Katie Martin (far right) became one of the youngest members of the Rockettes when she joined the group in 2004 while still on the Rebelettes team.
is 78 seconds. Martin says the Rockette rehearsals are long, arduous and taxing on the body but worth it in the end. “It’s hard being away from family and friends because they mean so much. It’s hard to put your life on hold while you pursue a dream, but nothing is better than dancing on the stage at Radio City Music Hall. It’s the most beautiful dancing stage in America.” In 2004, Martin arrived in New York for two days of strenuous auditions with thousands of other young women. The line of hopefuls stretched all the way around the block at Radio City Music Hall, but, at the end of it all, Martin, then 19, became one of the youngest Rockettes while she was still on the Rebelettes team. She says the Rebelettes and the Rockettes are similar because neither group has a “star” and everyone works together.
“It takes hard work, dedication and teamwork to be a Rebelette and a Rockette,” says Martin, a Mobile, Ala., native who has been dancing since the age of 3. “It’s fun to be in New York, but I’m ready to come home at the end of it and be back in the South,” Martin says. “I came home for a wedding last weekend. I got to the airport in Memphis, and I stepped off the plane, and the sound of a Southern accent and the smell of fried food made me happy. I’m away enough to be able to really enjoy the South when I come back.”
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This was a sentiment echoed by Carmen Keys (BSFCS 03), who kept right on dancing after college on the NBA Memphis Grizzlies Dance Team.
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