The lights dim inside Palm Desert's McCallum Theatre. Dozens of musicians, all middle school and high school students from Riverside County, take their spots on stage behind waist-high steel drums.

The students begin to play, but the music that emanates from their drums is not traditional calypso melodies. Instead, they strike a fierce fanfare, followed by an oldie and Santana's Latin rock. By the time they get to Ozzy's "Crazy Train," the entire audience is dancing in the aisles.

Drumming this eclectic repertoire is the Pantasia Steel Drum Orchestra, an ensemble of young music lovers from the Desert Sands Unified School District in the Coachella Valley and Rancho Verde High in Moreno Valley.

The orchestra will make history on New Year's Day when it becomes the first steel drum band to play on a float at the Tournament of Roses Parade. Fifteen students will ride on a colorful craft, called the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Cities float, representing the entire Coachella Valley in its first appearance in the parade's 116-year history.

The steel drum orchestra has captivated parents and educators as well as the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance, which launched the effort to raise $200,000 for the float after hearing the group perform.

Instead of skipping class or dropping out, these students have found an activity that keeps them motivated in school while teaching them crucial life lessons, said Darlene Dolan, an Arts Alliance board member and former Desert Sands Unified assistant superintendent.

Rodrigo Pena / The Press-Enterprise Lawrence McCoy, left, directing the Pantasia Steel Drum Orchestra during a recent performance, has taught rock, pop and swing music, as performed by Sandra Schumacher, middle, and Talina Barajas, right, both of Indio.

Pantasia is a joint effort between two bands - the steel drum group at Rancho Verde High and the Desert Sands ensemble, which started in 2003.

Steel drum bands have surged in popularity in the past decade and are found at schools all over the country. They originated in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where the instruments emerged when street bands started pounding out rhythms on metal tins.

Rancho Verde High's ensemble has existed for a decade. It began as a small group under the direction of Ray Lindsey and quickly swelled to five classes with more than 120 students.

Dolan helped launch a similar group in the desert, led by Woodrow Wilson Middle School music director Lawrence McCoy. Today, about 50 students district-wide from fifth grade to high school belong to the after-school program. It meets for a few hours once a week.

For the past two winters, the bands have come together as Pantasia - named after the steel drums, called "pans" - to play several shows at the McCallum Theatre.

"We're a great group and we put in a lot of hard work," said Indio High freshman Oceana Lynch, 14, who will play guitar drum during the parade. "We're original."

Students don't just learn calypso songs. Lindsey and McCoy teach them tunes they get excited about playing - rock, pop and swing.