STAGE TUBE: Take a Peek at The Rockettes Performance at the Trump Inaugural Ball

Following a saga of controversy, The Rockettes performed at the 2017 Liberty Ball as part of the inauguration of Donald Trump. Talk of this performance has been heated ever since the invitation was accepted only a few days after Christmas. The majority of The Rockettes expressed heady disinterest and intention to boycott.

One Rockette stated: "This is not a Republican or Democrat issue - this is a women's rights issue. This is an issue of racism and sexism, something that's much bigger than politics...It's a basic human-rights issue. We have immigrants in the show. I feel like dancing for Trump would be disrespecting the men and women who work with us, the people we care about."

Any hope of refusing to perform at the inauguration was soon denied by an email from the American Guild of Variety Artists. The email reads: "We have received an email from a Rockette expressing concern about getting "involved in a dangerous political climate" but I must remind you that you are all employees, and as a company, Mr. Dolan obviously wants The Rockettes to be represented at our country's Presidential inauguration, as they were in 2001 & 2005. Any talk of boycotting this event is invalid, I'm afraid."

The AGVA continued, noting that any dancer who was not among the 13 employed full time would not be required to sign up for the event, but dancers recognized that if they refused, they could face unspoken consequences. Many on social media expressed concern that Rockettes who refuse to perform may be at risk of losing their job and might not find other full-time employment in dance. In 2015 just 1.4% of people who identified their professions as "dancers" in New York were employed full time according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Full-time positions such as these are hard to come by.

One Rockette described the situation saying, "there is a divide in the company now, which saddens me most. The majority of us said no immediately. Then there's the percentage that said yes, for whatever reason - whether it's because they're young and uninformed, or because they want the money, or because they think it's an opportunity to move up in the company when other people turn it down."

When the news of The Rockettes plan to high-kick at Trump's inauguration broke before Christmas, the arts community expressed outrage, and Madison Square Garden eventually dubbed the entire affair voluntary.