It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas in the Sin City.
Sphere Entertainment and Madison Square Garden Corporation announced that every day during the holiday season, the Radio City Rockettes will be featured on the LED exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Rockettes debuted on the Sphere this week, marking the first time dancing was wrapped 360 degrees across the outside of the venue on the Exosphere.
The activation starts with a Christmas ornament displayed on the Exosphere. As the ornament begins to spin off, the Rockettes are revealed — at 125 feet tall — performing their beloved kickline and rotating around the Exosphere. The Rockettes’ backs are visible, showcasing the transparent visual. Then, as the ornament closes, New York City’s “Radio City Music Hall” appears on screen.
Sphere & @Rockettes = The ultimate holiday collab! The first dance performance on Sphere is the perfect way to bring some holiday cheer to Vegas 🎊 pic.twitter.com/i1uAD1WK3I
— Sphere (@SphereVegas) November 28, 2023
To create the visual, 15 Rockettes were captured performing in groups of five. The Sphere Studios team then compiled the clips together to stretch across the Exosphere. While the Rockettes are known for their precision, Radio city Rockette dance captain and assistant choreographer Danelle Morgan said that with the Sphere, the dancers needed to make sure everything was in sync, “from the tip of our finger to the height of our signature eye-high kicks” due to the height of the Exosphere.
“It’s such an honor to see the Rockettes on Sphere, spreading Christmas joy in Las Vegas while we perform in the ‘Christmas Spectacular’ at our home in New York City,” Morgan said.
Guy Barnett, SVP of Brand Strategy & Creative Development at Sphere Entertainment said this is the “most complex combination of real-life footage and animated content we’ve created for the Exosphere to date.”
“There is a magic here that we’ve created with Sphere, and there is a magic that is created by the Rockettes every year in the ‘Christmas Spectacular,’” Barnett said. “There is nothing more artful than the Rockettes or more scientific than Sphere, so bringing these two together on the Exosphere in such a unique way is the essence of what we do here at Sphere – uniting art and science to bring wonder to the world.”
The Radio City Rockettes, founded back in 1925, are the longest-running precision dance company in America. They’re known across the globe for their unity and athleticism, combining different genres of dance including tap, ballet, jazz, and contemporary. They’re recognized annually at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree lighting, as well as the “Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes,” which runs annually at Radio City Music Hall.
MSG Entertainment’s SVP of Productions, Jessica Tuttle, noted that the Rockettes’ appearance on the Sphere brings together two brands in the MSG family: “one that has been bringing joy to a million fans in New York City annually for 90 years, and one that began enchanting audiences worldwide earlier this year.”
“Having the Rockettes appear as the first live performers to be dancing on the Exosphere is another example of how the Christmas Spectacular continues to push the boundaries of entertainment,” Tuttle said.
The Sphere was first illuminated on July 4. Then, the rockers of U2 made history as the first artists to perform inside the Sphere, presenting mind-bending visuals on floor-to-ceiling screens as a part of the “U2: UV Achtung Baby” residency.
While there have been no more confirmed performances aside from U2 at this time, Sphere will host a UFC match next year, marking its debut in the sports industry.
