Over the years, more than 3,000 women have smiled, danced and high-kicked as one of the Radio City Rockettes.  Founded in 1925 as the Missouri Rockets, the dance troupe was formed under the leadership of Russell Markert.  In 1932, the Rockets ventured forth from their St. Louis home and performed at the Radio City Music Hall to great acclaim.  They were renamed the Radio City Rockettes and they have been performing under that moniker ever since.

The Rockettes have a grueling schedule–logging 6 hours of rehearsal per day to prepare the 8 numbers for their annual Christmas Spectacular.  Eight numbers mean eight incredibly fast costume changes–sometimes as little as 78 seconds!  And there are A LOT of costumes.   Eight costumes per day times four performances per day times 36 Rockettes means a whole LOT of laundry.

In terms of personal stats for each of the Rockettes we know a few things.  Each of the Rockettes must be between 5ft., 5.5 inches and 5 ft., 10.5 inches tall and must be able to kick over their heads.  None of them appear to weigh very much, but in the aggregate, I think it’s a different story.  Here’s the stats:

Height: 5ft., 5.5 inches to 5ft., 10.5 inches.

Number of Rockettes: 36

Conservatively estimated weight per Rockette: 100 lbs.

Weight of the “Radio City Rockettes”: Approximately 3600 lbs.

Conclusion: The Radio City Rockettes weigh more than me.

By the way, ever wonder why all the Rockettes appear to be exactly the same height when there is an allowable height difference of five inches?  It’s an illusion!  The tallest dancers are in the middle with the shortest dancers on the end.  Thus from the audience’s perspective the dancers all appear to be the same height!