By
John Beisser, Feature Writer
At the tender age of 25, identical twins Caitlin and Courtney Sullivan, a pair of 2020 Rutgers University graduates who competed all four of their college years on the Scarlet Knight Dance Team, have reached the pinnacle of the dance industry. This past Fall, the sisters became members of the famed Radio City Rockettes in this, the
90th edition of the world-famous Christmas Spectacular.
Caitlin and Courtney grew up attending the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Hall, annually making the 14-mile trek from their Ridgewood, New Jersey home into the big city. During this holiday season, when their family and friends take in the
annual show, which runs through January 4, they get to see the Sullivan sisters perform under perhaps the brightest lights imaginable.
"Oh, our parents are so happy, they're so proud, which makes us so happy as well," said Courtney. "They've come to so many shows and I think that's the great thing about being from New Jersey. New York City has always been in our backyard. Our siblings have all worked in the city, our parents have worked in the city. This is someplace they've always come, so it's been very easy for them to come to multiple shows so far. It just makes us so happy to know that they were the ones who pushed us towards this dream and believed in us first. And now we've achieved it and can show them all of the hard we put in on the stage every night."
Striving to become Rockettes was the next natural thing to do for the Sullivans, an extension of their dance careers at Rutgers.
"Growing up in North Jersey we first saw the Christmas Spectacular when we were in fourth grade I believe," Caitlin said. "We saw it on Christmas Eve with our best friends. We'd always been dancers growing up and Courtney and I both always knew this was something we wanted to do together. And we felt since we're so in synch with each other, we thought that the Rockettes would be a perfect fit for us. It was a goal we had for a long time and we auditioned and now we're here."
Caitlin and Courtney (MSG Entertainment)
While Caitlin makes the audition process seem simple, when this journey began in April there were literally hundreds of candidates lined up outside Radio City Music Hall, all seeking their chance at stardom. Out of those hundreds of young women yearning to hear their name called, just 14 were selected to become new members of the 2023 Rockettes. Though there obviously was a chance one twin would be selected and the other would not, that idea never crossed either of their minds said Caitlin.
"Honestly, it was never even a conversation. Courtney and I have always been on this journey together and we like to think positively, only have good thoughts and we were always, 'this is us,' and a job for the two of us whether we were in the same cast or separate," she said. "So, we honestly never had that conversation, or that thought even, when we were getting our calls. They called Courtney first and I was like, 'oh my gosh, we got it. I just immediately think of the two of us."
Unseen to the thousands of fans who flock to Radio City each year are the endless hours of practice each Rockette endures, constantly working on choreography, timing and precision.
"We rehearsed for six days a week, six hours each day for six weeks before the show," Courtney said.
All told there are 84 Rockettes total, divided into two casts comprised of 36 dancers on stage and six swings in the wings. The twins are actually in separate casts from one another, which provides an extra bonus for each.
"Opening night was so surreal," said Courtney. "I got to watch her opening performance first, and I sat in the audience with tears streaming down my face. "And then in the next show Caitlin got to watch me perform. It's like looking in the mirror. I feel like it was a real moment of like, 'wow, this is happening, wow, we made it.' And to share it with Caitlin was the most special thing."
The Sullivan twins, who both majored in psychology and minored in business administration, are forever indebted to their years at Rutgers.
"We have to thank Rutgers University, and specifically the Dance Team, for helping us get this far," Caitlin said. "I don't think we would be where we are today if it weren't for the coaches and the members of the team."
Added Courtney, "we learned so much in college from being on the dance team and that's where a lot of the precision we use today came from. I know I can speak for Caitlin in saying that Rutgers was the best four years of our lives."
The Rutgers and Rockettes worlds will collide once more for the Sullivan sisters on Christmas Day with several members of the Athletics staff and football program attending the Christmas Spectacular as part of a lead-up to the
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
John Beisser ('86) is an award-winning writer who served as an assistant director in the Rutgers Athletic Communications Office from 1991-2006. In this role, he served as managing editor for nine publications that received national/regional citations from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). While an undergraduate at RU, Beisser was sports director of WRSU-FM and a sportswriter for The Daily Targum. He's also a former longtime assistant athletic director at Wagner College, where he was the recipient of the 2019 Met Basketball Writers Association "Good Guy" Award. Beisser resides in Piscataway with his wife Aileen (RC '95), a four-year Scarlet Knight women's lacrosse letterwinner, and their 14-year old daughter Riley.
