Rehearsals are where everyone meets
for the first time. This is where
you make new friends and reconnect
with old friends.
Rehearsals for the parades really
are a ton of fun! It is so
exciting to learn your new choreography
and work with the floats for the
first time. This is where you bond
with your fellow cast members which
is a
crucial part of the success of the
parade. If you don't feel comfortable
with your fellow cast members it could
be reflected in your performance.
It
is so important to know that everyone
in the parade is on your side and
that >
you have friends out there with you.
It's a little stressful when you are
performing in front of thousands of
people and you feel like you're all
by
yourself, but when everyone works
as a team and helps each other out
it is
the most amazing feeling in the world.
Not everyone in the parade rehearses
on the same night until the very end.
You break down into sections called
"units." Units are the different
sections of the parade generally using
the different floats as the main focus
of each unit. (i.e. in the christmas
parade there's the "Ball unit."
This unit includes the princes and
princesses on the float as well as
the dancers in front and behind the
float. The "candy shop unit"
includes the Goofy/Max float, the
candy bakers, and the gingerbread
men.) The schedule for rehearsals
calls you by your unit. No unit rehearses
every night, so you really have to
look at the schedule to make sure
you know when you're supposed to be
there.
The rehearsals generally start any
time after 5:00pm. usually they start
around 8:00pm and run until midnight
or 1:00am. Once you get to the end
of the rehearsal schedule the last
three nights are spent rehearsing
on the actual parade route. All other
rehearsals have taken place backstage.
The backstage rehearsals start in
the rehearsal halls until choreography
is learned, then they move outside
where we do what is called "looping."
Looping is where they bring the floats
out of the wherehouse and we actually
loop around the wherehouse as if we
were on route. We do this until street
rehearsals start.
Street rehearsals start after the
park hasclosed for the day so it really
depends on the season as to how late
they start. Usually though they start
at 11:00 or later and run for about
four hours. We run the parade twice
each night in full costume. No, we
don't ever get out earlier than 3:00am!
This goes on for three nights and
then the parade opens for the public
the very next day.
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