The sound of French horns, tubas and clarinets playing band songs is replaced with violins, pianos and harps playing Christmas melodies. A grass field turns into a wooden stage floor. An audience of cheering football fans in the stands becomes a peaceful audience in the theatre balcony.

The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the downtown Texarkana Ross Perot Theatre for its annual Christmas performance on December 10 at 4 p.m. The Texas HighSteppers have been invited to perform in the show for the second year.

“I agreed to participate in the show again this year because the girls really enjoyed it last year. I love having the opportunity for the team to be represented outside of TISD,” HighStepper Director Amber Reynolds said. “There’s many community members who don’t get to attend Texas High School football games, so they may not know a lot about the HighSteppers; performing with the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra is a great way to create new audiences as well as giving the girls a new performing space that’s much different than Grim Stadium.”

The drill team will perform four routines in this years show. Each dance features an officer, who choreographed and taught the dance, and a few other line members. The orchestra will provide the live music for the dancers, and Santa Claus will make a special appearance in each performance.

“TSO is a great opportunity for me to expand my choreography and teaching skills, senior captain Sarah Stark said. “It is a very fun time for us to become more involved in the community and gain more performance experience.”

While football season comes to an end and competition season approaches for the HighSteppers, allowing time to participate in this community event is a priority. Any chance to take a stage and perform as a team is one worth taking in the eyes of the HighSteppers.

“We start preparing for the show in early October. I take a look at our football schedule and what all we need to get accomplished for the upcoming games and pep rallies. From there, I consolidate the agenda for a few of the practices, so we can use that extra time to begin working on choreography for the Christmas Show,” Reynolds said. “It’s a lot to manage, especially when you realize these girls have multiple football season dances they are trying to remember, plus a Christmas dance, and some are even involved in choreography for the Oklahoma! Musical, but in the end the performance is well worth the work.”