She’s the 1st Radio City Rockette with a visible disability. Sydney Mesher on performing with a limb difference — and how she stays fit during the holiday season.

Radio City Rockette Sydney Mesher isn’t just living her dream this holiday season, she’s also breaking barriers as a disability advocate. Mesher, who was born without a left hand, is the first — and so far only — Rockette with a visible disability since joining the nearly 100-year-old dance troupe in 2019.

“Having that genuine joy and appreciation and just feeling so proud of myself, it changed my life,” Mesher, who’s now dancing in her fifth season of the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, tells Yahoo Life.

Making a dream come true

Growing up in Oregon, Mesher was first introduced to the Rockettes the same way many Americans are — by watching them perform on TV during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. After having the opportunity as a student to do an opening number for the Rockettes during a tour performance in Portland and going on to learn the Rockettes’ choreography and dance style from teachers in college, Mesher says, she began to get “tunnel vision” for the job — and set her heart on one day becoming a Radio City Rockette.

When Mesher received a post-audition phone call in 2019 notifying her that she had been picked to join the famous kickline, she “immediately broke down into tears.”

“Obviously, being the first visibly disabled Rockette is a huge honor and a huge breakthrough,” Mesher says. “But I remember just feeling so overwhelmed because I was making my dreams come true. I had officially become a professional dancer, and I could lay my head at night knowing that I had done it.”

Representation in the Rockette line

Mesher says she does make a few adjustments to accommodate her limb difference. The Rockettes have a lot of quick costume changes to do in between dance numbers, so some of Mesher’s costumes and shoes have been tweaked to make the switches between roles a bit easier.

She also adapts in little ways throughout the show. During the “Here Comes Santa Claus” dance number, for example, Mesher uses one bell instead of the usual two. And during the “Ragdoll” routine, when each Rockette flips a block over her head to reveal a message to the audience, Mesher’s block has been slightly modified to make it more comfortable.

“There is a specific design cut out that allows my left hand to grab the block in a different spot than normal, and that allows me to execute the move a little bit better,” Mesher explains.

Since becoming a Rockette, Mesher says she’s met — both locally and over social media — a lot of families of children with limb differences, as well as adults and peers living with limb differences. “It’s been an honor,” Mesher says. “It’s very humbling to know that people see me and they feel such joy to see such representation in the Rockette line.”

As a disabled person, Mesher encourages self-acceptance and “self-discovery.” “Allow yourself that journey and know that you were born this way for a reason, or your life has transpired however it has for a reason— and your difference is special,” she says.

A Rockette’s health diary

The life of a Radio City Rockette is not for the faint of heart. Each of the two alternating casts performs 100 times from Nov. 8 to Jan. 5, doing two to four 90-minute shows a day and up to 17 performances in a week.

Mesher is in the evening cast and works six days a week — with Tuesday as her only day off. Here’s how she stays healthy during the busy season.

• What she eats: Mesher says she eats a lot of protein bars and a lot of fruit. “I like a smoothie. I feel like that’s a great way to get a lot of nutrition,” she says. One of her favorite munchies? “I snack on carrots a lot.”

• How she stays fit: To get ready for the holiday performance season, Mesher runs and does sprint interval training to build cardio fitness and endurance. She also does Pilates and some yoga for strength training, in addition to dancing during the off-season. “I’m always taking dance classes and [learning] a range of dance styles,” Mesher says.

• Taking care of mental health: Mesher begins and ends her day by getting in a good headspace. She takes time to enjoy her coffee and meditate in the mornings, and wraps up the evening with some stretching, journaling and music. “I just try to unwind without my phone — just really connecting in with my body and making sure that I’m balanced and grounded,” she says. “Just taking time to listen to music and breathe really helps me.”

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