Westside dancers perform in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

When it comes to Thanksgiving mornings, many people think of laying down on your couch and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For freshmen Virginia Allen and Bethany Krenzer and senior Danielle Lemke, they spent their time a little bit differently than the average American. They were dancing alongside Snoopy and Santa, dancing through the streets of New York.

The girls were given the opportunity to travel to New York City through their dance program.

“We went with the Spirit of America Program, and that is basically a bunch of dance programs that went to New York City,” Allen said. “We rehearsed together and then we performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”

Although it may sound pretty simple, Krenzer said that the selection process was complicated and long.

“We had to send in an audition tape to Spirit of America and they picked a select few studios from across the country, and luckily, our studio got an invite back,” Krenzer said. “I think that we got this invite about a year ago, so we were waiting for a long time.”

Allen says that the experience was once in a life-time and she learned a lot on the trip.

“I thought it was pretty cool because you could see lots of floats that you would normally just see on TV,” Allen said. “It was really cool marching and dancing in the parade because most people don’t get to do that in their life, but we were really grateful for the opportunity.”

Allen also said that she saw a lot of famous people, including a Olympic Gold medalist.

“My favorite float would probably be the Spirit of America one just because that it is the group that we were with,” Allen said. “Also, Laurie Hernandez was on the float so it was really cool to see her in person.”

Although the experience was once-in-a-lifetime, there is an age limit with the program, so Krenzer and Allen won’t be able to go again. However, Krenzer said that the trip was definitely a valuable experience.

“Our studio can only go once every four years, and by then, we will have graduated so we won’t be able to do it again,” Krenzer said. “I would do it again if I could. It was just really fun and really cool.”