Courtesy photo Students from Pam Rossi's Dance Ten in Moorpark practice for "Down and Distance," which was filmed at Thousand Oaks High School.

It's not as easy as it may seem on the big screen.

That was the revelation for 15 students from Pam Rossi's Dance Ten in Moorpark recently when they performed for a movie filmed at the Thousand Oaks High School stadium.

Choreographed by studio owner Pam Rossi and assisted by Chris Recupito and Maddison Burg, dancers 5 to 18 years old performed May 20 to the tunes of singer-songwriter "G." in a scene for the upcoming movie "Down and Distance." The film stars Lil' Romeo and Brian Bosworth, under the direction of Brian De Palma.

Rossi said it was a great experience for the young dancers to see what it's like to film on location for a professional movie. The female dancers from Moorpark, Westlake and Thousand Oaks portrayed rival cheerleaders called the Black Knights for the film. For the dance number, the girls many of them gymnasts incorporated tumbling, aerials, flips and splits into "jazz-type" cheerleading movements.

"It's good for them to see what it takes," said Rossi, of Moorpark, a professional dancer and choreographer who has worked in the entertainment industry for a number of years. "They learned how movie production works and their role in it, how a film is pieced together and how the director sets up shots."

The girls who performed were Maddison Burg, Alyssa Peters, Michelle Peters, Jessica Meck, Ashley Whitelaw, Hannah Mayhew, Riley Friedl, Natalie Leibert, Emily Leibert, Kelsie Roche, Taylor Valenza, Hannah Deverich, Jasmine Agredano, Hanna Yorke and Hannah Yasenchok.

With one week to rehearse, the girls got a taste of the pressure that a professional dancer might endure to be part of a movie production, said Jane Dubusky of Moorpark, dance company coordinator.

"It was good for them to have some experience on a real live set so they can see whether some day they want to pursue a professional career," Dubusky said. "This gives them a little experience and initiation of what it's like to dance professionally for a director."

The girls learned the difference between dancing in the studio and performing in front of the camera, Dubusky added.

"This is different than the studio and even competition it's a whole different type of performance," she said. "They had a great time. It was really fun for them."