GREENVILLE — The Mauldin High School dance team sat in the cafeteria minutes before the town Christmas parade when their assistant coach blurted out an idea.
"Wouldn't it be so cool if we were doing a parade in New York City?" Mary Belvin asked.
Sure, it sounded cool, but the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? The second oldest Thanksgiving parade in the nation that plays on TVs all across the country? Was it even possible, let alone for a program in its first year?
Little did the dancers know that Belvin went home that night and searched: "How do you get into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade?"
Three years later, when 3.5 million people crowd into Manhattan to watch the 98th iteration of the iconic parade, they will see the Mauldin Mavettes high school dance team.
On Thanksgiving Day, the Upstate school will join 8,000 participants and share the stage with Jimmy Fallon, Santa Claus, The Rockettes and The Temptations.
Mauldin will participate in the parade alongside another in-state school: The University of South Carolina marching band, which will bring more than 375 students to its first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade appearance.
For the Mavettes, it comes just six years after the program disbanded — and then came roaring back to life.
"This does not feel real," said senior Chloe Latimore. "It's not common you meet someone that has gone to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."
The inception
Following a near five-decade run, the dance team dissolved in 2018. Their coach left, and there was no one left to run the program.
Then, in 2021, Belvin, the principal secretary who previously managed a dance school, helped bring it back to life.
While many of the dancers compete for their local dance studios, the Mavettes are non-competitive, performing at community events like festivals, high school football games and even USC halftime shows.
After Belvin first dropped the idea of joining Macy's, they just kept talking about it and talking about it until it finally became real.
In 2023, with eight graduating seniors, the coaches decided they were finally ready to try for a spot in Spirit of America Productions, a group that sends high school dancers nationwide to the parade every year.
The Mavettes learned new dances for the audition in August with a choreographer and drilled them until January. They hired a videographer and recorded an audition tape, featuring football halftime routines and palm-style moves. They spelled out Macy's with their pom-poms.
Still, head coach Mary Burns didn't expect to get accepted.
"I thought it would be: Put it in, learn from what we can do better on the audition process and apply again," Burns said. "That's really how I thought it was going to go. I really never expected the first time to ever actually be accepted."
A few weeks later, in late January 2024, they heard back. That night at 7 p.m., Belvin called for an impromptu team meeting in their GroupMe.
"I said, 'well, we're going to Macy's,'" Belvin said. They jumped up and down. They were just beyond excited."
Preparing for the parade
Since earning a spot in the parade, they have received costumes, a link to the choreography and, now, it's go time.
When the Mavettes walk through Manhattan, they will be joined by 500 high school dancers from across the country as part of Spirit of America.
"Each year, Macy’s Studios searches nationwide to select top-notch talent and performance groups to join the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade," Sara Flores, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade associate producer, told the Post and Courier in a statement. "We are thrilled for performers from Mauldin High School to make their debut in this year’s line-up to bring style and spectacle to the streets of New York City."
For six of the 18 dancers, it's their first time in New York City. For three, it's their first time on the plane. They will attend "& Juliet" on Broadway, ride a boat cruise to the Statue of Liberty and go window shopping at Tiffany & Co. jewelry store.
But it's not a vacation. It will be intense work. On Saturday, the day they arrive, they'll have a four-hour rehearsal. On Sunday, they'll have an eight hour rehearsal.
The rehearsals will continue, day after day, until Thanksgiving and the Mavettes parade through New York City.
"I don't know how many other high school teams can be in existence for four years," Burns said, "and do something like this."