“It was really important to me to be good at everything I did,” Edington said of her time at Padua setting up future success. “I think it just really helped me. I had some really great teachers that just gave good advice when needed, and were good examples. I just think it sets you up to do well later in life if you can navigate and stay on top of all the things you have to do when you’re in high school.”
During her time at Padua, Edington was a cheerleader for a year, the captain of the first-ever Bruinettes dance team, Eucharistic Minister, served in student government and helped mentor other Bruins through Peer Ministry.
Following her time at Padua, Edington earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from The University of Akron. Edington was hired right out of college to perform on the Holland America Cruise Line, where she travelled to many cities around the world, including her personal favorite of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“When I set out to be a dancer, I never in a million years knew there would be travel involved in it,” Edington said. “I just thought I’d live in New York, and so, I’m very fortunate for all that I’ve been able to see and do with this career.”
After completing her contracts with Holland America, Edington moved to New York City to continue her dancing career. It was in New York that she landed a role on the Japanese and North American tours of 42nd Street.
Then, Edington decided to audition for the Radio City Rockettes, and the third time was the charm.
Back in the early 2000s, aspiring performers lined up around the block at Radio City Music Hall to audition. Seventy-five hopefuls at a time went into a rehearsal hall and were taught choreography. In three-person sets, the auditioners performed the choreograph, and the best were chosen to advance in the process.
Then, performers learned another choreography routine, typically tap dance, and the list was reduced once again before breaking for the day. Following more rounds of cuts, auditioners learned the famous Rockettes kickline last before the end of the session.
From there, Edington waited four months for the call from the Rockettes.
“That’s how it is auditioning for anything,” Edington said. “A lot of times, they’re not even really filling a spot. They’re just kind of filling their files so they know who’s out there if they do need to replace somebody.”
“You just kind of get used to it in the dance world, and you just know you’re probably never going to hear from most of these people again. Then, you’ll bump into somebody a couple of weeks later, and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I booked such and such,’ and you’re like, ‘Oh, darn it. I really thought I was going to get that one.’ There’s just so many people auditioning for the same roles, and there’s only so many roles to go around.”
While Edington adjusted to the difficulties that come with auditioning for musical theatre roles, she admits it can be tough to keep going. However, despite the rejections, Edington fought through the adversity and refused to give up on her dreams.
“You have to be mentally strong,” Edington said. “You have to have a good support system behind you because generally, your family doesn’t really understand what it’s like to go to an audition and to go to three auditions in a day and to be told, ‘No.’”
“It’s so hard not to take it personal, and I think every performer goes through phases where they start to second-guess themselves and question, ‘What am I doing wrong and why did I think I could do this?’ You’ll have your good days and your bad days, and you might have a week where you get cut at everything and you’re just like, ‘Why am I being cut? I know I’m good at this.’ You really do start to question, but then, your next week, you’ll nail it on every audition, and you’ll be kept to the end and everyone will be looking at you knowing that you’re doing so great.”
Fortunately for Edington, that perseverance and refusal to give up on herself paid off.
Following her third audition for the Radio City Rockettes, she was selected to join the organization. Years later, that is a phone call she still remembers vividly.
“I was actually in a Wendy’s,” Edington said. “I had just gotten some food for lunch. I got the call, and I just got too excited to eat. I remember just being so excited and crying probably.”
“My mom, Mary, was the first call I made. At that time, that was when Radio City still had tours. My first contract, I was on tour, so I was going to be in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. I just called my mom and I said, ‘Well, Christmas is going to be in Pittsburgh this year.’ It took her a minute to understand, but then, it clicked that that’s what I meant. She was just so thrilled and probably called every single person she’d ever known in her whole life to tell them.”
Edington was chosen to join the Rockettes at a unique time, as the iconic organization was celebrating its 75th anniversary.
With a reimagined show featuring “all new dance numbers and technical elements,” Edington’s introduction to rehearsals were intense. For six weeks, the Rockettes rehearsed six hours a day, six days a week.
“You just work at perfecting and learning because Rockettes are known for precision,” Edington said. “You work to find the precision and work as a unit, and a lot of it can be tedious. It’s all about key little, tiny details down to where your pinky finger is, and you’re just going to drill things over and over and over until they think it looks perfect.”
During her Rockettes career, Edington did more than just the Christmas Spectacular tour. She relished the opportunities to perform on The Today Show and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“The Macy’s Parade was so awesome,” Edington said.
“I remember standing there in Herald Square just taking it all in and having a pinch-me moment of ‘Wow, I made it. This is what I watched my whole life as a child on Thanksgiving, and here I am, and there’s little girls at home watching me.’ It’s just such a surreal moment.”
Including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Edington’s run with the Rockettes was full of memories that she treasures.
One of her fondest moments was actually her last as a Rockette. When injuries started to mount, Edington knew it was time to step away from the Rockettes. Edington will never forget the sendoff she received from the dance captain.
“I can remember being in my last kick line and just sobbing as I was taking it all in,” Edington said. “My best friend from the Rockettes, we were both new together, and we were lucky enough to be in the same cast all eight years, so everyone knew us as the besties.”
“We were just always together. Even if we weren’t standing next to each other, we shared dressing rooms. We were next to each other in the dressing room, so we saw each other every day. The very last kick line, it was our last show. The dance captain came over and told my friend Karen to go stand next to me in line, and she went over and took her spot so that we could do our last kick line next to each other.”
Following that emotional end to her career with the Rockettes, including two years splitting time between New York City and Northeast Ohio after she and her husband, Dave, bought a house in Cleveland, Edington decided to start a family.
Now the mom of seven-year-old twins, Ryley and Aiden, Edington, who taught dance for more than 20 years, including as an adjunct professor at Akron, is doing a different kind of teaching.
This year, she started as a teacher’s aide for the Parma City School District at First Step Preschool, where she will help special-needs students.
“I can kind of be on the same schedule as my kids and have summers off with them and just have a little more of a stable schedule and not the gig life where I’m running to teach this class, and then, I’m driving over there to teach that class,” Edington said.
“It’s a lot to manage. I was fine to do that before I had kids, and I loved being at a different studio every night and having all these classes to fill my time. Now that I have kids, I so much would rather be spending the time with them.”
Although Edington is scaling back her dance teaching work, she will not completely step away from passing along knowledge gained over a lifetime of study.
This past summer, Edington returned to Padua for the Fine Arts Department’s first-ever three-day Dance Intensive. During her work with the students, she taught the participants how to properly do a kickline. Going forward, Edington is willing to help current and future Bruins in whatever way possible as they chase their own dreams in the performing arts.
“First of all, it was just so awesome to see that dance studio,” Edington said. “What I wouldn’t have given for that to have been there when I went there. Just wow. I don’t think they know how lucky they are because most schools don’t have a dance studio.”
“I’ve always loved the teaching part of things after I was done being a professional. Just the chance to be a mentor, I want to give these girls all the knowledge I have because I want to do anything I can to help them. I always think, ‘What didn’t I know when I was their age that really could have helped me?’ I’m just trying to just give it to them, anything they want to know. If they’re willing to take it, I’m going to just let them know it.”
