Business & Tech

Disney's Christmas Parade Will Feature Local Dancers

Dancers from Orlandi Dance Center will be in the televised Christmas Day parade on ABC.

If you tune into the Christmas Day Parade on ABC, you might recognize some local dancers on the march. 

Seventeen students from Orlandi Dance Center will head to Florida from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 to participate in the holiday festivities, which include filming the parade shown on TV. 

Orlandi's contribution will be divided into three performances.

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"The [parade] that's filmed for ABC, we're in two numbers. That will be on TV Christmas morning," said Jenna Rose Pepe, Orlandi's director. "The third number, that one's not filmed, will be in Disney World in front of park guests."

The dancers have been circling the dance floor in Orlandi's Havertown studio for weeks, practicing the routines.

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"We're going around room because that's the only way to practice," Pepe said, though she added that the group might move outside as the date approaches.

For the non-televised parade down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, the dancers will repeat their 90-second routine for about 15 minutes.

In the televised parade, the younger performers will have a Brave-themed performance, and the older dancers will have a Newsies theme. Both are Disney films.

Pepe said her studio's participation was coordinated by a group called Dance the Magic, which also supplied the choreography. This will be Orlandi's first time working with Disney World or the ABC Christmas Day parade.


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