Radio City Rockettes

The Rockettes are a precision dance company. Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, since 1932, they have performed at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York City. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes present five shows a day, seven days a week. Until 2015 they also had a touring company. They performed at the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2017.

The group was founded in St. Louis by Russell Markert in 1925, originally performing as the "Missouri Rockets". The group was brought to New York City by Samuel Roxy Rothafel to perform at his Roxy Theatre and renamed the "Roxyettes". When Rothafel left the Roxy Theatre to open Radio City Music Hall, the dance troupe followed and later became known as the Rockettes. The group performed as part of opening night at Radio City Music Hall on December 27, 1932. That same year, they performed in the first Christmas Spectacular performed at Radio City Music Hall and have performed in consecutive annual productions of the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" since then.

The Rockettes have long been represented by the American Guild of Variety Artists. In 1967, they won a month-long strike for better working conditions, which was led by AGVA salaried officer Penny Singleton. In August 2002, contract negotiations for the troupe's veteran members resulted in a buyout by the owners of The Radio City Music Hall. Roughly a fourth of the veteran Rockettes were offered retirement options, while the remaining dancers were offered the opportunity to re-audition.

The first East Asian Rockette, a Japan-born woman named Setsuko Maruhashi, was hired in 1985. The Rockettes did not allow dark-skinned dancers into the dance line until 1987. The justification for the policy against hiring African Americans was that they would distract from the consistent look of the dance group. The first African American Rockette was Jennifer Jones; she made her debut in 1988. In 2007, the Rockettes were inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

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