By Dave Paone
Campus News
It may have been a spring morning in April, but over 1000 young dancers had Christmas on their minds.
The world-famous Radio City Music Hall – an icon of New York entertainment – held open auditions for its Christmas Spectacular, which features the Rockettes, its equally world-famous and iconic kickline.
Since the minimum age to be a Rockette is 18 – and dancers are at their physical peak in their 20s – many of the hopefuls were college students or recent grads.
Shay Henderson is a dance major at the University of South Florida and, along with her mother, was the first one to arrive.
Although Shay has lived in Florida since she was three, she’s always known who the Rockettes are.
“Everything about them is just amazing and they’re in New York City which is where I’ve always wanted to live and I have always just dreamed of being in the famous kickline that they do,” the 22-year-old senior told Campus News. “I’m finally just going for it.”
Shay has some professional dance jobs on her resumé already. “I’ve danced for Cher at her concert in Orlando, Florida and I’ve also danced for Taylor Swift at her concert here in New York,” she said.
Shay also performed on live television on Good Morning America.
Shay and her mother, Linette, flew from Florida for a four-day stay in New York City, and it wasn’t cheap.
“Oh my gosh, all this money I’m spending. This is an investment,” Linette told Campus News. “Right now, I’m over a thousand – just yesterday.”
Other hopefuls were accompanied by their mothers and some by their fathers.
Avery Berlowski is a sophomore at Fordham University, who’s working on a BFA in dance in partnership with the Ailey School. Although she’s competed since she was 10 in her hometown of Minneapolis, she’s never danced professionally.
This didn’t deter her from auditioning for the big time. “I’m gonna try; I’m gonna put myself out there,” the 19-year-old told Campus News.
Lila (who preferred to use only her first name) holds a BS with a major in business entertainment and a minor in philosophy, after studying at American University in D.C. and University College Dublin. But she’s following her lifelong dream to be a Rockette.
“I realized while I was studying abroad that I really wanted to chase my dream and my dream is to be a Rockette,” the 23-year-old told Campus News.
The New Jersey native saw the famous dance troupe for the first time when she was in second grade. “And I knew immediately what an amazing opportunity it would be to join the line and how I really wanted to do so,” she said.
J.J. Burlage is a dance major at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She’s never danced professionally, but told Campus News, “I can kick high,” which is probably the most important prerequisite to be a Rockette.
However, J.J. may have an advantage most other hopefuls don’t have. In 2017 she took the “summer intensive,” which is essentially a training program for the Rockettes.
The 22-year-old senior – who’s working on her BFA – had an earring with a crystal dangling her from earlobe. She hoped its energy would help her in her quest.
Katie Brophy-Chronister is a newlywed and a recent grad from the University of South Florida and currently lives in her home state of Georgia. She arrived in New York three days prior to the audition and crashed with a friend on Long Island.
Katie also took the summer intensive when she was 17, so she’s had some training from actual Rockettes. Not only can she kick high, “I can kick eye-high,” she told Campus News.
Mary Donnelly is a 2021 graduate of Oklahoma City University and holds a BFA in dance performance. Although she’s from Long Island, her biggest professional performance was last year in a Christmas show at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Mary feels that show worked as a training ground for the Christmas Spectacular.
Lilianne Gering is a 23-year-old graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she was a double major in dance choreography and business.
She’s performed professionally at smaller venues in New York, “but never anything of the scale of Radio City,” she told Campus News but feels she wouldn’t be intimidated by its history and reputation.
Although originally from Long Island as well, Lilianne currently lives in Manhattan, so she didn’t have to travel far to get to Radio City. “I walked here today,” she said with a laugh.
In addition to the Ailey-Fordham BFA program where the Rockettes find potential members, the company has also partnered with Boston Conservatory, starting a program there this semester.
“We have a class there that’s specifically precision-based dance,” Christmas Spectacular director-choreographer Julie Branam told Campus News.
At the moment, there’s one student there who Julie has her eye on.
“I certainly go to colleges, I watch performances, we scout, we look for people,” she said. “In college, they learn so many things about how to be a professional which is so important so when they come to us, they may be ready to enter the professional world,” she said.
The spring auditions are for both the Christmas Spectacular and the invitation-only Rockettes Conservatory.
Maya Addie has been a Rockette for two years. As is Avery, Maya was in the Ailey-Fordham BFA program, where she took her academic classes at Fordham and her dance classes at the Ailey School.
“The Rockettes would actually come each semester and do about two to three different workshops,” the 24-year-old told Campus News.
Maya called this her “formal introduction to the Rockettes” and eventually auditioned for the ensemble and the Christmas Spectacular (which are two separate positions) and made the cuts during her junior year.
“I was working and also going to school and my dance program really worked with me so that I could pursue both of my dreams of wanting to finish school but also wanting to work professionally,” she said.
Maya is from Arizona and came to New York as a freshman in college. Her first and only professional job is on the floorboards of the preeminent Radio City Music Hall.
Although it was mid-April, it was a chilly, Manhattan morning and the dancers wore jackets while waiting outside. Once they were ushered in, they peeled off their outerwear and everyone was in dance attire, with their hair in a bun. Many sported red lipstick and everyone was instructed to wear heels.
At check-in, each received a number which she pinned to her clothing. They stretched and warmed up in the lobby of the art deco theater, and then were put in smaller groups.
One at a time, the groups were escorted to a rehearsal studio. Since they could hear the music through the wall, many dancers practiced in the hallway, as they awaited their turn in the studio.
After the previous group was finished, the next group went in. There was a choreographer, a pianist and a drummer. The choreographer demonstrated the moves and the musicians played a few bars of an up-tempo, jazzy rendition of the holiday classic, White Christmas.
This was the moment of truth. Or at least, the first of four moments of truth.
The first cut was made after about 20 minutes. Those who made the cut would return the next day. If they made the cut the second day, they came back for a third. Those who made that cut would find out if they made the company in August or September.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which owns the venue, said more than 1,000 dancers from 48 states and 32 countries were registered to audition this year.
If a Rockette is in the Christmas Spectacular one year, she has to audition all over again the following year. There are 84 Rockettes in the company and last year 18 of them were new.
This season’s Christmas Spectacular opens November 17 and runs through January 1. Radio City is part of Rockefeller Center, hence the kickline’s name, the Rockettes.
Shay, Avery, J.J., Katie and Lilianne were cut on the first day. Mary made it to day three but then was cut. We’re not sure what happened with Lila.
However, Mary was invited to audition for the ensemble, which she did, but didn’t make that, either.
“It’s all good,” she said. “I’ll be back for next year. I’m hoping I have a good chance for the conservatory this summer so I can audition again in August.”
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