Almost on a whim, Jennifer Fiandt decided to audition for the Radio City Rockettes in 2002.

A Western Michigan University freshman at the time, she had danced most of her life, but in college Fiandt planned to concentrate on academics.

However, she decided to go to the Rockettes audition in Chicago with her dad. She waited in line for hours, along with about 500 other people. Finally she got into an audition, where she was asked to do a kick combination.

“It just seemed like a good fit for me,” she said. “It felt very glamorous. I was very excited when I left.”

She was really excited when she was asked to join the Rockettes' line in 2002 in Detroit, where the company was performing a theater show.

Now seven years later, Fiandt is still high-kicking with the Rockettes, this time with the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” arena tour, which will dance its way into Fort Wayne on Tuesday.

“It's an honor, it really is,” Fiandt said of being a Rockette for eight seasons.

Although dancing always was an important part of her life, until she landed the job with the Rockettes she never thought dancing would be her career. “It just never occurred to me,” she said. “Maybe it was a confidence thing.”

Growing up, she lived in Indiana for a short time and took her first dance lessons in Granger. But most of her youth, she and her family lived in Rochester Hills, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, where a few women from the community had gone on to be Rockettes.

“Everyone knew of the Rockettes,” she said. As a little girl she'd watch them on TV and dance along.

Once Fiandt became a Rockette, she was able to dance in the fall (the shows are seasonal) and continue her education in the spring. In 2005, she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in public relations and a minor in dance.

After college, she relocated to New York, where she had the opportunity to dance with the Rockettes in the Thanksgiving Day parade. It was cold and rainy, she said. “We had a blast.”

In 2006, she performed as a Rockette at the famed Radio City Music Hall.

Today Fiandt, who's 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches tall, performs near the middle of the line. The Rockettes are required to be between 5 feet, 6 inches and 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches. When they form a line, the tallest are always in the middle, with the shortest on either end. This gives the illusion of them being nearly the same height, Fiandt said.

The Rockettes change costumes eight times during the show, sometimes in as little as 78 seconds.

Each of the 13 scenes depicts a different theme or story. “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” showcases the Rockettes' precision dancing. “New York at Christmas” uses a giant LED screen to create the illusion of taking a tour of Manhattan. “The Living Nativity” has been part of the show since its inception in 1933.

Fiandt, 26, enjoys traveling with the arena tour. “It's well suited to me,” she says.

The Rockettes build camaraderie on the road by doing things, such as having dinner together.

“A lot of the unity and precision you see onstage is what we're building offstage,” she said, referring to the relationships they develop.