Manatee High dance team performs in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. ‘Just breathtaking.’
Manatee High’s dance team traveled more than 1,000 miles to revive a Thanksgiving tradition.
For years, the Sugar Canes have taken part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, performing among the excited crowds, television cameras and iconic balloons.
The longstanding tradition went on hold last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Macy’s to hold a smaller event with fewer performers.
Anabelle Bennett has been looking forward to the parade ever since her freshman year. Now a senior, she was elated when Macy’s announced the return of its full parade this year.
Bennett joined more than half a dozen other Manatee High seniors on the team — along with graduate Sailor Morrison, who missed the parade last year — and traveled to New York for a nonstop trip full of sightseeing and dancing.
Not long after leaving Sarasota Bradenton International Airport and landing in NYC, Bennett jumped into a four-hour practice session the same evening.
“The first few days were a lot of practice and a lot of dancing, but it was amazing and everyone’s energy in that room was great,” she said.
The Sugar Canes practiced for countless hours, gearing up for parade day, but they found time to experience New York as well.
They enjoyed “Six,” a British musical now playing on Broadway, and a handful of team members awoke before sunrise to watch the filming of NBC’s “Today” show.
Aidyn Reynolds, a Manatee High senior and Sugar Canes team member, said the trip felt almost dreamlike.
Reynolds looked over the expanse of high-rise buildings when flying into LaGuardia Airport, and it wasn’t long before she stood in front of the Big Apple’s most famous landmarks.
The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building towered over Reynolds and her teammates — offering little moments of reflection before their big day.
“It was pretty exciting, getting to be there with my best friends on the team and getting to share it with them,” Reynolds said.
Their excitement reached new heights on Thursday morning, when the Sugar Canes gathered along the Macy’s parade route and braved early-morning temperatures in the low 40s.
The team members huddled for warmth and prepared to join hundreds of other dancers from across the nation in a Thanksgiving Day performance. Spirit of America Productions brought many of the performers, including the Sugar Canes, to this year’s parade.
Reynolds and Bennett said the experience was overwhelming. Crowds of people surrounded the dancers from either side, while millions of people watched the parade broadcast at home.
All the hard work paid off, they said, sharing memories they would soon take back to Manatee County.
“It was absolutely amazing, walking the streets and seeing so many people,” Bennett said. “I would look up and I’d see all these people hanging out of their windows and waving down. It was just breathtaking.”
