BOONEVILLE, Miss. (AP) - These have been sweltering days for Olivia Jackson, a member of the Booneville High School band’s color guard.
Everyone’s been getting into shape and learning the new routine.
“I’m looking forward to the beginning of November when it starts to cool down and practices aren’t so hot,” said Jackson, a 17-year-old rising senior.
She also has a reason to look forward to the end of November. When she was a freshman, three BHS seniors were picked to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since then,” Jackson said.
She recorded an audition tape and sent it to Spirit of America Productions. Word came back on June 30 that she’d been accepted.
“They will send me a routine, and I will learn it,” she said, “and I also will spend hours up there practicing before the parade.”
She’s excited about the trip but also concerned about traveling to a big city. As far as dancing is concerned, she expects to have that covered.
“I will know my routine, and I’m not scared of performing,” she said. “I’ve performed many times. I think performing in front of people you know is more nerve-wracking than performing for people you don’t know.”
Her family set up a gofundme.com campaign for “Olivia Jackson Macy’s Parade” to help raise $3,000 to cover her expected expenses.
If all goes well, she and her fellow dancers will march in the parade for about a mile, and then they’ll perform a roughly two-minute routine in front of Macy’s.
After that, she’ll get to enjoy the parade for a while. She’s hoping to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes in action.
“They’re my favorite,” she said.
In order to prepare for the trip, she’ll have to rehearse alone, but that’s not a problem.
“She goes into her room and works for hours,” said her mom, Julie Jackson.
“I dance in front of the mirror,” Jackson said.
“She sets her timer on her phone and goes,” Julie Jackson said.
Jackson took dance lessons for a short time, but she’s honed her skills as a member of BHS’ color guard, winter guard and dance team.
For the past two years, she’s gone to a dance camp at Mississippi State University, where she had to quickly learn a dance routine and present it to the camp’s staff.
“They judge you on how well you memorize it and on your showmanship,” she said. “We bring what we learn back to perform during pep rallies and ball games.”
Some of the moves she does in New York might make their way back to BHS in one form or another. If not, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has already provided benefits by giving her something cool to anticipate to during hot days of band practice.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “From the heat we’ve been out in every day, I’m really looking forward to it.”
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, https://djournal.com
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