Nineteen members of Latrobe’s Laurel Valley Academy of Dance will show off their moves next week before a national television audience watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The local teen dancers were among about 600 selected from studios and schools across the country to join the parade lineup as part of the Spirit of America Dance Stars. The team of dancers, ages 13-18, has been part of the parade since 1986.
According to the Macy’s parade website, the Spirit of America team is one of eight performing groups slated to appear in this year’s holiday procession on Nov. 28. It will perform a routine to the jazzy holiday tune “Man With the Bag.”
“For these dancers, this is an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” dance academy owner Angela Guidos said.
Guidos, dance instructor Ashley Masters and several parents will travel with the dancers for a weeklong experience in New York City, including a Monday evening team rehearsal that will be captured by TV cameras in front of Macy’s at Herald Square on 34th Street.
The itinerary also includes attending Disney’s Broadway show “Frozen” and the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, ice skating at Rockefeller Center, taking a harbor cruise around Liberty Island and visiting sites such as the Empire State Building, Chinatown, Little Italy and the Hudson Yards mall.
The Laurel Valley dancers selected for the trip are Bella Acito, Jessica Bald, Alexis Coletti, Abbey Cowan, Ariana Harr, Jameson Harvey, Lauren Herrington, Becca Miller, Nina Modecki, Chloe Morrison, Rachel Newill, Autumn Stemmler, Ally Thomas and Reagan Twaddle, all of Latrobe; Kyri Hammers, Alisha Mauro and Anna Oshie, all of Derry; and Tristin Peltz-Palko and Ava Puschnigg, both of Ligonier.
The parade will air on the NBC network from 9 a.m. to noon.
