The Radio City Rockettes are an iconic fixture in New York City and perhaps the most renowned precision dance company in the world. Started by Russell Markert in St. Louis, Missouri in 1925, the Rockettes have been performing at Radio City Music Hall since its opening in 1932 and just celebrated their 100th anniversary. Today, the Rockettes are a collective of 84 women split into two casts, each with 36 dancers performing onstage in each show and six swings who step in during sickness, injury, or other absences. From mid-November through early January, they perform in the annual Christmas Spectacular, a 90-minute show designed to delight all ages with their rendition of holiday cheer. This line has gained world-wide recognition for its precision dance style, garnering special accolades for one of its first and now recognizable dance specialties, the eye-high kick line. This program will review some of the highlights and trademarks of the Rockettes, tracing their traditions and evolutions over the past century through photos and videos from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. 

Adrienne Gibbons Oehlers is an Assistant Professor at Wittenberg University in Ohio, where she teaches courses in theatre history, acting, directing, and musical theatre. Her scholarly work intersects both dance and theatre, and her research is focused on female dance ensembles in musical theatre, including the Radio City Rockettes and African American companies in the first half of the twentieth century. Her interest in ensembles stems from her extensive professional experience in musical theatre including on Broadway in the original cast of The Producers and as a Radio City Rockette. Adrienne holds a B.A. in music from Barnard College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in theatre from The Ohio State University.  She is currently working on her first book, tentatively titled The Radio City Rockettes: A History of 100 Years of American Precision Dancers. Her research is supported this year by the Jessica Berson Dance Research Grant from ASTR and a short-term fellowship from NYPL.

For more than 10 years, The Dance Historian Is In at the Library for the Performing Arts has highlighted a diverse range of dancers and choreographers across history. This series began when archivist and historian David Vaughan started volunteering at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Vaughan began a monthly program showing his favorite dance films from the Division's extensive collection, through which he unearthed many treasures, and helped acquire even more. Vaughan continued the series until the end of his life. Today, we honor his memory and work by inviting dance historians from all over the world each month to carry on the tradition of highlighting dance history through the Dance Division's moving image collection.

This event will take place online via Zoom. A streaming link will be emailed to everyone on the morning of the event.