Rather than eating candy canes or hanging out with friends during his free time, junior Aaron Greisen will spend his evenings this December performing at Bellevue’s annual Snowflake Lane Parade along with six other Inglemoor drummers.
The parade runs along Bellevue Way, starting at 7 p.m. every night from Nov. 24 through Dec. 24. The entirety of the road downtown gets blocked off for the performance and the sidewalks often host hundreds of observers. During the festivities, dancers, drummers and parade floats all operate under fake foam snow, Christmas carols and twinkling lights.
“The show is a really fun opportunity and features mostly high school performers,” Greisen said.
While this is only Greisen’s second year performing, he is no stranger to this festive event. In previous years his sister was a dancer and his brother a drummer for Snowflake Lane, making it a family affair. This, he said, coupled with his love of music, inspired him to audition for the parade.
“I just really liked the idea of performing in front of a large crowd. It’s a lot of fun figuring out the choreography,” Greisen said.
Greisen said that if anyone enjoys going he really encourages them to try out too.
“It’s a really fun performance to be in,” Greisen said.
Performers entertain the crowd. Dancers stand on wheeled carts while drummers play around them.
However, being a performer does require a certain level of time commitment. There are two hour long weekend rehearsals for the whole cast a month before the show. Then when the production begins, members of the parade perform every day for 30 days and come an hour before each performance to rehearse.
This does not leave a lot of time for Greisen to pursue other interests, musical or otherwise, such as rehearsing for band, playing his bass guitar or going to soccer practice.
“Sometimes it’s all I do, that and schoolwork,” Greisen said.
Despite the time commitment, Greisen said that he has built a strong community among the other Inglemoor drummers through frequent carpools and hours of playing side by side.
“In the end, it is all definitely worth it to be a performer,” Greisen said.
