For the first time in their 100-year history, the Rockettes welcomed middle school performers to their stage at Radio City Music Hall. The Basie Jewels, a student jazz ensemble from MS 72, the Catherine and Count Basie Magnet School for Multimedia and Performing Arts, opened for the famed dance troupe during its Jan. 5 performance at Radio City Music Hall. Teacher Rachele Domond and paraprofessional Daquan Harris choreographed the students’ performance, and say the journey to the Radio City started in 2021, when Harris founded the Basie Jewels as an after-school program.

“We were hot glueing our costumes together for shows at the school,” he recalled. “We didn’t have much.”

Now, as the Jamaica, Queens, school’s conservatory-style dance team, the Jewels are funded by a magnet grant. They rehearse six hours a week. Dancers are required to maintain a high grade-point average. “It creates accountability and academic motivation,” said Domond.

Volunteers like Harris’ former student, school staff, the dancers’ parents and the dancers themselves worked together to make the Radio City performance possible, Domond said. Costumes, makeup, transportation and hair styles were arranged. “Everyone had to come together,” she said.

When the big day came, the Jewels performed a dance to the Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” “We were going for a classic ’70s family vibe that was culturally relevant to our Black and brown students,” said Domond.

The most exciting part of the day for both educators was seeing their students exposed to as grand a venue as Radio City Music Hall.

“It’s important for kids to get out of their neighborhoods and comfort zones,” said Domond. “It helps them see the world as bigger than they know.”

“There’s more to explore,” added Harris. “If you can step on the stage at Radio City, you could be a Rockette one day.”