New Kensington native Jonna Banko to be part of Rockettes' 100th anniversary

Jonna Banko told her peers in Valley High School’s Class of 2022 to follow their dreams.

“In my (valedictorian) speech, I said, ‘Don’t wish for it; you have to work for it,’” Banko said. “I put my mind into being a Rockette, and I was able to make that happen. If you put your mind to it, you can make it happen.

“Being able to say, four years later, I finally have made my lifelong dream come true, it’s so amazing.”

After years of training and an open-call audition in April, New Kensington native Banko, 21, is a member of the prestigious Radio City Rockettes.

The New York troupe — celebrating its 100th anniversary this year — is a precision dance company known for its iconic chorus line high leg kicks and its participation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and a Christmas Spectacular show.

Banko found out she secured her place in the line in August.

“I was with my mom at home, and my dad came home from work. We were all crying. It was magical. It was exactly how I imagined it to be since I was little.”

Banko began taking dance lessons at 3. She grew up learning and training at the Karen Tobias Dance Studio in Baldwin and later the Abby Lee Dance Company in Penn Hills.

As a teenager, Banko began to focus on precision dance and attended Rockettes intensive workshops.

“I was always training and trying to be my best, to get to where I wanted to be,” she said.

Banko knew she wanted to be a Rockette forever. She recalled trips to New York City around Christmas, watching the Rockettes with her father, Jon, mother, Nicole, and brother, Nicholas.

Now, she and the troupe are practicing six hours a day, six days a week leading up to the Christmas Spectacular, which runs Nov. 6 to Jan. 4 at Radio City Music Hall.

The Rockettes were founded in St. Louis in 1925 and are the longest-running precision dance company in the country. The troupe moved to New York City in 1927 and settled at the Radio City Music Hall in 1932.

In 1933, the annual Christmas Spectacular began. The show can only be seen at the Radio City Music Hall, and, since 1933, more than 72 million people have seen the show, according to the Rockettes.

“It’s intense, but it is so rewarding once the full show is together,” Banko said. “It’s amazing to be part of such a professional, iconic show.”

The audition process is just as vigorous. To be a Rockette, dancers must be proficient in jazz, tap and ballet. They must be able to pick up choreography quickly and be in peak athletic condition.

This year, 1,000 people signed up for the open call audition, reports indicate.

“It’s a lot of nerves,” Banko said of the audition process. “It’s a lot of adrenaline.”

It also is far from easy: Banko moved to New York City when she was 18 to pursue her dream of being a Rockette.

“I’m happy to say I pushed through and kept going to make my dream come true,” Banko said.

Banko joins another Rockette from the area

Banko is joined in the line by another Pittsburgh-area native, Ashley Kasunich Fritz, a 2007 graduate of Pine-Richland High School and a 15-year veteran of the Rockettes.

She, too, began dancing at 3. She trained at the Laura Lynn School of Dance in Richland, now known as LDI Dance Works. Fritz, 36, majored in dance from Point Park University, graduating in 2011.

“It was there I first looked at the Rockettes as something I wanted to do,” Fritz said. “It was the equivalent of going to the NFL or the Major Leagues as a dancer. But it was a teacher who said, ‘You should audition for the Rockettes. You’d be good at it.’”

Fritz and her roommate at Point Park, Amanda McCormick, would go on to try out for the Rockettes. McCormick made the troupe before Fritz did.

“It was a realization of, if she could do it, I could do it,” Fritz said. “It was encouraging for me.”

Perseverance is the advice she’d give young dancers trying to make it in the industry. On her sixth audition, Fritz got the job as a Rockette. Since then, she’s been part of a bond she equates to a sisterhood.

“Even in my 15th year, Radio City is such a beautiful place,” Fritz said. “… Seeing them line up on stage, it’s incredible. They’re so glamorous, beautiful and elegant. That was something I wanted to do.”

She thanked her parents, Vicki and Steve Kasunich, for their support.

“They come up for Christmas every year to see the show,” Fritz said. “My parents sacrificed so much for me as a child. It’s really rewarding for me when they get to come.”

The novelty of participating in the Rockettes’ 100th anniversary isn’t lost on Fritz.

“The show is so magical,” she said. “As a dancer, it’s a wonderful combination of innovation and tradition.”