The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes are a precision dance company that was founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1925. Since 1932, they’ve performed at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Although they perform frequently, the troupe is perhaps best known for its annual Radio City Chrismas Spectacular and for performing every year at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. In the early years, the group was inspired by a similar group in the United Kingdom called the Tiller Girls. When an American choreographer named Russell Markert saw the Tiller Girls perform in the Ziegfeld Follies, he was inspired to create a version of the group with American dancers.
Markert later recalled that his vision was to create a group of American girls who would have longer legs and be taller and who could do “really complicated tap routines and eye-high kicks.” Indeed, that’s what he was able to pull together, and the Rockettes have become a beloved American institution that has been in existence for nearly a century. In the 1920s, the group was first known as the “Missouri Rockets.” At that time, the women had to be between 5’2″ and 5’6 1/2″ tall, but today’s Rockette can be between 5’6″ and 5’10 1/2″ tall. The dancers have to be proficient in jazz, ballet, modern dance, and tap. The current line has 36 dancers. The troupe has since admitted other young women besides American women. In 2007, the Rockettes were inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
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Since the 1990s, the Rockettes only performed at Radio City Music Hall in the Christmas Spectacular from November to January every year. However, that changed in 2015 when the group starred in “The New York Spring Spectacular,” a new eight-week production. The group has performed on the Great Stage with Heidi Klum, Oprah, Michael Buble, and have made appearances on several TV shows, including “Project Runway,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and “The Today Show,” along with “America’s Got Talent” for three years. However, their mainstay continues to be the classic annual Christmas performance.
Below, you can watch their 2014 Christmas Spectacular performance, where they’re dressed as toy soldiers. It’s a breathtaking performance that leaves the audience in awe. The fall at the end is remarkable. Enjoy this classic performance.
