22 Dancers With Armstrong School of Dance to Participate in 99th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – Includes Dancers From Ithaca, Newfield, And Lansing School Districts

This year’s 99th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will have a local touch as the Armstrong School of Dance on Catherwood Road says 22 high school dance students from their studio will participate in the parade. Director of the Armstrong School of Dance, Karen Armstrong Gorsky, says dancers from her studio have been invited to perform with the Spirit of America Performance Dance Team since being recruited in 2008.

The dancers will join other top dance schools throughout the country in the parade, which is watched by over 3.5 million people on the parade route and over 50 million worldwide on Thanksgiving Day.

“This is a once in a life-time experience for these dancers”, Gorsky said. The dancers will travel to Manhattan 6 days prior to the parade to rehearse with 600 other dancers from around the country and work with nationally known choreographers for up to 6 hours a day. On Thanksgiving, they will march the 2.5 mile parade route and perform at Herald Square 34th street in front of Macy’s Department Store.

The timing of when you will most likely see the dancers is between 10:45 and noon, Gorsky noted. The parade can be watched on NBC and streamed via Peacock and Youtube from 8:30 and noon.

“Our dancers are thrilled for this opportunity. For us, this means moving from our small town stage in Ithaca to a very big stage overnight!” Gorsky said. This is Armstrong School of Dance’s 7th time participating in the Parade over the last 17 years.

A list of the local dancers may be found below in alphabetical order.

Audrey Bennett, Sally Brenner, Juliette DeCastro, Leo Desjardins, Siena Doob, Alex
Filiberto, Lily Fortenberry, Daphne Gilpin, Sophia Hedron, Ainsley Hiland, Mairenn Kenaley,
Eliza Kennedy, Rossi Livingston, Winnie Monroe, Matti Oakes, Avery Roberts, Clare Sanford
Ryan Savino, Meghan Snyder, Olivia Walters, Stella Watts, Ellie Wrisley