Area dancers to appear in Christmas Day Disney broadcast

Christmas will be a bit more festive this year for 10 area girls who recently took part in the taping of the Disney Parks Christmas Parade television special -- they'll be able to find themselves on TV.

Notre Dame Regional High School students and many from Athletes Plus Cheerleading Training Center in Cape Girardeau traveled to Orlando, Fla., the week of Dec. 5 for the taping, which included more than 600 performers, according to a news release from the National Cheerleaders Association National Dance Alliance. The parade will be broadcast Christmas Day on ABC.

Note Dame students -- and sisters -- Andrea and Ashlee Younghouse were joined by Sarene Allen and Madeleine Arnzen. Athletes Plus students were Gracie Ballance, Kiersten Vincent, Hannah Scroggins, Luca Mays, Emma Tweedy and Grace Mowery, all of Anna, Ill., center owner Melanie Wissore said.

The girls were chosen at a National Dance Alliance camp held in June at Southeast Missouri State University. They were part of a contingent of 80, Andrea Younghouse said.

This was the second time Andrea, a 17-year-old senior, made the cut, but the first time for Ashlee, a 15-year-old sophomore. Ashlee and Andrea said the dancers are evaluated and placed in a spot. They perform for the parade producers and are given a sticker that designates their position.

From left, Ashlee Younghouse, Madeleine Arnzen, Andrea Younghouse and Sarene Allen pose for a photo inside Notre Dame Regional High school. (Laura Simon)

"Awesome" was how Ashlee termed the experience.

"It was cool to represent my school," Ashlee said, acknowledging she was nervous when she arrived because she didn't know what to expect, but she wound up making friends.

Andrea, who said this was her last year of participation in the Disney procession, said she didn't think she would make the front row again. "It was special that I got to share it with some of my teammates and my sister," she said.

This is Allen's first appearance in the parade, which she's viewed almost every year. "It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad I could do it," the 16-year-old sophomore said. " ... It was kind of hard to describe. You're on Main Street with the castle behind you. It's like nothing you've felt before. It's kind of cool."

Arnzen, also part of the Notre Dame dance squad, said meeting girls from all over the country was "just a lot of fun."

The girls arrived in Orlando early Dec. 5 and left Dec. 8. Thursday was registration, evaluation and tryouts; Friday, participants went to Blizzard Beach; and Saturday was the parade taping. The procession started behind Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. They walked to Main Street and then danced.

Ashlee knew she wanted to try out for the Christmas parade when she saw Andrea on TV the first year. "That was definitely my dream," she said, adding she plans to try again next year.

The girls can't wait to see how the parade looks when it's broadcast.

"That's probably going to be the best Christmas ever," Ashlee said.

"[It's] so exciting. I can't wait," Arnzen said. "I can't wait. I'm definitely going to be watching."

The 16-year-old junior said she's not sure she'll try out for the Disney parade again, but she'd really like to have a chance at being in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Wissore said students from her center have participated in the parade before, but this was her biggest group yet. She noted that this is another opportunity open to girls who cheer.

"It's such a wonderful experience for them," Wissore said. " ... They send them a video of the dance before they get there. They have to learn a whole dance and pom routine when they get there. They have to practice, so they already have to know their stuff ..."

"It gives them some responsibility to have to do something that big," Wissore said. She added the girls have to know their routine and be able to "jump in there" with a big crowd of people they don't know.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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