Think about touring to stunning locations, making lifelong pals from all around the world, and performing high-energy reveals for packed audiences. Engaged on a ship, it’s all a part of a daily day within the workplace. As a manufacturing dancer onboard a serious cruise line, my major job is to carry out in a number of reveals and visitor experiences throughout every voyage. However as a crew member, each day life onboard is stuffed with a lot greater than dancing, and it’s assured to shock you, problem you, and enable you to develop each as a performer and an individual.
My contract began with six weeks of rehearsals on the firm’s studios. As quickly as our forged of 10 dancers and 4 singers arrived, we jumped proper into studying 4 manufacturing reveals, in addition to three pop-up performances, together with our Sail Away Celebration and 80’s Dance Get together.
Like on most cruise ships, the reveals required loads of partnering, which I beforehand had not had a lot expertise in. As our forged realized extra about tips on how to work with one another, nonetheless, I turned extra snug with trusting my companions and speaking how we may finest execute troublesome lifts and sequences collectively. Rehearsing seven hours a day for 5 days per week was at occasions a psychological and bodily problem, however it constructed the stamina required for each demanding reveals and the quick tempo of life at sea.
Embarking on the ship in Fort Lauderdale, FL, I confronted a whirlwind of latest experiences. From determining tips on how to match my entire life right into a tiny cabin with two bunk beds and one roommate to studying my emergency duties as a crew member, it took time to regulate onboard, which is the case whether or not it’s your first contract or your fifth. Issues I usually wouldn’t have thought twice about on land, equivalent to tips on how to get rid of my trash or make telephone calls, all turned a bit extra sophisticated, to not point out always getting misplaced on the 18-deck ship till I realized my means round. However with the help of my forged, which principally acted as my household onboard, navigating my new dwelling finally turned second nature.
Onboard, a second mini-rehearsal course of, generally referred to as “set up,” kicked off with a flurry of becoming costumes, blocking formations, and studying tips on how to work with the props and set items onstage. It was thrilling to find new efficiency parts I hadn’t encountered earlier than, like a pit that rose up in the midst of the stage, and a stay band that performed alongside us. Different elements of set up have been extra intimidating, like determining one of the simplest ways to nail rapid-fire fast modifications within the wings (our quickest was lower than 25 seconds), and the surprising problem of dancing on a rocking ship (hiya, core stability!)
As soon as all the reveals premiered, I settled into what was to be my new regular for the subsequent a number of months at sea. On present days, our schedule resembled a contract on land. We’d begin with listening to notes on our final efficiency from our forged supervisor, adopted by a while onstage to make any crucial corrections or modifications on our toes. We then ran via the whole present, minus costumes and technical parts. Afterwards, it was all about preparation: fixing and pre-setting costumes, warming up, doing hair and make-up, and going over any troublesome lifts with my companions. And, lastly, the perfect half: stepping onstage able to do my finest and help my forged.
Exploring the ports through the day and acting at night time actually stored me busy; in only one contract, I visited greater than 10 nations, together with Antarctica! However there was additionally loads of downtime, particularly throughout sea days (when the ship isn’t docked at a port). Usually, the forged will assist with numerous occasions, equivalent to internet hosting themed events for the crew, educating dance and health courses, or, within the case of our itinerary, performing within the longstanding maritime custom of the “Crossing the Equator” ceremony for friends. We labored exhausting, however we additionally had loads of enjoyable.
Spending months away from family and friends may be isolating, and it’s exhausting to overlook particular moments like weddings and holidays again dwelling. However I by no means really feel actually alone on a ship; my fellow castmates, musicians, cooks, technicians, baristas, room stewards, and extra turn into the acquainted neighbors that I work together with every day, and people little interactions all add as much as a broad sense of neighborhood onboard that I do know I can fall again on.
As a performer at sea, the one fixed is change. Ports change, crew members exterior of the forged are always becoming a member of and leaving, and also you by no means know if you’ll face the surprising, like having to re-block a present on the final minute for a sick castmate. However in the event you keep versatile and embrace each new problem as a chance to study, there’s no restrict to what you’ll be able to uncover. I actually consider I’ve the most effective jobs a dancer may ask for, and I’m excited to see the place the excessive seas take me subsequent.
