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San Marcos High School's Diamond Line and Dazzlers dance team performed at the Dallas Holiday Parade on Dec. 4. Photos courtesy of San Marcos CISD

SMHS dancers dazzle at Dallas Holiday Parade

Sunday, December 12, 2021
“It was a great experience for the group because obviously it was a once in a lifetime performance for all of us. And it was every single person’s first time on TV. So, it was super cool, super different.” — Avery Pacheco, San Marcos High School Senior & Diamond Line Captain

San Marcos High School’s Diamond Line and Dazzlers spent last weekend in Dallas, performing at the Dallas Holiday Parade.

Diamond Line Captain Avery Pacheco described it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It was a great experience for the group because obviously it was a once-in-a-lifetime performance for all of us,” said Pacheco, a senior at SMHS. “And it was every single person’s first time on TV. So, it was super cool, super different … Also, it also kind of just brought us super close. We’ve always been a super close team but just spending the night with them and being up at 2 a.m. with them all the time was really nice because we all got to cherish those moments and make them together. So, it was really nice.”

The Dallas Holiday Parade, which took place on Dec. 4, is the city’s largest, one-day outdoor event. The parade — known as the “Miracle on Commerce Street” for its route down Commerce Street — has been going on since 1988. The parade, however, was put on pause in 2020 because of COVID-19. But the event made its triumphant return last weekend.

SMHS performers take part in the holiday parade.

Diamond Line and Dazzlers Director Michelle Knight said it was a huge honor for her team to receive an invitation to take part in the parade as the feature performance group.

“I would equate it to what Macy’s [Thanksgiving Parade] is to New York, that’s what this parade means to Dallas,” Knight said. “It draws crowds from all over. Just to be invited is wonderful in itself because people are always looking for performance opportunities, especially because that means that they have to really look at something that you’re doing correctly to invite you to be on TV. So, that was a huge honor for us and for me as well.”

Forty-four performers from SMHS took part in last weekend’s performances on live TV and in the parade. Knight said the Diamond Line and Dazzlers began preparations for the events in October. Both Knight and Pacheco acknowledged the extra work that went into preparing for the parade.

“Right away we started cleaning [the routine] and the cleaning process is we go through each eight count slowly and we all clarify each movement so we all look the same and just repetition, over and over and over again,” Pacheco said. “We did that for about four weeks and once we finished learning the entire dance, which the dance was two minutes and 30 seconds which is an incredibly long dance, we just continued doing it over and over again in order to get it the best we could.”

SMHS’ dance teams performed on several TV stations in Dallas on Dec. 3. During the parade, San Marcos’ performers served as the reopener, which Knight described as the “rehook of the parade.”

Above, performers from San Marcos High School's Diamond Line and Dazzlers pose for a group photo at the Dallas Holiday Parade on Dec. 4. Photos courtesy of San Marcos CISD

“It kind of resets the audience,” Knight said. “To be the reopener that’s usually a professional group like the Kilgore Rangerettes or some professional college team. For a high school team to take that spot is absolutely huge and I think that’s what the community needs to be aware of. Then it was just really awesome to hear the community’s response when they saw us on TV or when they saw us on the morning news in Dallas and the response that we’ve received from that has just been really overwhelming.”

Pacheco said last weekend will be something they’ll remember forever, especially after covid put a damper on previous performances.

“We’ve been behind a screen for so long and so being able to see people in real life and hear real applause and hear reaction from the crowd was so different,” Pacheco said. “It was so good to hear and I think it really brought our spirits together because we go right into contest season right after this. So, it’ll be nice to go into contest knowing that we make an impact on other people.”

San Marcos Record

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