In my opinion, nothing beats spending Christmas in NYC. The store windows are beautifully decorated, the trees that appear in front of almost every building are brightly lit, and there is a wonderful feeling of merriment in the air.Along with the Angel tree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the BIG tree in Rockefeller Center and the NY Public Library lions dressed in their festive wreaths, the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall are another holiday “must see”.
The show has changed a lot since I first saw it as a child – now a holographic Santa flies over the audience – but some things have remained the same, like the nativity scene with real animals on stage and the Rockettes doing their famous kicks and marching like wooden soldiers.
When I met my husband Mark his best friend was John and John was dating Laurie and every Friday night we went out together and had pizza. We also began spending Christmas with the extended family and have done so – with absences for Covid – for over 40 years. Everyone in the family was/is lovely and I eventually found out that John’s mother, the nice lady on the couch who gave lovely gifts, was Violet Holmes, former Rockette and ultimately head choreographer and Director of the troupe from 1977 until her retirement in 1992.
Violet remained active in the Rockettes alumni association and after her passing, in 2019, at a memorial hosted by son John and wife Laurie (yes, we all got married within a month of each other and have stayed married all these years) dozens of former Rockettes shared their memories of Violet and how she had encouraged them and worked with them when they were performing in the show.
If you want to learn more about Violet Holmes and her career with the Rockettes these are two good places to start.
Retired Rockette still tapping to the beat is an entertaining article in a local newspaper https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/2017/12/26/retired-rockette-still-tapping-to/16732708007/
The Violet Holmes Collection at the New York Public Library has biographical information https://archives.nypl.org/dan/186116
