Vandegrift HS dance team to perform in London’s New Year’s Day parade

AUSTIN, Texas – From performing under the bright lights and cheering on the Vandegrift Vipers football team, the Legacies are packing their bags and heading to the UK to take part in London’s annual New Year’s Day parade.

What they’re saying:

Performers from all over the world get invited to take part in the tradition, but this is just the second time a school from Texas has been asked to take part.

“We’re actually the first high school group that they have invited to be a part of this experience. So we are very excited and honored to be able to give the girls this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Legacies assistant director Alexa Olson.

And for a once in a lifetime experience, the team didn’t get any ordinary invite.

“We received a beautiful plate from Buckingham Palace that was delivered to us from the lord mayor. And it is kind of just a symbol that they appreciate our acceptance of their invitation to London. And it’s very special, we had it framed, and it says Legacies at the bottom and the year,” said Olson.

The Legacies have had a busy year, football season just wrapped up, and competition season is right around the corner.

“The entire year we’re kind of building on our skills and our team culture and everything for every point in the year and so this season we’ve worked on just being able to dance as a team and all of our football dances like we dig into technical elements that will be applied later on and the easier they are for us now, the easier it is to apply for our London performance,” said senior Victoria Kennedy.

Kara Yuan, colonel of the Legacies, says it’s a dream to share this experience with her team.

“I think just even like the traveling, the plane rides and all the cool excursions we get to do and just be like a tourist in London and just doing that with the team is super exciting,” said Yuan.

As the team makes their way to London, they want to share a big thank you to their community for helping them get there.

“We’re really thankful that the community is supporting us in this way, that Leander ISD is supporting us in this way, and we can’t wait to represent Vandegrift and Austin, Texas while we’re in London,” said Olson.

What you can do:

You can show your support from home by watching the live stream here.