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Arts & Entertainment

PR Grad Ashley Kasunich Rockets into Radio City

Former Gene Kelly Dance Scholarship winner joins the Radio City Rockettes.

Ashley Kasunich graduated from Point Park University in May and landed her dream job in August—high-kicking for the legendary Radio City Rockettes in New York City.

It's a dream come true for Kasunich, a Richland native, who has been going through the tryout process for several years.

"I first auditioned right after my sophomore year [of college] at an open call," says Kasunich. "They see 500 women in a day, and there are a whole series of cuts. If you make it through two days, there are 20 girls left and they narrow it down from there."

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Ashley did not make it through to the end during her first tryout, but she persevered, eventually auditioning five times. She says she learned more about the job and the process through each audition experience.

"Each time you audition you get more comfortable with the choreography and with the style and technique they're looking for," says Kasunich. "The director wants to see that passion and style and to see that you really want it."

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There's no doubt Kasunich wanted it.

She says she worked hard to prepare for the audition, working out at the gym almost every day and spending time in the dance studio meticulously rehearsing the audition combinations to try to get all the details perfect. She was working in a show at a theater in Illinois at the same time.

"Although it was difficult and exhausting, it was completely worth it," says Kasunich. "The support I received from my family, friends and fellow cast mates at the theater was overwhelming."

Kasunich started dancing when she was 3 years old. She says she was the kind of kid who wanted to do everything, but other activities fell by the wayside and she stayed with dancing. As a senior in 2007, she memorably danced the part of Victoria the White Cat in the Pine-Richland High School spring musical, Cats.

Cats won best musical in the 2007 Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musicals, and the haunting, complex dance routines helped Kasunich win a Gene Kelly Scholarship.

Her job with the Rockettes is a four-month gig, running through the Christmas season. She has been busy with six-hour-a-day, six-days-a-week practices.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, in which she performs, runs anywhere from two to six shows a day, seven days a week.

Because so many shows are performed, there are two casts of 36 Rockettes in New York — Blue and Gold. Blue performs the morning shows and Gold does the evening shows.

Kasunich is in the Gold cast. Each cast does anywhere from two to five shows a day, approximately 15 to 17 shows per week. In addition, the Rockettes are featured in many events throughout the holidays and the rest of the year, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.

The show runs from Nov. 11 to Jan. 2. After that, the women who make up the famous, high-precision line go back to their other jobs. Kasunich says many of them are in professional dance companies or the theater. She does a lot of regional shows and summer stock.  

The Rockettes are also called upon occasionally to do various events throughout the year, and they go back the next year for the Christmas show. Kasunich says some of the women have been there for 10-plus years and they become really close.

"I'm so excited to have this opportunity and to realize one of my dreams," says Kasunich. "I can remember not too long ago walking up Fifth Avenue with a friend of mine and pointing down the street at Radio City Music Hall and saying, 'Look, that's my future office. I'm gonna be there!' and I did it!

"I want my story to serve as an affirmation to anyone, not just aspiring dancers," she says. "I want them to be inspired just as I was, and to know that if you want something and you work hard, you can do it! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't."

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