Every holiday season, the Radio City Rockettes dazzle with their eye-high kicks that seemingly defy gravity. During the precision dance company’s roughly 200 shows over eight weeks, a dancer can do up to 650 kicks in a single day. For all this kicking, Rockettes must stay in peak physical condition. While this signature kick is a festive feat of physics in its own right, the math on stage also makes the magic.
A graph paper stage
The Rockette’s home at Radio City Music Hall in New York City first opened its doors in 1932. Popular Science detailed its groundbreaking hydraulics system calling it a “marvel of mechanics” in its February 1933 issue. With this storied stage history, it should come as no surprise that a show that has been running for close to a century continues to use some tried-and-true, but admittedly low-tech methods.
“Our stage is set up like a giant piece of graph paper,” Julie Branam, a former Rockette herself and the current director and choreographer of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, tells Popular Science. “Every two feet, there’s a number and a dash or a solid line. There are also colored lines, so you will see red, green, blue, white, and upstage of each one of those lines is a dotted line. So everywhere you look, is a giant piece of graph paper and that’s how we figure things out.”
Learning how to work with one of the world’s biggest stages–and largest sheet of graph paper–in the world begins before Christmas carols start playing on the radio. Rehearsals typically start in October and the whole show is plotted onto actual paper so that the choreographers and dancers can get an idea of how their dances will look from the audience. For example, the iconic “Parade of Wooden Soldiers” number is seven pages long for roughly five to six minutes of dancing.
“As we are learning choreography, I can sort of see almost an overhead visual of where my coordinate is,” Danelle Morgan, a current Rockette who also serves as an Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain, tells Popular Science. “So it becomes a general pattern of where each Rockette is and at what depth on the stage.”
“Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” is one of the original numbers from the show, which has been performed since the Christmas Spectacular first premiered in 1933. It’s a fan favorite, for its military-like steps and the iconic slow fall at the piece’s conclusion. Luckily, math is on their side for such a precision-focused dance.
[Related: This is your brain on Christmas music.]
“Every four counts they’re going to replace the line in front of them and we have 24 counts. And then that spoke will revolve,” explains Branam. “So you can really see where you’re going and know where everybody is and how far they’re traveling.”
Choreographers will also use design softwares like OmniGraffle to create a digital version of these stage puzzles and plot the movements of the 36 dancers on stage. Each dancer follows an individual track, so she knows what order and where to go on the stage. Everyone is also lettered so that they can refer back to the plot points and quickly see where they need to be. Still, it’s all easier said than done on paper.
Victoria Lewis
“As a dancer, I challenge my body so much, but each Rockette has to challenge their brain so much as well, to understand where and what they’re supposed to be doing and the specificity of it,” says Morgan. “When you step into this position, then it’s a completely different brain game and a different brain challenge. It’s puzzles. It really is just a bunch of puzzles.”
Swinging into the season
Then there is their signature move–the kick line. Several scenes end with the dancers in a line, hence where their nickname “Ladies of the Line” comes from. To the audience, it looks like everyone is the same height, but that is not the case.
“The tallest people are in the center, descending in height down to the less tall people,” says Branam. “So it gives the illusion that the Rockettes are all one height, but they are certainly not one height. There are many different heights and many different people that represent the line.”
Since uniformity is key to making the precise patterns that the Rockettes are famous for, the company has what are called swings. In performing, swings are sort of an understudy times 10, who has to learn multiple parts instead of just one. Morgan is currently one of 12 swings in the company and must learn multiple parts of the show. As one of the taller dancers, she covers the taller parts of the line.
“We know every single Rockette’s individual track, with the help of our charts and the information that we get in rehearsal, so we’re ready to jump in at a moment’s notice,” says Morgan. “If someone has a personal day, an injury, or somebody goes out mid show, we can jump in costume and then give the audience the same show that they deserve every single show. It’s a high adrenaline situation every time.”
‘Training your resilience’
The festive costumes might make being Rockette look glamorous, but it takes a lot of grit to be a Rockette. In addition to the precision of their dancing, costume changes as short as 78 seconds, and physical challenges, there is also the mental load of performing in up to four shows a day for eight weeks.
That comes down to “training your resilience,” putting mind over matter, and importantly, leaning on your fellow Rockettes when you think you just can’t do another kick. The special appearances at major events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting or working with younger dancers also help boost company morale.
“It’s just constantly having that reminder that what we do is something super unique that brings so much joy to so many people,” says Morgan. “I think that helps us get through and keeps us motivated.”
They also bond through games and songs in between shows, a Secret Santa or White Elephant gift exchange with some funny rules, or other non-show related activities.
“And sometimes you just take a nap between shows,” says Branam.
“Some of the best naps are between shows,” laughs Morgan.
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