Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones (born August 1, 1967) is an American dancer and actress. In 1987, she became the first African American Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Life and education Jones was born on August 1, 1967, in Newark, New Jersey and was raised in Randolph, where she attended Randolph High School and County College of Morris. Radio City Music Hall Rockettes In 1987, when she was 20 years old, Jones auditioned to be a Radio City Music Hall Rockette at a Rockettes Open Call. She made the cut and became the dance company's first African American Rockette in its then-62-year history. She was chosen out of 221 women who had auditioned for the 26 open spots on the coveted line. Out of the 23 other women who were contracted for on-call vacancies in the New York City production, she was the only African American. At tall, she fulfilled the RCMH requirement that its Rockette dancers must be between and in stocking feet, as well as being proficient in ballet, tap, and jazz repertory. Other requirements, according to The New York Times, included, “a slender figure, long legs, and the ability to perform 20 eye-level kicks while retaining proper posture.”