Walt Disney World has always been about having a good time and enjoying the attractions that its Orlando, Fla., campus offers. And for a group of young ladies from our area, they actually became part of the reason why so many people go down South.
Last month, 25 dancers from Yvonne’s School of Dance in Edison participated in the Very Merry Christmas Parade at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The event is shown on ABC each year. PHOTO COURTESY OF YVONNE AMBROSIO Twenty-five students from Yvonne’s School of Dance in Edison went to “the happiest place on Earth” to participate in the Very Merry Christmas Parade, which is televised on ABC each year. The girls, ages 9 to 16, were chosen by Dance the Magic, a Californiabased production company that works with Disney to select dance acts for the parade, which showcases talented acts in front of thousands of visitors who come to Orlando to watch the parade.
Yvonne Ambrosio, owner of Yvonne’s School of Dance, said her school participated in the parade in 2007, and just like three years ago, her students once again had a great experience.
“It was so exciting once we learned that we were going back once again to be involved with the event,” Ambrosio said. “Perhaps the toughest part was learning a routine that each of the girls had to know perfectly. It was going to be on national television, and so of course everybody wanted to be at their best.”
But when it comes to the entertainment world, it is inevitable that glitches come up along the way.
“About two weeks before we were supposed to go down there, Dance the Magic calls and says to scrap that; we’d have to learn a few more as well,” Ambrosio said. “It really was a lot, and we didn’t know what to expect. Now our job was much bigger than we thought it’d be.”
With the parade scheduled to be taped starting Dec. 3, the girls boarded a plane for Florida the night before. Even though the next day’s wakeup call was at 5 a.m., all parties involved expected the temperature to be somewhat warm. But once again, more glitches.
“The weather was rough for most of the time that we were there,” Ambrosio said. “It poured all day for the first part of the trip, and it was impossible to tape the parade.”
Which meant that Ambrosio and her students and their family members were going to be down there for a bit longer than they had anticipated. (She noted that Disney was very generous with the accommodations, giving price breaks, along with meals, etc.).
Disney supplied the girls with costumes, and they gave everyone a year’s notice to give people enough time to raise the necessary funds to make the trip.
“I remembered from the first time we were down there [in 2007], that Disney really ran a first-class operation every step of the way,” Ambrosio said. “Sure, it is expensive to head down there, but for the girls it was so worth it. They had a great opportunity to show thousands of people at the park and millions of people at home just how hard they work and how talented they really are.”
Once it finally came time for the girls to show their stuff, they did not disappoint, according to Ambrosio.
“The day that we finally got to get out there, we had a two-hour rehearsal, which was then followed by four or five takes,” Ambrosio said. “It was a long day, to say the least.”
In the end, though, the long day didn’t seem so bad. The highlight of the experience was seeing the Jonas Brothers perform as part of the festivities.
Ambrosio said she learned about Dance the Magic at a summer convention a few years ago, but had no idea of the impact it would have at the time.
“To have gone down there twice now, it has been incredible,” said Ambrosio, who is hoping that her students may be able to go again in two years. “I’d also like to see if we can perform aboard a cruise ship, maybe next summer. These girls have so much talent, and it really is amazing just how hard they worked to get this far.”