'You feel like a celebrity': Flagler students recount performing in Macy's Parade

Flagler-Palm Coast High School Starlets dancers Olivia Decruz and Abby Perez-Ramirez practice at 4 on the morning of the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Flagler-Palm Coast High School Starlets dancers Olivia Decruz and Abby Perez-Ramirez practice at 4 on the morning of the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

If you watched the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last month, there’s a chance you saw some local faces dance across your screen.

Four Flagler-Palm Coast High School students, all with the Starlets Color Guard and Dance Team, were selected to perform in the 96th running of the holiday tradition, which garnered more than 27 million television viewers and a few million more on the streets of New York City.

Tianna Leadon danced with the Spirit of America Productions, while Abby Perez-Ramirez and Olivia Decruz danced with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band, and Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla performed with the band's color guard.

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“People at home were taking videos of the performance on their TV. You could hear them screaming for them,” Starlets Coach Lauren Albert said. “That was awesome. They had a ton of people on Instagram and Facebook taking pictures of them (saying) that they could see them on TV.”

Flagler-Palm Coast students Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Olivia Decruz, Tianna Leadon and Abby Perez-Ramirez with coaches Lauren Albert and Ashlyn Wilkerson at the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Flagler-Palm Coast students Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Olivia Decruz, Tianna Leadon and Abby Perez-Ramirez with coaches Lauren Albert and Ashlyn Wilkerson at the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Starlets some of select few to perform at parade

Albert has coached the Starlets for 17 years. In addition to performing with the school’s marching band, the team performs in various showcases and color guard competitions. There are 40 students in the program this year, and performers individually submitted audition videos to be selected for the parade.

Leadon was one of around 700 dancers for Spirit of America from all over the country. Arredondo-Alamilla was one of around 30 color guard members in the Great American Marching Band. Perez Ramirez and Decruz were two of only four dancers chosen for the band, Albert said.

Albert pointed to the girls’ high performance quality as a reason they were selected, and she also commended their work ethic and determination. The girls raised money on their own, fundraising from alumni and community members, as well as working jobs outside of school.

The four performers traveled to New York for a week, where they did some sightseeing and learned the performances for the first time, which included some several-hour sessions and a 4 a.m. rehearsal the day of the parade, Albert said.

Flagler-Palm Coast High School Starlets dancers Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Abby Perez-Ramirez and Olivia Decruz practice at the Teaneck Arena before performing in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Flagler-Palm Coast High School Starlets dancers Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Abby Perez-Ramirez and Olivia Decruz practice at the Teaneck Arena before performing in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Starlets recount Thanksgiving parade experience

None of the girls had experienced New York City in depth before, and for Arredondo-Alamilla, it was her first time ever leaving Florida, flying on a plane and seeing snow.

"It honestly felt like a movie scene," the 18-year old senior said.

Arredondo-Alamilla says she made new friends from all over the country. Her highlight of the trip was seeing Times Square and meeting celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon and Jordin Sparks, during the parade.

"I never thought the balloons would be that big," she added. "I knew it was going to be big, but I didn't expect it was going to be that big."

Decruz, a 17-year-old junior, noted that what people see on TV and live streams does not justify how amazing it is in person.

"It was really a wonderful experience getting to meet new people from different places and getting to know them from scratch," she said. "It's really cool because you're all there for the same thing and you're all there to learn and interact with each other, and you all have the same passion of wanting to do band or dance and flag."

Another favorite part of the parade was interacting with the crowd, seeing how excited people were and "getting to feel a little famous for a second," she said.

JV Coach Ashlyn Wilkerson, students Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Olivia Decruz and Abby Perez-Ramirez, and Coach Lauren Albert at the observation deck on the top of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The students, part of Flagler-Palm Coast High School's Starlets dance troupe, performed in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
JV Coach Ashlyn Wilkerson, students Vanessa Arredondo-Alamilla, Olivia Decruz and Abby Perez-Ramirez, and Coach Lauren Albert at the observation deck on the top of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The students, part of Flagler-Palm Coast High School's Starlets dance troupe, performed in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Perez-Ramirez, an 18-year-old senior, called the experience "surreal" and said she was giddy to experience the big city that so many people dream of.

"I was giving kids high fives and (taking) pictures with them that they'll have forever, and you never really have any moments like this, like you feel like a celebrity basically," she said.

Despite four- and eight-hour practice days, she said she "felt ready for this moment" from her Starlets experience. Perez-Ramirez and Arredondo-Alamilla are both captains of the team, and Leadon is the head captain.

"It meant a lot. It meant that we're not only representing ourselves but our team as a whole so that our team can also have more opportunities like this in future years," Leadon said, noting that their coach always says to leave the team better than they found it.

Leadon said her highlight of the parade was seeing the behind-the-scenes experiences that TV viewers don't get to see, such as the parade directors cueing the performers to their spots. It was also a great opportunity to showcase their talents outside of Palm Coast on a national level, she said.

All of the girls expressed their appreciation to their coaches, family and teammates for making the experience possible.

Tianna Leadon, a Flagler-Palm Coast High School student, was a Spirit of America dancer in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Tianna Leadon, a Flagler-Palm Coast High School student, was a Spirit of America dancer in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Flagler, Volusia performing arts have national, international representation

Flagler Schools has had multiple students participate in the parade over the years, including six from FPC's band in 2017 and three from Matanzas High School in 2018.

FPC also had one Starlet attend each year in 2018 and 2019.

Coming from a smaller town, Albert says the opportunity and exposure allowed the girls to appreciate the opportunities they’ve received in their program, as well as think about college options, as they all want to perform in college in some aspect, whether continuing in color guard or taking dance classes.

"I think this has also pushed them to be like, 'I want to do something else, something more,’ and then ultimately bring that back to the program and continue to grow our program as it has for these last 17 years,” she said.

Volusia County Schools also has plans to highlight some of Florida’s performing arts programs in the future, as Spruce Creek High School’s marching band will perform at the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland. University High School’s Titan Regiment band was also recently selected to perform in the 2024 London New Year’s Day Parade, and its choir will perform in the London International Choral Festival.

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler-Palm Coast students performed at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade