Everything about The Rockettes totally explained
The Rockettes are a well-known precision dance company, stationed out of the
Radio City Music Hall in
Manhattan,
New York City. During the Christmas season, The Rockettes women have performed five shows a day, seven days a week, for 75 years.
The
Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and numerous other American and Canadian cities is the most-watched live show in the U.S., with more than 2.1 million spectators annually, when they're performing.
The Rockettes have performed annually at the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (since 1957), The
Columbus Day Parade, and America's Thanksgiving Parade in
Detroit. The
NBC Rockefeller Center Tree-Lighting Ceremony also traditionally includes a performance by the dance troupe.
The Rockettes have also kicked off the announcements for new product lines launched by such diverse companies as
McDonald's,
Coca-Cola,
Oldsmobile,
L'eggs hosiery,
Mannington Floors, and
Honda's 50th Anniversary show.
Their famous kick line started with 16 women and now has 36. They are all between 5′6″ and 5′10 1/2″ and are arranged tallest in the middle and shortest on the ends.
History
The group was started by Russell Markert in
1925 in
St. Louis, Missouri as the "Missouri Rockets." In 1927,
Samuel Roxy Rothafel discovered them and brought them to New York City. They in many ways took over what the
Ziegfeld Follies had been before
Flo Ziegfeld's death. Their New York City debut was in Rothafel's own
Roxy Theater on 50th and 7th, and under the name "Roxyettes." Rothafel moved them to their current stead, opening at the Radio City Music Hall on
December 27,
1932. In 1936, the troupe won the grand prize at the "
Paris Exposition de Dance."
The Rockettes didn't allow African-Americans into the dance line until 1987. The justification for the policy against hiring African-Americans was that they'd distract from the consistent look of the dance group
During the halftime show of
Super Bowl XXII in
1988, the Rockettes were seen by a television audience of 150 million viewers.
President Bush's 2001 Presidential
Inauguration Ceremony featured the leggy performers prancing down the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial.
In
November 2005, the Christmas Spectacular's musicians went on strike, although the show decided to go on, with The Rockettes dancing to recorded music.
The oldest living Rockette is Maxine Demmler Schmidt, age 100, living in
Maryville, Illinois. Mrs. Schmidt, along with her sister Diana Demmler, were two of the original 16 Missouri Rockets from 1925, the group that predated the name change to Rockette in 1934. Mrs. Schmidt also worked as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, and has been honored by the Rockette Alumnae Association, and Radio City.
Quotes on The Rockettes
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Rockettes'.
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