European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Rockette get a Long line of legs up on Chris Masby Sid Schapiro radio City music Hall s rockette get their kicks doing their High kicking routines. For the Challenge is not just to kick but to kick in a straight line and get 36 pretty maids All in a Row kicking at the same time to the same height. There is no magic about it in new York City a most famous theater. The rockette arc trained to kick to a particular level of their own bodies to Eye level or to Waist level or to whatever the routine requires. Whenever All kick to the same level and on time with the beat of the music perfection a sculls. Their precision is equally remarkable in the dressing of their lines at All times the accuracy of their rhythm and in the evolution of the dance patterns. Red haired blonde Brunette always hidden under a wig on stage the rockette stand 5 feet 5l/i inches to 5 feet 8 i in their stocking feet. The Shorter women Are placed at the end of the line graduating to the taller ones at the Center. The illusion created for the audience is that All the women Are the same height. They look More like the girl next door than show girls. They arc not necessarily chosen for Beauty but for dancing ability stage presence grooming personality projection and self discipline. Rockette proudly a and accurately a Call themselves dancers. They dislike the antiquated terms Quot Chorine and the curve some and talented rockette Are indisputably the stars of the 6,000-seat music Hall marking it 60th years As the a showplace of the. Nation a a Mecca for tourists from All Over the world a especially during the Holiday season. One of the theater s biggest attractions is its annual Christmas show starring the rockette. Putting on 176 performances from mid november to Jan. 7. The format of the yuletide production has changed Over the years. Originally like the easter event it was a Short affair a presented in tandem with the feature film. Today it s a 90-minute spectacular a blockbuster attraction on its own a showcasing 137 performers including i he music Hall orchestra. The magnificent Christman spectacular opens with a scene of an auntie mame styled Manhattan Christmas party belonging to the 1950s, set in a Penthouse apartment in which men in tuxedos and women in finery caper about singing we need a Little Christmas. Enter the rockette tap dancing and toting wreaths striking precisely the right note. A switch is then made from the contemporary to the traditional with a Teddy Bear s dream a version of the Nutcracker in which costumed hears frolic against the background of a gaint tree. Then comes Dickens or rather the music Hall version of a Christmas Carol in which the dramatic presentation of the ghosts has been heightened from years past. The ice skaters still take the stage in Christmas in new York. The visit to the North pole workshop contains no untoward us Prises though its introduction with Santa leading the audience in a sing along is a bold move. The new elements include the Story of Santa Claus. A screen presentation of the origins of the Man and the myth and Carol of the Bells in which the rockette Frothy with fur trim not Only execute their Complex Maneu vers but also pause to play Chimes handily sewn into the Back of their costumes. As always the show closes with the living nativity referred to with reverence in the program As an Quot enactment of the timeless Story of the very first the pageant features Angels Wise men and shepherds along with sheep camels and donkeys. At one time the rockette worked a 52-week year in shows that were mainly adjuncts to the theater a movies. The music Hall stopped becoming a vast movie Palace 12 years ago. Now they work in such music Hall specials As the current Christmas show and next year s 1 Aster show plus making special appearances elsewhere. In the last few years they have performed in Las vegas Lake Tahoe Houston London. Austri afia and Japan. The High stepping rocket Les have danced in various other shows and production sin specials with Ann Marge cd Peter alien and other headliners a super bowl halftime show a a id Scherman anniversary special Etc. Sometimes it s not the entire line that s involved. Thirteen rockette toured with Chita Rivera in can can in the United states and Japan. That still leaves a lot of time for other things and other jobs. Quot it s the greatest thing that s happened for us one Ronkette said of the outside work. Quot we get the recognition and the extra Money and meet so Many different people. Our horizons have definitely expanded. But our real Home will always he the music the 36 women in the line along with a dozen swing dancers or understudied have one thing in common they would rather be rockette than just about anything else. They be even quit other full time jobs to do what is now a Job with High spots and Slack periods. There a one thing the music Hall wont talk about. The rocket test Ages for example. Said a spokesperson Quot they have to be 18 to Start and they can dance As Long As they can Sid Schapiro is a stars and stripes new York Bureau Retiree. The rockette fall in step during their latest Holiday show the magnificent Christmas spectacular at new York City s radio City music Hall. City music Hom december 15 1991 sunday a
