Braintree student gets chance to be a Rockette through summer program

Bridget Durkin poses outside of Radio City Music Hall in New York where she was welcomed into a 10-day camp for hopeful Rockettes.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

At age 17, Bridget Courtney Durkin already knows what it’s like to dance like a Rockette.

Durkin, a Quincy resident and senior honor roll student at Braintree’s Archbishop Williams High School, recently completed the Rockette Summer Intensive dance program at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

The 12-hour-a-day, 10-day program could be a first step for young, gifted dancers to potentially join one of America’s most recognizable dance groups.

Over a thousand dancers from across the country auditioned for a space as one of 100 girls in the program, hopeful to enter into the competition.

Chosen dancers learn Rockette choreography, dance with the Rockettes themselves, and even perform at Radio City Music Hall at the end of the event.

Durkin not only won a coveted spot, but was invited back next year without an audition.

It’s one of the steps in becoming a Rockette - for either the traveling tour or for the New York-based performances. And it’s 10 days Durkin will never forget.

"It was an experience that I will cherish my whole life and I have written my college essay about this experience. I plan on majoring in Dance and English in college," Durkin said.

During the training, Bridget learned the famous precision dance technique, a style that combines jazz, tap, musical theatre, lyrical, and the kick line into one performance.

Whether the young dancer will go back for the second summer program is still up in the air. If she does, Bridget may have the opportunity to become a part of the Rockettes more permanently.

As you must be 18 to audition, a milestone Bridget will hit next year, her performance in next summer’s program would determine her eligibility.

“Whether or not she’ll try out, she’s not sure. She wants to go to college…but she might take a year off and dance, but she doesn’t know if she’d want to do that,” Maureen Durkin, Bridget's mother said.

"I am still thinking about trying out after college for the Rockette's, [but] I hope to someday have my own dance studio," Bridget said. "I start my college essay off with my mission in life is to dance... I feel I did [that] this summer in New York."

Regardless of what the future holds, it was especially exciting for the young star to even be invited into the program, as she isn’t currently a member of a dance studio.

“She did Dance Works in Pembroke for years, and did Boston Ballet and quit in high school for financial reasons. But she continued to dance on her own, practice in her house,” Maureen said. “So it was a real honor to be the only dancer down there not dancing five days a week.”

Until next summer, Bridget will get her kicks in through Archbishop Williams theater and cheerleading.

This year, she is one of the State, Regional, Catholic, and National Cheerleading team’s co-captains. She has also performed in all of her high school theatrical musical productions, with a solo performance in every show.

Bridget is also a figure skater, and has been involved in Raise the Curtain summer camp in the Quincy Public Schools since she was five years old.

Even if she doesn't go back, Bridget said the memory of this summer will stay with her.

"I really enjoyed being in Radio City and using the dressing rooms, practice rooms and makeup rooms that the Rockettes use every day. We ate with them the same food they get, we saw all the costumes and had time to really feel what this would be like to actually be a Famous Rockette," she said. "It felt really great to be chosen."