Lucas filmed "In the Heights" for four months./ Instagram: @lucas_the_entertainer
Thirteen year old Lucas Cardona had front row seats to movie history, during his sixth grade year, as a cast member and dancer of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights.
It all started with an audition. In January 2019, Cardona waited up to 5 hours to learn a 45 minute choreography combo.
“I thought I had no chance. There were so many kids. We did groups right away and I remember me and my friends Hailey, and Bella went together. I felt like we did amazing. I was so excited,” he said.
He got a callback a week later and in February, he received the news he booked it.
It wasn’t until April that he had his first rehearsal at Ripley Grier Studios for the salon scene. The cast for that scene was all adults. For the second scene, the main “In the Heights” number, he remembers rehearsals were challenging because it included 50 other people.
“We had to learn a salsa piece in 10 minutes. It was so long and I couldn’t get it. Then we had to learn another hip hop piece at the end of it which was super fast. Me, Hailey, and Bella had to show all of the crew by ourselves,” he said.
Stepping on set for the first time was a completely new experience for Cardona.
“I was so nervous because I’ve done all those other commercials, the KCA’s, Kids Bop and it’s so different. Kids Choice, my section was live for 10 minutes. You can search it up on YouTube but it’s not for forever. In the Heights is a whole 2 hour movie and I’m in 4 sections. It’s a lot,” he said.
Lucas and creator/co-writer of In the Heights Lin Manuel Miranda who plays Piragua Guy. / Instagram: @lucas_the_entertainer
Cardona even met the creator of In the Heights and Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda, when he was shooting his last scene. He was heading to school on set and Miranda came up to him.
“He said ‘oh my god you’re doing so good dancing.’ I wanted to start crying because I thought he was going to say something bad but he’s so sweet,” he said.
As for working with Director Jon M. Chu, known for his award winning work on Crazy Rich Asians, Cardona says Chu is amazing, nice and a good director.
“He gets everything done and knows what to do,” he said.
He also got to learn from Choreographer Chris Scott and Assistant Choreographer Emilio Dosal. Scott has choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance, The LXD, Step Up movies, Teen Beach movies, and Disney’s Zombies film. Dosal is also a well known dancer in the industry having toured with Katy Perry and Selena Gomez on her latest world tour.
Lucas and Choreographer Chris Scott // Instagram: @lucas_the_entertainer
“Chris by himself is funny and crazy, but with Emilio they’re just crazy together. They’re amazing dancers. They can do anything,” he said.
He was even surprised to see Emilio Dosal start breaking and doing bboy moves randomly during rehearsals. It happens when working on set with the best at their craft.
Cardona’s favorite on set memory was when he got his own part.
“I didn’t know what to do and Chris was laughing at me because he knew I was so nervous. He was dying of laughter. He came up to me and said ‘relax you’re good,” he said.
When rehearsing the salon scene, he remembers the main actresses were there but he didn’t know it at the time. It was only until they shot at location that he realized who would be filming with him.
Lucas and recording artist Leslie Grace who plays Nina Rosario./ Instagram: @lucas_the_entertainer
“I realized Leslie Grace was a famous singer. She’s everywhere...I started talking to Leslie and she was so nice. Daphne Rubin Vega, she is one of the actors. Dascha Polanco, she’s on Orange is the New Black. They were so amazing.” he said.
Cardona even had time to meet recording artist and Hamilton alum, Anthony Ramos,who plays Usnavi, the main character in the film.
“With Anthony too, he was really nice to me and my friends. He’s just a really cool dude. Outside of the movie stuff, he’s just a good person,” he said.
Lucas and recording artist/actor Anthony Ramos who plays Usnavi./
Instagram: @lucas_the_entertainer
The biggest lesson he learned while filming was there are times to play around and times to pay attention. Having booked the role at 11, it’s definitely a lesson he takes into current industry jobs now at 13.
One of the most challenging musical numbers to film for him was “In The Heights,” because it involved quite a bit of choreography. While the audience sees the finished product in theaters, dancers tend to run the number multiple times for the director to choose in the editing room.
“We probably had a minute break. They had someone walking around with trays of juice like Gatorade. They had makeup crews going around...making sure you looked good. The choreo was fast. A bunch of people were messing up and since there were so many people, we had to be in sync,” he said.
Cardona has been dancing since he was three- years- old, but started professionally at the age of eight when he performed with Justin Bieber at Madison Square Garden. His biggest inspiration is his mentor Kelly Peters. He mentioned that Peters “taught me everything I know.”
He’s assisted teachers like Julian De Guzman, Lane Napper and Ian Eastwood at the same conventions he attended previously as a student. Cardona recalls the time he performed with Pharrell at the Kids Choice Awards. He was told of the opportunity by Choreographer JaQuel Knight and had to fly out to Los Angeles the very same day.
“We learned the choreography quickly in 30 minutes. Kida was there. At showtime I was so scared walking out I saw a bunch of celebrities. I think I saw Jojo Siwa, Nick Jonas, John Cena,” he said.
He is part of the Brooklyn Nets basketball dance team and has been performing at the games for 5 years now. Cardona auditioned at seven-years-old and thought it was just a regular dance class.
Along with his friends Bella and Hailey, Lucas started Smile Behind the Masks where they teach virtual dance classes through Zoom. The classes are donation based and all the proceeds go to No Kid Hungry, a foundation dedicated to feeding kids in need. You can support the movement by simply following @smilebehindthemasks on Instagram, or performing their choreography and tagging them in the video.
Lucas has been finding his style as a dancer by creating his own choreography and concept videos. He noted that his best choreography ideas appear to him in the most unexpected places.
Throughout last year’s quarantine he has released a series of dance concept videos and pays homage to his hometown with the filming locations he chooses, such as the Great Falls in New Jersey. “I pick people that the choreo I have fits them well,” he said.
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