation for the show.
Yes, we train for about six weeks. Six hours a day, six days a week. Pretty intense. We’re all athletes and dance on the off season. I’m a personal trainer. But once we begin practice, we are learning the precision and getting our high kicks back to perfection. We get in shape really fast those six weeks. [Laughs]

What do you do to prepare for a show?
We are a big sisterhood, so the dressing room is half of the fun. I’m in there with eight of my best friends, so we have a good time getting ready. We do our own makeup and costumes. Our changes are, at most, two minutes, so we have a talented wardrobe who dresses us. We have a pair of shoes for each costume. For our eight-minute tap number, “Twelve Days of Christmas,” those tap shoes are actually miked. There are microphones on the bottom of each shoe.

Give us a glimpse backstage at Radio City Music Hall.
Backstage is not as large as one would imagine, because the stage is so massive. The amusing part of being backstage is the set pieces. For instance, the bus is so large, and there’s nowhere to put it. So when the bus comes offstage, they fly it into the rails. So when you’re backstage, you look up and see these props, like Santa’s sleigh. My dressing room is on the fourth floor, and I only go there to get ready and at the end of the show. Since all the changes are happening on stage level, there are just soldier costumes everywhere. It’s such a funny atmosphere.

What reaction do you get when you tell people you’re a Rockette?
They love it! [Laughs] They won’t believe it; they’ll ask me to kick.

Tell me about your work with Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams charity.
We visit the Ronald McDonald House and—hopefully I don’t cry when I tell you this—I went to a children’s hospital last year in Westchester and it’s so hard because you’re seeing sick children and it’s Christmas. I went to work recently and a little girl, who I had seen in the hospital, was waiting for me. As soon as I walked in, she said, “I missed you.” This little girl, who had brain cancer, told me, “I don’t have my boo boo anymore.”

For tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, visit www.radiocitychristmas.com.

Pulp, who rose to fame in the UK on their anthem Common People, had an impressive career as art rockers before their monster-hit blanketed the airwaves in the early ‘90s and went on to produce the equally brilliant if much darker albums “This is Hardcore” and the sardonic “We Love Life” before calling it quits in 2002.

Reuniting for a European tour this summer, two nights at Radio City and a smattering of other US shows before they headline Coachella, last night’s show was one that was worth the exorbitant prices scalpers were hawking them for in front of the theater.

Pulp has always been as much about the stories, words and persona of lead singer Jarvis Cocker, as about the right rock riff and if the songs that they chose to perform from their catalogue was any barometer of mood, then sex was the chief topic on their mind.

From the rocket launch of Do you remember the first time? to Underwear with its passionate plea that “I’d give my whole life to see it/Just you, stood there/only in your underwear” to the sexual imagery of Pencil Skirt: “When you raise your pencil skirt/ like a veil before my eyes/Like the look upon his face/as he’s zipping up his flies.” To the unabashed arousal of This is Hardcore – “You are hardcore, you make me hard/You name the drama and I’ll play the part/ It seems I saw you in some teenage wet dream/I like your get up if you know what I mean.”

Looking gaunt as ever but greyer on top, Jarvis performed with the same frenetic energy as 20 years ago, throwing chocolate bars to people, bantering with the audience between songs, running up towards the balcony to sing Disco 2000 and working in choreograph with dancers on F.e.e.l.i.n.g.c.a.l.l.e.d.l.ov.e, while the band (much like the Pixies reunion tour) sounded as spot on as they ever have.

The fans might have rioted if they hadn’t played Common People, the song that Pulp chose to close their first set with. The story of a wealthy disconnected art school student who wants “to live like Common People” has as much relevance today as it did 20 years ago. Just transplant it the lyrics to a Williamsburg trust fund baby and you get the same effect.

The band encored with Like a Friend and Bad Cover Version of Love. Hopefully this tour doesn’t close the book on Pulp. They have a more interesting kaleidoscope to see life through than most of today’s bands and who knows what a new chapter would produce.