Auditions for Oscar show dancers draws fleet-footed crowd

The producers of the 82nd Academy Awards show hosted an open audition for dancers Friday. The cold rain didn't deter a few hundred professional dancers from lining up for their chance.

20-year-old Adrian Lee moved to Los Angeles about a week ago from Chicago to launch his dance career. He waited eagerly under an umbrella.

“Pumped to audition for the Oscars," he trumpeted, standing in line with his room-mate, 19-year-old Robert Roldan. He also recently moved to Los Angeles — from Maryland. Roldan's been dancing since age 11.

"It’s one of my first auditions, and I would be so excited if I got this, because the Oscars are awesome," said Roldan.

"I mean, Anne Hathaway is gonna be there, all these different people are gonna be there and you want to be the one dancing behind them."

Lee and Roldan got a little encouragement from Jamie Goodwin. She’d already left her audition with a call-back and showed Lee some of the steps she'd had to learn on the fly.

"You know that everyone watches the Oscars," said Goodwin. "So for a dancer, when you’re looking for a performing job, which is what we’re all doing because we love performing, it’s a cool thing."

Goodwin has already done other cool things. She was a principal dancer in “High School Musical 3,” and appeared in season three of TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” She knows that a former judge on that show, Adam Shankman, is producing this year’s Oscars broadcast. She believes that will make the dance numbers well-rounded.

"Americans now know more about dancing and they’re more open to different styles , so whereas before Oscars was a lot of hip hop and back-up dancing and stuff, I feel like he’s gonna highlight the dancers."

The Academy Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, March 7th. The Oscar nominations are revealed February 2.