By Alicia Kelso
Anna Richardson jokes she is living her life backwards. Whereas many people discover their career aspirations in high school and college before pursuing their dream job, Richardson did the exact opposite.
The 25-year-old Westerville native figured out what she wanted to do at a very young age. She spent her youth honing her skills, and then achieved her dream, all before she got married and decided to go to college.
Her goal was certainly special enough to put everything else on hold. Richardson is a Radio City Rockette, a position bestowed upon 200 women out of thousands who try out each year. Only a few more than 3,000 women have participated in the famous kick line since the troupe’s inception in 1932.
Richardson began taking dance lessons at Straub Dance Center at age 3. It didn’t take long for dancing to become second nature.
“It’s all I’ve ever done. I don’t know what it’s like not to be dancing because I started when I was so young,” Richardson says. “And when I got older and kept doing it, moving to New York was all I ever wanted to do because of all the opportunities there.”
Richardson graduated from Westerville North High School in 2002 and immediately set her sights on the big city. Her parents Ted and Judy Richardson, who still live in Westerville, had other plans.
“I think they were sending out applications to colleges for me and doing everything in that whole process. I don’t think I did one thing for it because I was so set on New York, but they were just being cautious,” Richardson says. “They were focused for me. I just wanted to dance.”
Richardson was accepted to Bowling Green State University and, a week before enrolling in fall classes, she tried out and made it as a Rockette. She moved to New York right away, and has been there ever since.
Richardson’s parents attend her shows every weekend. “They’re in full support. They knew this was exactly what I wanted to do and are always there in the audience, which is so great,” she says.
As a Rockette, Richardson has performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, on The Today Show and much more. Her season runs from September through January, practicing six days a week for more than seven hours at a time.
When the holiday season rolls around and the Rockettes literally kick touring into high gear, Richardson and her cohorts travel all over the country, playing up to four 90-minute shows a day. On the average, they will perform their famous eye-high kicks more than 300 times in each show, totaling 31,500 kicks by tour’s end.
“It’s definitely hard work, and the amount of shows we do is tough to maintain,” Richardson says. “But at the end of the day, I know I’m getting to dance at Radio City Music Hall. Everyone knows that hall. Being on stage when that curtain goes up makes everything more than worth it.”
During the “off-season,” the Rockettes are required to stay in tip-top shape and be ready to perform their rigorous schedule on day one. Richardson stays busy with other roles: she has toured for the musical 42nd Street and she teaches dance classes. Over the summer, she even came home to teach at her old stomping grounds, Straub Dance Center.
Richardson hints she might return to Central Ohio once her body has had enough of the strenuous Rockette schedule. But that won’t be any time soon.
“This schedule is so hard on our bodies. But we all take a lot of ice baths and that keeps us going,” she says. “I anticipate dancing, and dancing with the Rockettes, for as long as I can.”
In the meantime, Richardson has built a life for herself in the Big Apple. She met her husband– whom she married last year – in New York. She is also a self-admitted shopaholic, which bodes well for big city living. Additionally, she’s currently pursuing the college education she put off, studying broadcast journalism at Hunter College.
“Being in school right now makes it seem like I have done everything backwards so far. But my mind wasn’t into school back then and now, at 25, I am more focused and driven because of the discipline I’ve learned as a Rockette,” Richardson says. “You can’t call in sick for this job.”
Richardson says she picked broadcast journalism because of the media training she’s learned as a Rockette, which includes the press tours, the interviews and the national television exposure.
“I’m definitely comfortable on camera,” she says.
For now, however, the camera will have to wait. Richardson still has a lot of kick in her.
“I don’t want to stop this quite yet, even though it’s been six years. When I’m done, who knows?” she says. “I would never take back any of my experiences from New York and love the city so much, but it’s nice to be home.”
Alicia Kelso is editor of Westerville Magazine.
Check out Westerville native Anna Richardson and the other Rockettes at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Dec. 9 and 10 at 4 and 7:30 p.m. both days. The performances will be held at Nationwide Arena and tickets are on sale now at the arena ticket office, www.ticketmaster.com and 614-431-3600.