Performing in record breaking low temperature of 19 degrees, eleven senior Southern Belles spent the November break performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

To fight from cold temperatures, the Belles used hand-warmers and wrapped themselves in foil blankets before performing in their sequence dresses for the parade.

“Our uniform was a dress, so we all layered with thermal clothing and used a lot of hot hands,” senior Taylor Lasiter said.

Each year, Encore Creative Productions invites the Belles to perform in the parade as part of their Spirit of America dance group. The troupe danced down the 2.65 mile parade route.

“I was so cold, but also very exciting. It was a lot of fun getting to see all the people watching us,”Lasiter said.

Before arriving in New York, the Belles organized several events to help cover the cost of $3,000 per Belle. They hosted a Little Girls Clinic, sold food items such as cookies and tacos in the canteen, and sold raffle tickets during the football games to help raise money.

Three weeks prior to their arrival in New York City, they received an email of the choreography. The Belles spent four days attending five to six hours of practice to learn the routine.

“When you get there you expect a lot of changes in the dance, and by the time you finish cleaning it,it doesn’t even seem like the same dance you learned,”senior Brenna Padilla said.

During their stay in the city the visited the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and watched Broadway shows such as Aladdin and Hamilton.

“My favorite was watching Aladdin because my sister is a musical theatre major, so I grew up around that stuff and was involved in it for awhile,” Padilla said.
Currently, there are twelve junior Belles scheduled to take part in the parade for next year.