Royal Dance Academy Gets Rare Disney Performance Opportunity

Dancing in Disney World is almost old hat for the students of .

Performing in the parks? Been there.

Tapping on the Tomorrowland stage? Done that.

But a return invitation this year brought with it news that had the dancers literally leaping with excitement.

Alongside Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and Donald, and Lilo and Stitch, they’ll be dancing down Main Street, U.S.A. and through the Magic Kingdom, past everything from Big Thunder Mountain to Cinderella Castle to the Mad Tea Party in Wednesday’s afternoon parade, in the first of three performances in the resort during the four-day Dance the World program.

Theresa Lapetina-Pietrowski, the school’s director, said it’s a chance like none other for her students.

“This is brand-new for them,” she said. “It’s really going to be an amazing experience...I’m so proud of them.”

The dancers—all 23 of them, from age 7 on up to 20—have spent months in preparation for their magical moment on Main, with weekend rehearsals starting way back in September. For two hours every weekend, they ran through the routine, tightening the steps and honing every move.

“There were a lot of steps in there that the kids weren’t used to,” Lapetina-Pietrowski said. “They picked it up a lot faster than I thought they were going to.”

And because learning a complex, Disney-designed routine wasn’t enough, the dancers had to adjust to their ruby-red character shoes—a specific kind of dance shoe with a short heel, and not something they were used to.

“The first time they put them on, they danced like it was no big deal,” Lapetina-Pietrowski said.

Apart from the parade routine, the Royal dancers have another challenge: Somehow preparing for what will be a 35-minute continuous performance in the midday Florida heat.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Lapetina-Pietrowski said.

But between the characters and floats, and thousands of people lining the half-mile parade route—Lapetina-Pietrowski beside them the entire time, as both proud director and proud mom—it probably won’t be an issue of where to find the energy.

“That’ll keep them motivated,” she said. “I told them I’m not sure who’s going to have a bigger simile—them or me.”

Besides the parade, they’ll also have the chance to dance twice more—a nine-minute show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park and a 25-minute performance at Downtown Disney. While Disney choreographers designed the parade routine, Lapetina-Pietrowski got her chance to create both individual shows, tailoring them to the dancers’ talents around an Arabian theme.

Unlike the Magic Kingdom parade, the two shows will feature both the entire group, as well as smaller breakout performances, and gives both younger and older dancers a chance to shine.

“The younger students—they are so excited to be dancing with the big girls,” Lapetina-Pietrowski said. “When they dance together, it’s just like Broadway.”