Rockettes.

• Author: Fiandt, Jennifer
• Position: Entertainment

THE ROCKETTES continue to shine as an American treasure; their glamorous performance style and deceivingly complex routines have enthralled audiences for generations. As the stars of a legendary holiday production, these tremendously talented and hard-working women showcase their signature precision dance style and perform some of the most challenging and freshest choreography that ever has been conceived. What follows are the self told stories of just how three of these exceptional ladies came to be Rockettes, and what being part of this world-famous dance team means to them.

Jennifer Fiandt

As a young girl. I enjoyed precision dancing and performing in my community. I was familiar with the Radio City Rockettes and coveted the glamorous confidence they exuded. Not only did I anxiously anticipate the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade each year, I watched the movie "Annie" over and over again, impressed by the fluidity and ease with which the Rockettes eye-high kicked and transitioned from one formation to the next. Because I was studying jazz, tap, and ballet in Michigan at the time. the confidence they showed seemed almost accessible, even though I never had made the trip to New York and Radio City Music Hall. As I entered my teens, my, good fortune allowed me to take classes from and observe a few women who had been Rockettes themselves. I was starting to become leggy myself. and focused on my tap and jazz training while performing in national dance competitions and at special events.

At 19, as a freshman at Western Michigan University, a friend encouraged me to travel with her to Chicago to audition for the Rockettes. When she backed out. my father drove me, and I joined 250 other women who had formed a line that wrapped around the building. For two rigorous days, I tapped out rhythms. displayed several jazz routines, and performed enough high kicks to believe my hamstrings never would be the same. A panel of directors and choreographers took detailed notes and delivered corrections to help us assimilate the style.

Two months later, when I received my offer phone call. I felt as if I somehow had ridden a wave of tremendous luck--like I had been handed a great gift. As I enter my ninth season, I remain as grateful ,as ever, but attribute much of my success to years of hard work, dedication, and a natural eye for detail.

Today, as I prepare for the 2010 edition of the Radio City "Christmas Spectacular" national arena tour. I know I must arrive at rehearsals strong, fit, and equipped with a positive attitude as well as the ability, to roll with the punches. Rehearsals require stamina and focus: we go at it six hours a day, six days a week for six weeks. I imagine I have kept the sports tape industry in business preventing blisters from our 2 1/2-inch heels.

Throughout my time with the Rockettes. I have performed at some of the country's most awe-inspiring theaters, including the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Tenn., the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Mich., and, of course, Radio City Music Hall in New York. The arena tour owns a soft spot in my heart, though, because it is the biggest production of the Radio City "Christmas Spectacular," playing to tens of thousands of patrons at each show. Energy stirs in the arena that cannot be generated in a smaller venue. Because the show surrounds the audience, the barrier between the performers and audience is broken readily, so l find it easy to connect with the families and children that come to experience the performance. Much of my time onstage is spent paying special diligence to the movement...