Every year, hundreds of dancers audition for a chance to become a Radio City Rockette. Only a lucky few make the cut—this season, there are 13 newbies on the line—but many of them go on to perform with the Rockettes for years. Dance Spirit had the chance to listen in as first-year Rockette Mara Ranson […]
Dream of performing the Radio City Rockettes’ ultra-precise choreography? You’ll need to learn some ultra-specific terminology! We asked four first-year Rockettes—fresh from learning all that choreo—to define a few useful phrases from their “secret” language. ABOUT-FACE “This is a military term, so I had no idea what it meant when we started learning ‘Parade of […]
The Rockettes are officially looking for some fresh faces. For the first time in almost a decade, the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall is expanding its yearly open call in New York City to add audition locations in Chicago and Atlanta. The creative team wants to widen the pool and reach even more […]
Former comp star Kali Grinder’s stellar stage presence and graceful lines have served her well in her new life as a Broadway baby. She performed in Wicked on Broadway for one year, appeared on the show’s national tour, and was a Rockette during The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Currently, she’s an ensemble dancer in the […]
For some it’s a holiday tradition, for others its an iconic spectacle, but no matter the reason, more than 1 million people will watch the Rockettes perform in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular each year. And though the production has been around since 1933, much of what goes on behind those velvety curtains and intricate […]
It’s kind of hard to fathom the fact that the Radio City Rockettes have been around since 1925. I mean, just think about the periods of American history these leggy ladies have kicked their way through! Pretty surreal. 92-year-old Eleanor Leight can tell you what it was like to be a Rockette during the 1940s, […]
All right people, it’s really happening! The Rockettes are slated to premiere their new show, New York Spring Spectacular, in 2015. We reported back in March that Hearts and Lights—which was scheduled to open in Spring of 2014—was unceremoniously shuttered until 2015—and then we didn’t hear very much more about it. It looks like Spring […]
It was a warm day in April, but at Radio City Music Hall people were already getting into the holiday spirit: Nearly 500 dancers were about to audition for a chance to perform as a Rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Members of the staff greeted each other with “Merry Christmas!” as they herded […]