Radio City Rockettes ready their famous kicks for the holiday season
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- It's a sign the holidays are right around the corner, the Radio City Rockettes are rehearsing.
Opening day is on November 17th for the 2023 Christmas Spectacular.
The Rockettes are getting their high kicks ready!
Eyewitness News Reporter Kemberly Richardson got an inside look at their rehearsal.
They were working on portions of the reimagined lyrical number "Dance of the Frost Fairies," new choreography from the "Christmas Lights" finale, and the iconic kicks from fan-favorite number "New York at Christmas."
This year, the Rockettes line welcomed 14 new Rockettes from ten states, including New York and New Jersey.
All of the new Rockettes came through Rockettes Conservatory, the dance company's no-fee, week-long intensive training program that serves as an inclusive talent pipeline for the Rockettes.
"I don't think anything fully prepares you for what it's like to step into a room with 84 women , the empowerment you feel and the nerves you feel," said Julie Branam, Choreographer.
The dancers rehearse on the Upper West Side where they will smooth things out for the next six weeks for six hours a day, six days a week.
This is season four for Maddie Rodrigue, who first saw the show when she was 12 year old.
"I remember having this moment in watching the iconic 12 Days of Christmas and turned to my mom and said, 'I want to do that,'" Rodrigue said.
From Highland Park, this is Danelle Morgan's 18th year with the Rockettes.
The assistant choreographer and dance captain is aware she's being watched, in a good way.
"To have been in the line for so many years and to know what it means to know when I'm on stage , we see the audience, to see little girls look like me, I can feel they are following me the entire show," Morgan said.
There are some fun backstage facts.
"One of our costume changes before the iconic number New York at Christmas is 76, 78 seconds," said Monika Brinkmann, a Rockette.
To step into these shoes, you must be between 5'5" and 5 foot 10 " tall, 18 years and older, and on stage have that sparkle in your eye through January 1st.
Tickets are on sale now for the 2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, presented by QVC.
Since it opened at Radio City in 1933, the Christmas Spectacular has brought holiday joy to more than 70 million people from around the world.
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