JAM with Jennifer Jones

JAM Joe and Michelle's Dance Podcast

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We were so excited to speak with Jennifer Jones, the first African American Rockette, author and cancer survivor. We loved having the conversation about breaking barriers, diversity, dance and so much more. we hope you enjoy our conversation with Jennifer Jones!

Jennifer Jones is an award-winning American performer recognized worldwide for her groundbreaking accomplishments and equal rights advocacy in the arts.
In 1987, she became the first African American Radio City Music Hall Rockette, making her the first black female performer since the troupe’s 1925 foundation to be honored with the distinction. Her RCMH Rockette national debut was in 1988 during the Super Bowl XXII Halftime Show.
Jones’ revolutionary milestone abolished a longstanding Radio City Music Hall Rockettes policy against hiring African Americans for its chorus line so as not to distract from its hallmark of perfectly-synchronized precision and rigid color uniformity.
By transcending the racial barrier, she ushered-in a transformative, modern era for the RCMH Rockettes, among others: in 1989, she was crowned Miss Morris County Pageant Queen in her native New Jersey as its first African American champion.
She enjoyed a fifteen-year career with the RCMH Rockettes, which included a national tour and televised performances. In 2002, she hung-up her RCMH Rockettes’ dance heels and joined the Rockette Alumnae Association.
Born and raised in New Jersey, she began dancing at an early age, nurturing a unique and dynamic approach to the arts, and mastering innovative interpretations of tap, ballet, jazz, and modern repertoires.
During her penultimate year rostering at the RCMH Rockettes, she performed in the ensemble of the 2001 Broadway revival of “42nd Street,” which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical that year.
Her children’s book “On the Line” will be available October 31, 2023 and her memoir “Becoming Spectacular ” also published by Harper Collins and will be on book shelves late 2024.
Jones is also a colorectal cancer survivor. She speaks openly and publicly about her cancer battle. She a staunch advocate for colon screenings, which are now at the age of 45. She was diagnosed with stage III and wants people to know this cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable.

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