CLINTONVILLE — Eight AuSable Valley Central School students tasted fame and amassed a lifetime of memories when they performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade last month.
The members of the school's Dance Club — Hannah Baer, Kalliah Baire, Jordan Bouyea, Cody Langley, Kasaydia Carter-Martinez, Jason Ormsby, Nichole Pulsifer and Joli Straight — were chosen out of 60 other students who attended a summer camp with two professional choreographers from Texas-based Marching Auxiliaries of America.
The eight students earned a white ribbon during that camp, their ticket to perform in the parade.
NERVOUS
"It was so exciting," Baer said. "We were at the front of the parade, and then we closed it with Santa."
Baire and Pulsifer said the start of the parade was extremely nerve racking.
Millions of people were watching them, but when the music started, all their hard work paid off.
PRACTICE TAPE
The students practiced their choreography every day after school in the days leading up to the event. The National Spirit of America Dance Team — the group they danced with at the parade — sent them a tape with the routine.
"I was stunned how fast it was and how much they had to learn," said High School Principal Aimee Defayette.
The students spent a week in New York, perfecting their moves and checking out the city.
"One thing they learned is that this is a lot of work," said Dance Club co-adviser Annie Rochon.
LAST-MINUTE CHANGE
The NBC producer they worked with changed the routine two days before the parade.
The dance was essentially the same style, but things were rearranged, the students said.
That fact, coupled with all the other excitement, wore on them a little.
"I was really excited at first, but as the week went on, I got really tired," Carter-Martinez said.
Langley and Baire agreed, saying they were ready to head home by the end of it all.
WESTERN THEME
The routine they performed was western-themed.
They danced to "Cotton-Eyed Joe," "Boot Scootin Boogie," "These Boots are Made for Walking," "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "We Like it Loud."
One of the highlights of the parade came when the students shed the hats they were wearing and threw them out to the crowd.
"People were scrambling to get them, and we saw them wearing them," Baer said. "I felt so important."
The three boys from AVCS who attended the event were the first ever to do so for the Spirit of America, they said. One other male student from Ohio joined them in that experience.
CITY ATTRACTIONS
The students had some other interesting experiences while they were in the city.
They saw Jessica Simpson's fiancé and one of the stars of "Desperate Houswives."
They also saw the Broadway shows "Billy Elliot" and the "Rockettes Christmas Spectacular" and took a ferry by the Statue of Liberty.
They went into Macy's on Black Friday.
Straight, who is a post-graduate student, accompanied them all over the city.
"She was kind of like the mom of the group," Baer said.
LOOKING AHEAD
The students are taking another trip to the city in the near future to take some lessons on Broadway and in hip-hop dance.
They also have a few other events planned locally — a lip-sync competition in the spring and a tribute to "Dancing with the Stars" after that. Faculty members will join the students for that event, which raises money for the dance and drama clubs and a local charity.
