NJ Rockette Jordana Rosenberg living a childhood dream in Christmas Spectacular

Ilana Keller, Asbury Park Press
Updated ·6 min read

Jordana Rosenberg remembers sitting in the first row at Radio City Music Hall as a kid, delighted as she watched the Rockettes pop out of the orchestra pit during their famous "Rag Doll" number.

Now, one of her favorite moments during the "Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes" is performing that very same number and watching children's faces light up at that very same moment.

As if that's not a special enough throwback, she's now performing alongside some of the very same dancers who not only inspired her as a kid, but also women she learned from growing up.

Jordana Rosenberg is a second-year Rockette from Vineland.
Jordana Rosenberg is a second-year Rockette from Vineland.

"I even got to kick next to one of my former teachers as a Rockette, so that's just really a full circle surreal moment for me," she said.

Another special moment came last year, when Rosenberg was able to re-create a photo with Rockette Erin Monteleone that was taken when Rosenberg was a young dancer.

Now a Rockette herself, Jordana Rosenberg of Vineland was able to re-create a photo with dancer Erin Monteleone that was taken when she was a child.
Now a Rockette herself, Jordana Rosenberg of Vineland was able to re-create a photo with dancer Erin Monteleone that was taken when she was a child.

Rosenberg, now a second-year Rockette, is from Vineland and started dancing when she was three years old.

More: Opening for the Rockettes, a Holmdel music school teaches classical music and Broadway

"I always loved to dance, but I really started to consider it as a profession in high school," she said. Although joining the Rockettes always was a dream for her, she graduated in three years from Arthur P. Schalick High School in Pittsgrove to accept a traineeship with the Atlantic City Ballet in 2014. She later moved to Princeton to study with the American Repertory Ballet before accepting a contract to perform with a cruise line when jazz dance starting calling to her again.

When she returned to New York, she was laser focused on the Rockettes.

Now a Rockette herself, Jordana Rosenberg of Vineland was able to re-create a photo with dancer Erin Monteleone that was taken when she was a child.
Now a Rockette herself, Jordana Rosenberg of Vineland was able to re-create a photo with dancer Erin Monteleone that was taken when she was a child.

"That was the end goal," she said. "I was just really, really focused on training for this job. After my audition in 2022 in the spring, I was fortunate enough to attend the Rockettes Conservatory in its inaugural year. The Conservatory is a no-cost, invite-only training program that offers the study of specifically Rockette-style precision jazz, and it aims to develop a more diverse line. And then following my experience in the conservatory, I was very, very fortunate to be offered a job following the summer audition."

Thought she felt she was well-prepared for the physical rigors and logistics of the behemoth "Christmas Spectacular" (which is performed up to four times a day during the busy holiday season), what delighted Rosenberg was the welcome she felt.

More: Shore dancer living her childhood dream as Radio City Music Hall Rockette

"I always heard about the sisterhood of the Rockettes and I don't think I was surprised necessarily, but it was just so true. Everyone was so supportive and helpful and encouraging. It was so wonderful to be so welcomed into the line," she said.

That atmosphere propels Rosenberg to want to give back.

"Even though it's only my second year, I want to try to help bring in the new people as much as I can as well," she said.

One of Rosenberg's favorite performances in the "Christmas Spectacular" is "Dance of the Frost Fairies," which was brought back in 2022 as a reimagined number.

"This is one of the examples of how the 'Christmas Spectacular' is so immersive for the audiences," she said. "There's elaborate LED lights and then we even have drones that fly over the audience. We have more drones than ever this year, so that's one really cool aspect that really brings the audience into the performance with us. And then on top of that, another thing that's special about it is that each Rockette has a unique costume. There are 36 designs, which really highlights both the unison aspect of the Rockettes all dancing together, but showing a little bit of individuality through the different costumes."

While being a Rockette is a lot of work, "it's challenging in a good way and we all really enjoy what we do," Rosenberg said. The difficult aspects are more than mitigated by being able to bring holiday cheer to the world as a harbinger and symbol of the holiday season.

"Find something that brings you joy - and I think I can speak for everyone in the cast in saying that the 'Christmas Spectacular' brings every one of us so much joy," she said.

Jordana Rosenberg is a second-year Rockette from Vineland.
Jordana Rosenberg is a second-year Rockette from Vineland.

And this year, that joy extended to new audiences, with the first sensory friendly performance of the "Christmas Spectacular."

More: Rockettes seek holiday magic for all with sensory friendly, ASL, open caption performances

"It's just so great to be able to make it more accessible and bring it to an audience that might not have had the chance to see it otherwise," Rosenberg said. "It was very, very fulfilling. And you could tell from the audience's response how much they enjoyed it. Every audience is great and we feel their energy back at us, but it was just a different level of feeding off the audience and knowing how much they were enjoying it."

The Sphere in Las Vegas

Another first for the Rockettes this year was being featured daily throughout the holiday season on the Exosphere, the fully programmable LED exterior of The Sphere in Las Vegas.

The "festive Christmas Spectacular activation (was) the first time the Exosphere has featured dancing wrapped 360 degrees around the venue," organizers said.

“There is a magic here that we’ve created with Sphere, and there is a magic that is created by the Rockettes every year in the 'Christmas Spectacular,'” said Guy Barnett, SVP, Brand Strategy & Creative Development, Sphere Entertainment. “There is nothing more artful than the Rockettes or more scientific than Sphere, so bringing these two together on the Exosphere in such a uniqueway is the essence of what we do here at Sphere – uniting art and science to bring wonder to the world. This is particularly exciting because it is the most complex combination of real-life footage and animated content we’ve created for the Exosphere to date.”

The Rockettes are featured at 125 feet tall. Fifteen dancers were captured performing in groups of five, to create the 360-degree dancing.

“We are all about precision,” said Danelle Morgan, Radio City Rockette, dance captain and assistant choreographer. “But with Sphere, we really need to make sure that every single thing – from the tip of our finger to the height of our signature eye-high kicks – is completely in sync because of the scale of the Exosphere. It’s such an honor to see the Rockettes on Sphere, spreading Christmas joy in Las Vegas while we perform in the Christmas Spectacular at our home in New York City.”

To learn more about The Sphere, visit thespherevegas.com.

The Christmas Spectacular

"The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes" has been extended to run through Thursday, Jan. 4, at Radio City Music Hall. For tickets and more information, visit rockettes.com/christmas.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Radio City Rockette living a childhood dream in Christmas Spectacular