A trip to Radio City Music Hall’s to see the annual Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes has long been part of the LeBar family’s holiday tradition.

Sisters Maranda and Amarisa LeBar remember watching, enchanted, as the dancers - clad in sparkling, identical ensembles and wearing the same make-up and sporting the same French twist hair style - moved in unison, performing some of the same dances the original class of Rockettes did in the 1930s.

“We saw strong, confident, classy women, dancing together,” Maranda, now 26, recalled. “It was my dream to be on stage and be one of them.”

The LeBars still attend the Christmas Spectacular but a few things have changed. Really, really changed.

Maranda and Amarisa are now on the stage, dancing with the legendary troupe that’s come to symbolize New York City. They are now Rockettes.

And their proud mother, who owns a dance studio, attends about 10 shows each season, sitting in the third row so her daughters can see her from the stage.

“The Rockettes are so iconic, so special,” Amarisa, 21, said. “We’re a big sisterhood, a family, onstage and off.”

Every year, hundreds of women audition for a spot in the Rockettes’ legendary high kick-line. Only 80 make the cut. The current class has dancers from three countries – the U.S., Canada and Australia - and 27 U.S. states. No state is better represented than New Jersey: 12 of the dancers grew up in the Garden State, 14 currently call it home.

“There must be some good dance training going on out there,” mused Karen Keeler, the Rockettes’ creative director. “I’m sure the proximity to New York is helping, but there must be good, solid training in New Jersey.”

Yeah, it’s not just proximity. New York and Maryland can each only claim three dancers, Pennsylvania has five.

“I think with a lot of girls from New Jersey, the Rockettes are part of our holiday tradition, something we did with our families every year,” Amarisa LeBar said. “We’re connected to the Rockettes.”

The Rockettes have been connecting with fans since 1933, a year after John D. Rockefeller Jr. opened what remains the world’s largest indoor theater. Their 90-minute Christmas show includes dances that were originally staged more than 85 years ago. They’ve traveled overseas to entertain troops at war, performed for presidents and frequently join the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“It’s the most magical thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,” said first-time dancer Athena Petrizzo, 20, without any indication she was speaking with hyperbole. “I auditioned when I was 18 and I auditioned five times. I didn’t stop until I could say I was a Radio City Rockette. ... To any Jersey girl or girls across the nation: if this is something you want to do, do everything it takes to be up on that stage.”

A quick round-up of Rockette facts: There are at least two opportunities to audition for the troop in New York each year and this year, for the first time, auditions were also held in Chicago and Atlanta. Dancers must be at least 18 and stand between 5′6 1/2 and 5′10 1/2. They should be well-rounded and proficient in multiple dance styles, including tap and jazz. No one is guaranteed a spot; returning Rockettes must try out like everyone else.

The 80 chosen dancers are divided into two groups of 36 dancers with four stand-bys willing to jump in at any time. Rehearsals for the Christmas show begin more than a month before its November opening and last six hours a day for six days a week.

The dancers always move as one; there are no soloists. Those waist-high kicks are known as “strut kicks.” When performing in a line, the dancers are extending their arms, but they aren’t actually touching each other. Every step — be it onstage or in the wings - is carefully planned. Rockettes perform 17 shows per week.

“These are the hardest working dancers I know. These women are like athletes,” said Keeler, who danced as a Rockette for 14 years. “The audience comes and sees a spectacular production that looks effortless and that’s part of the magic. If they only knew the amount of hard work and resilience that it takes to get to that point.”

The current production features seven costumes - among them reindeer, rag dolls and toy soldiers - and that many costume changes. One transformation needs to be completed in 75 seconds. Two numbers -- “Parade of Wooden Soldiers” and “Living Nativity” -- have been staged every year since the first. Yet the show does change. In 2017, it added one of the largest LED screens in the world and digital projections which can be changed each year.

Last year, the Rockettes unveiled a new closing number, “Christmas Lights."

“There’s always something new to see,” Keeler said. “If you’re a returning audience member, you’ll find something new and traditional favorites.”

On stage, the dancers are meant to look identical. Off-stage, they are anything but.

“Our goal is to come together as one on stage but we’re each our own individual,” said Petrizzo, who grew up in Toms River and now lives in Seaside Heights. “We have moms on the lines. We have real estate agents, Pilates teachers, girls like me still in school. But we come together and share our passion for dance.”

Nicole Baker, 38, is one of seven Rockette moms who have 14 children between them. Baker said it’s hard to leave her three children ages nine years to 16 months at home in Upper Saddle River while she rehearses and performs. Still, her husband sometimes shouts, “Enjoy vacation!” when she leaves for work.

“He knows how much fun we have being in the dressing room and being on stage together,” Baker said. “There will be some really hard days, but these Rockettes will be your friends and family for life. Our bond is like nothing else.”

Baker is performing in her 14th season. Petrizzo is starring in her first. But both described the butterflies-in-the-belly thrill that comes before a performance.

“As long as I have that feeling, I’m not going anywhere,” Baker said.

Before Petrizzo’s first show, a more seasoned Rockette told her she needed to take a peek at the audience and see 6,000 seats filled for the first time. She did as told, before and after the performance.

“There are no words to describe that amazing feeling the cast members share as they look out into the audience,” she said. “I remember the the people in the front row seats and their looks of pure Christmas joy. They were so excited and it felt so good."

CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR STARRING THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES

Radio City Music Hall

1260 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY

Tickets start at $25, available online at https://www.rockettes.com. Through Jan. 5.

Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.