Marengo dancers to perform in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade

MARENGO — Students of Leanne’s School of Dance in Marengo will be among the performers at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City Nov. 27.

Every four years Leanne Cronbaugh, owner of the dance school, and her daughter Abby Kasper take the high school members of their dance company on a once-in-a-lifetime performance trip, Cronbaugh said.

The dance team had been performing during the Citrus Bowl halftime show, but that was discontinued during COVID, said Cronbaugh. She contacted some dance teachers on the East and West Coasts and they pointed her in the direction of the Macy’s parade.

As with the Citrus Bowl, Cronbaugh had to send a tape of her dancers and they had to be accepted by organizers.

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The dance team holds fundraisers all year to pay competition fees, and that money is also used for the trips every four years. “Our goal is to have everything paid,” said Kasper, but if fundraising falls short, parents make up the difference.

Parents and other spectators join the dancers on the trip. This year a total of 33 people, including 15 dancers, will leave for New York Nov. 22 and will return the day after Thanksgiving.

Leanne and Abby Dance Company performs and competes throughout the year. “This year we have 41 dancers,” said Kasper, 39 girls and 2 boys.

Only the high school dancers go on the trips. The four-year intervals assure that each dance student is able to go once.

The students of Leanne’s will dance with hundreds of other dancers through Spirit of America. “They walk the whole length of the parade,” said Kasper, and they perform in front of Macy’s.

NBC televises the parade each year, and Iowa family and friends may be able to see the local dancers on television during their performance.

Leanne’s dancers are in the process of learning the choreography for the parade dance from a video Spirit of America sent. Spirit of America also provide the costumes and sets up sightseeing opportunities for the dancers during the seven-day trip.

The dancers have to be ready to perform when they arrive in New York, said Kasper. They get off the plane and go straight to rehearsals.

Spirit of America has a chaperone for the dancers to make sure they get to rehearsals on time, said Cronbaugh.

The dancers have to be in Central Park at 5:30 or 6 a.m. Thanksgiving morning, said Cronbaugh. Four years ago the dancers were tired after the parade and wanted to rest, but were ready to go out in the evening.

“The last time they all wanted to ice sate,” said Cronbaugh, so they went to Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan.

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When they aren’t practicing during the week before the parade, the dancers will take a harbor cruise to see the Statue of Liberty, said Kasper. They’ll visit Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes, they’ll see two other Broadway shows and will visit the Empire State Building.

Spirit of America keeps everything on schedule.

The spectators also have time to do what they want while the dancers rehearse, said Cronbaugh. Four years ago they went shopping on Fifth Avenue and took a carriage ride in Central Park.

“Everybody’s super excited,” Cronbaugh said.