Russell Markert founded the group that would become the Radio City Rockettes in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. His inspiration came three years earlier, when he saw the Ziegfeld Follies and decided he could build something sharper and more disciplined. He envisioned a line of 16 American women who could kick higher, move in perfect unison, and perform across multiple dance styles—ballet, tap, and soft shoe. The group started as the Missouri Rockets, then briefly became the American Rockets and the Rosettes, before finally landing on the Rockettes name in 1934.
Getting into the Rockettes required meeting exacting standards from the very beginning. Dancers had to stand between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall. They needed strong technique across multiple dance forms and had to kick at least 6 inches above their own heads. These standards kept the line visually uniform—something that was central to the entire act. Early rehearsal photos show dancers in their own skirts and character heels, a sharp contrast to the matching black spandex uniforms used in later decades.
In 1932, the Rockettes took up permanent residence at Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center, Manhattan. The venue seats 6,200 people—large enough to showcase the full scale of their productions. By 1933, the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular had begun, and it quickly became a New York institution. The show’s “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” number, which dates to the 1930s, features dancers in Minnelli-esque costumes collapsing like a row of dominoes when a cartoonish cannon fires.
During World War II, the Rockettes stepped off the stage and into active service roles at home and abroad. They boarded ships to perform USO shows for American troops, arriving in military-inspired suits and miniature garrison hats perched on their waves. Back in New York, rehearsals in 1942 still drew full effort—dancers stretching their famous high-kick legs in their own kicky skirts and character heels. Onstage, they performed as sailors and stood in formation in white satin and jaunty hats.
The 1950s brought a more polished backstage routine. By 1952, the vanity area behind the stage was a full operation—dancers setting their makeup with powder, adjusting stockings, and pinning down every last detail before curtain. The girly Santa suits trimmed in fuzzy white marabou, first seen in 1950, became one of the show’s most recognizable costumes. Animal numbers also appeared in the rotation, with zebra costumes complete with tasseled tails adding a theatrical flair.
The 1960s pushed the Rockettes into new territory. Backstage photos from the decade show a space-suited Rockette having her astronaut gear adjusted by the costume shop. At the 1964 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the group performed in front of thousands of bundled-up spectators in tiny onesies, landing their trademark high kicks in the open air. By 1966, beehive hairdos and tap-inspired choreography colored the parade appearance, and a year later, red and green cancan costumes with Spanish-inspired hats and seamed stockings marked the Christmas show.
Into the 1970s, the parade costumes grew more elaborate—sparkling chokers, feathered showgirl hats, and thicker tights replaced the simpler looks of earlier decades. A 1973 New York Daily News caption accompanying one parade photo read: “Just to make sure Dad doesn’t get bored . . .” By the 1980s, the Rockettes were sharing the Radio City stage with Liberace for multiple engagements, performing in top hats, tails, and gold-lamé underwear.
By the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the group had grown to two full 40-girl casts, each performing the Christmas Spectacular in rotation. The 1998 Thanksgiving parade troupe appeared in green velvet and white fur, bracing against the cold. Modern rehearsals shifted to a standardized look—matching black outfits and footless tights, with tape marks on the floor mapping out complex blocking for the Christmas show. The candy-cane costumes and silver-fringed leotards of the later era carried decades of choreographic tradition, performed in front of packed houses at Radio City Music Hall.
