Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / A Day in the Life of a Cruise Ship Dancer

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A Day in the Life of a Cruise Ship Dancer · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_06: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_06: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_06: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_06: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:25
SPEAKER_06: One of the most unique performing jobs out there for dancers is working on a cruise chip.
0:30
SPEAKER_06: Getting paid to see the world while doing what you love?
0:32
SPEAKER_06: What could be better?
0:33
SPEAKER_06: Today on Making the Impact, we hear from two longtime cruise chip dancers who share the ins and outs of what it's like to work on a cruise chip.
0:39
SPEAKER_06: From the audition process to the day-to-day routine of life at sea.
0:45
SPEAKER_05: Hello, dance world, and happy new year over here from Making the Impact.
0:50
SPEAKER_05: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:54
SPEAKER_06: Happy New Year, Courtney.
0:56
SPEAKER_06: I am it's 2025?
0:58
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
0:59
SPEAKER_06: What is that year?
1:00
SPEAKER_06: That's the future.
1:01
SPEAKER_04: It really is.
1:02
SPEAKER_04: It's wild.
1:03
SPEAKER_04: 2025 is here, and I don't even know what to think.
1:08
SPEAKER_04: It's it's a big year.
1:10
SPEAKER_06: And it means like 1990 was I can't do that math, but way too long ago.
1:14
SPEAKER_06: And I'm like, no, that was like 10 years ago.
1:16
SPEAKER_06: What do you mean?
1:17
SPEAKER_06: It's been 35 years ago?
1:19
SPEAKER_06: I think it means 35 years, right?
1:21
SPEAKER_06: 1990 to 2025.
1:22
SPEAKER_06: Sure.
1:23
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
1:24
SPEAKER_06: Neither Courtney nor I are very good at math, but yes, I think that is 35 years because what what?
1:29
SPEAKER_06: Anyway, we're old and 2025, it's a new year, and we're excited to bring you even more episodes for uh season six of the podcast.
1:38
SPEAKER_06: And yeah, it's just time to get out there and seize the day.
1:42
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's it's a new year.
1:44
SPEAKER_04: We have some new resolutions to put out there.
1:48
SPEAKER_04: Leslie, do you have anything in mind?
1:50
SPEAKER_06: We talk about this every year, and I don't know.
1:53
SPEAKER_06: I'm not Do we follow through with them?
1:55
SPEAKER_06: I'm not so much of a resolution person anyway.
1:58
SPEAKER_06: This is the year I get married.
2:00
SPEAKER_06: So big year for you.
2:01
SPEAKER_06: That's a big year.
2:02
SPEAKER_06: There's a lot to do, there's a lot to plan, and you know, that's that's kind of the resolution is not to lose my mind in the next, you know, whatever it is, 300 days.
2:12
SPEAKER_05: Mm-hmm.
2:12
SPEAKER_06: Something like that.
2:13
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and you got some time until your wedding.
2:15
SPEAKER_05: So yes, do not lose your mind.
2:17
SPEAKER_05: We need you there.
2:17
SPEAKER_05: Hello.
2:18
SPEAKER_05: Yes, we need to watch you walk down that aisle, okay?
2:22
SPEAKER_06: Yes, and listeners, Courtney, will be in my wedding.
2:24
SPEAKER_06: So you will be seeing social media will be seeing the podcast hosts together in real life, which we are not together in real life as much as we want to be anymore.
2:32
SPEAKER_06: But that is true.
2:34
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
2:34
SPEAKER_06: Oh, I'm so excited.
2:36
SPEAKER_06: What about you?
2:37
SPEAKER_06: Are you res resolving to do anything this year?
2:39
SPEAKER_05: I always try to think of things that I want to like start incorporating into my life at the start of a new year and things that I can do better than I know that I've slacked uh in the year prior.
2:51
SPEAKER_05: And uh these are super random and I highly doubt that I will follow through with them.
2:56
SPEAKER_05: But I was trying to think of something that I want to do like that that feels easy that I can incorporate into my life weekly to get me one step towards a goal, which I would love to try to study how to I would love to learn how to speak Spanish.
3:12
SPEAKER_05: I would love to like spend an hour a week or something with one of the apps that can just kind of help me.
3:19
SPEAKER_05: And maybe by the end of the year, I'm a little bit better at speaking Spanish.
3:24
SPEAKER_05: Because let's be real, two years of Spanish in school doesn't teach you anything.
3:28
SPEAKER_06: No, especially if you're not using it at all.
3:30
SPEAKER_06: And like Dante Esta El Bano can only get you so far.
3:33
SPEAKER_06: You know, like that's what I know.
3:35
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
3:35
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I approve of this.
3:36
SPEAKER_06: I feel like, you know, I feel like you don't take the train as often as you used to, but maybe, maybe make it your train activity.
3:43
SPEAKER_06: Like every time you go on the subway, you put on Duolingo, you know?
3:46
SPEAKER_06: Yes, yes.
3:47
SPEAKER_06: But then but then you wouldn't be able to voice note me because that's when you voice note me a lot.
3:51
SPEAKER_05: But maybe I could do it while I'm flying around the world for convention this year.
3:54
SPEAKER_06: Okay, all right, that's it.
3:55
SPEAKER_05: That could be my flight, my flight research and knowledge that I'm gaining is a new language in the process instead of watching a movie.
4:02
SPEAKER_05: So there's that.
4:03
SPEAKER_05: And then I also said that I would love to.
4:05
SPEAKER_05: I used to, for anyone that doesn't know, I used to be an avid crochet.
4:09
SPEAKER_05: I loved crocheting.
4:10
SPEAKER_04: And I would love to just like do one row a week, like before bed, of to create a blanket and see how long it takes me to be, okay.
4:19
SPEAKER_04: I just did my row.
4:20
SPEAKER_05: Okay, I put it away for the week.
4:22
SPEAKER_05: And then on Tuesday, I'm gonna get it back out and do it again.
4:24
SPEAKER_05: So these are like two random things that I thought of that I want to incorporate into my life in 2025.
4:29
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
4:29
SPEAKER_06: Well, I'm not gonna remember that, but listeners, some of you are dying to be able to do it.
4:33
SPEAKER_06: Hold me to it.
4:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, hold her to it.
4:35
SPEAKER_06: Ask her.
4:35
SPEAKER_06: Ask me how the blanket's coming.
4:38
SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh.
4:39
SPEAKER_06: Well, that's exciting.
4:41
SPEAKER_06: And so, yeah, happy new year to everyone.
4:43
SPEAKER_06: We hope that you had a wonderful holiday.
4:45
SPEAKER_06: We hope you're ready to get back into the swing of things like we are.
4:48
SPEAKER_06: And we are actually really, really excited about today's episode because it takes us back to our youth and our togetherness as friends and our the beginning of our friendship.
4:57
SPEAKER_06: So we're talking about a day in the life of a cruise ship dancer today.
5:00
SPEAKER_05: I am so pumped for this episode.
5:02
SPEAKER_05: It is so much fun to reminis and to learn about how the cruise ship industry is today because it is very different from almost 20 years ago when we were doing that.
5:13
SPEAKER_05: It wasn't that long ago, but almost, Leslie.
5:15
SPEAKER_05: I know we're aging ourselves.
5:16
SPEAKER_06: But I know I had I actually did the math the other day thinking about this, and I was like, whoa that's this a long time ago.
5:23
SPEAKER_06: So yeah, we we have some great guests who are more recently on a ship uh to give us the lowdown on what happens these days.
5:31
SPEAKER_06: Uh, and I think it's gonna be really informative for any of the dancers coming up in the world who want to go on a cruise ship as a performer.
5:37
SPEAKER_06: And as Courtney and I have said many times, do it.
5:39
SPEAKER_06: Do it.
5:40
SPEAKER_06: Just do it.
5:40
SPEAKER_06: If you can get it, I mean, and we say that like it's easy, like audition, prepare yourself, do the work to get to the job.
5:47
SPEAKER_06: But if you can, like don't discount it because it's a really wonderful career path.
5:51
SPEAKER_05: It is, and you're gonna hear all about that shortly.
5:53
SPEAKER_05: But before we jump in, let's hear from our sponsors.
5:57
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6:08
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6:44
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6:49
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6:55
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7:00
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7:26
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7:27
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7:40
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8:05
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8:16
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8:22
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9:23
SPEAKER_05: Alright, everyone, we are jumping in to our episode this week, and it's gonna be such a fun one.
9:30
SPEAKER_05: I'm so excited about this.
9:31
SPEAKER_05: And this is like a new series that we're hoping to introduce over here at Making the Impact, a day in the life of this week, it's a cruise ship dancer.
9:41
SPEAKER_05: And if you uh have listened to the podcast from the very beginning, I'm sure you've heard Leslie and I talk about our journey dancing together on a cruise ship.
9:49
SPEAKER_05: That is how Leslie and I met many years ago at this point.
9:53
SPEAKER_05: Whoa.
9:53
SPEAKER_05: Uh we I we actually just learned that like our cruise ship might not even exist anymore.
9:58
SPEAKER_05: It's a it's vintage.
10:00
SPEAKER_05: The shows are still running on that cruise ship, but it is so vintage these days because we did this very long ago.
10:07
SPEAKER_05: But it was, I have to say, I say it all the time, it was one of the my favorite jobs in my entire career.
10:12
SPEAKER_05: And I met some of the greatest people who are still in my life to this day.
10:17
SPEAKER_05: I danced for my life, fiercest dancing, partnering, traveled the world on someone else's dime, got paid to dance for a living.
10:25
SPEAKER_05: I mean, the list goes on about the perks of being a cruise ship dancer.
10:29
SPEAKER_05: And we're gonna learn even more about the inside scoop of what it takes to get the job, rehearsals for the job, and what it's like life on ship.
10:38
SPEAKER_05: With two brand new guests who are joining us and two new friends that I'm meeting here on the podcast right now.
10:43
SPEAKER_05: The very first guest that I'm excited to welcome is someone who is coming to us from RWS Global.
10:49
SPEAKER_05: And if you've heard me talk, I also work for them as well.
10:51
SPEAKER_05: I'm the audition choreographer for RWS Global, which I'm so honored to travel around the world and country to audition dancers for future opportunities on cruise ships.
11:00
SPEAKER_05: But this guest has not only danced on the cruise ships, but has also been a rehearsal director and an install show supervisor on the ships themselves.
11:10
SPEAKER_05: So he makes sure that the dancers look fabulous on stage and makes them get prepped for the stage.
11:16
SPEAKER_05: I'm very excited to welcome Gene Biscontini to the podcast.
11:19
SPEAKER_05: Welcome, Gene.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Hello, thank you for having me.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: It's nice to finally meet you.
11:24
SPEAKER_05: I know.
11:24
SPEAKER_05: I'm just like, it's crazy our paths haven't crossed, but I did learn that you are in Pennsylvania, so maybe that's why, because we're never in New York at the same time at the studios.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: Yes, possibly.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm about two and a half hours away from you guys, but I'm in there quite often.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: So maybe one day.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
11:40
SPEAKER_05: Yes, I hope so.
11:41
SPEAKER_05: And Jean, I I'm excited to have you representing RWS because of my connection with them as well, but also to bring the male voice to this because as we know, and I'm sure we're gonna get into it, that there's a lot of partnering in uh cruise ship jobs.
11:55
SPEAKER_05: So I'm sure you can share your knowledge on that and what is expected out of the dancers who would get the job.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, when I whenever I do rehearsals, I actually have my wife.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: We we met in college and then we transferred to ships together.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: So she's sort of a rehearsal partner.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: She's also a show supervisor with RWS.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: So we have to do sort of a tag team when it comes to our partnering work.
12:19
SPEAKER_05: That's so convenient.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:21
SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
12:22
SPEAKER_05: Everyone meets their life partner on a cruise ship.
12:26
SPEAKER_05: Like I'm telling you.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: It's true because if you can if you can live together in such a small environment, which we'll talk about, I'm sure, at some point.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you can live together and love each other in this small little environment, then you can make it anywhere.
12:41
SPEAKER_05: Yes, truly.
12:42
SPEAKER_05: Awesome, Gene.
12:43
SPEAKER_05: Well, if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit more about you, where you grew up, where you're based now, any career credits, and uh what's next for you?
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: So I started dancing when I was four years old.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: I started dancing professionally when I was seven years old.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: So Wow.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of my students, oh, you're a little child star.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: But I started I started professionally at the age of seven.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: I did an off-Broadway show called People Garden that was essentially kids teaching kids to be good, what to do, what to do and what not to do, etc.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: And then from there I did the national tour of Suzical the Musical as Jojo.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And then I was scouted from there to do the Oliver National Tour as Oliver's understudy and one of the gang members.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: And then I went to Point Park University.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance, jazz and modern dance.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: Then I worked on ships for a while.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: I worked for the company called Stiledo Entertainment based out of LA for two contracts.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: Then I jumped jumped ship jumped ship over to RWS Global for six contracts as a dancer, and then flew to the other end of the world and did Tokyo Disney.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: I worked uh Tokyo Disney C in their show Big Band Beat, a tapped-dance show with Mickey and Goofy, etc., that's actually closing Sad Face in September of 2025.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: So sending love to them.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Then this crazy thing called COVID happened, and I decided to go back to school, and I have a degree in physical therapy as well.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: So that was my sort of side pivot.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: And then one week after I got my license to uh be a practicing physical therapist assistant, I got the offer to direct and be a show supervisor for RWS Global through Hall and America Line for the Grand and World Voyages.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And I said, let's do it.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: And so I did that for the last two years.
14:31
SPEAKER_05: Fantastic.
14:33
SPEAKER_05: Wow, that's awesome.
14:34
SPEAKER_05: And you're still doing um show supervising for future shows as well?
14:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm on the roster.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't have one in the upcoming, but who knows?
14:43
SPEAKER_00: As of right now, never know when they'll call.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: Judging, judging a lot, teaching a lot, choreographing a lot.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm everywhere.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm based out of Pennsylvania, but I'm in my car constantly going somewhere.
14:53
SPEAKER_06: You're really just in your car.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:57
SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
14:58
SPEAKER_05: Well, Gene, it's so great to have you here and to hear about your experiences as a cruise ship dancer.
15:03
SPEAKER_05: Thanks for joining us.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
15:05
SPEAKER_05: All right.
15:05
SPEAKER_05: Our next special guest is coming to us from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
15:11
SPEAKER_05: And like we said, Leslie and I both work for Royal Caribbean as well.
15:15
SPEAKER_05: So I can't wait to hear about their experience.
15:18
SPEAKER_05: And they have been doing this for a very long time, y'all.
15:22
SPEAKER_05: Like 15 years on and off working for Royal Caribbean.
15:26
SPEAKER_05: They have done it all, all sides of it.
15:28
SPEAKER_05: And now they are a rehearsal director for the cruise ship shows.
15:33
SPEAKER_05: I'm really excited to meet and welcome Marina Stacy to the podcast.
15:37
SPEAKER_05: Welcome, Marina.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: Hi, everyone.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: Very excited to be here all the way from Vancouver, Canada.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, definitely Vancouver Island, but we'll say Vancouver.
15:47
SPEAKER_05: Yay! Yes, coming to us from Canada.
15:49
SPEAKER_05: I love that.
15:50
SPEAKER_05: And oh my gosh, when you reached out and you shared your experience, I was like, we gotta have her.
15:55
SPEAKER_05: She has done it all.
15:56
SPEAKER_05: Like having you done when it comes to cruise ships.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: So but as a Canadian, it ended up being such a great experience for me.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: When I was younger, I started dance.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: Well, technically I started danced when I was seven.
16:11
SPEAKER_01: And then when I was 14, I moved away from my family and went to a ballet school.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: So I've not been in my house since I was 14.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: So I kind of which led into the whole cruise ship life being away at sea.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: I was away from my family for a long period of time.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: And then yeah, I auditioned and booked my first job when I was 18 with Celebrity Cruises.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: It was back before Celebrity was in-house.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: So every class of ship had their own production company.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: So I was hired by a company called Mike Maloney Entertainment, which is based in Las Vegas.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: So I was with them for uh three contracts, and then I transferred over to Royal Caribbean Productions, and then I did 17 contracts after that.
16:48
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: That's including replacements and everything, but I put them all in there because contracts can be various lengths.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: So I just I couldn't, you know, I signed a paper, so it's still a contract.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: So yes it is.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: So 17 contracts with them.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: My when I first moved to Royal Caribbean, I did two contracts that were just kind of their basic Royal Caribbean shows, if you want to say, and then I started adding some aerial work in there.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: And then I would did hairspray the music go with them and Saturday Fever the Musical with them, also doing aerial work in their secondary shows because you'll never just do one show with Royal Caribbean.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: You have to be able to do multiple shows.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: And then yeah, I continued with that, took a little break, lived in New York for a year, trained at the BDC, doing the ITP ITP program just to kind of mix it up a bit, and then went back to rural Caribbean, um, went on their newer ships and became a dance captain, and then like COVID hit, just like all of us.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: And I had um transitioned.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, thought I had a good run, thought it was the end of my time, and then I had booked a, I shouldn't say book, I was hired for a nursing staffing job in a cubicle, and I was not very excited about it.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: And then right before I went to training, I got a phone call and they asked me to be the first DC back at sea over in Singapore.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: So I opened up their first ship post-pandemic, which really wasn't post-pandemic, it was still in the pandemic.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: It was October 2020.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: So that was wild times.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Very wild times.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a whole different story.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: And after that contract, they had asked me if I wanted to go into the directive and teaching side of the shows.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: And I just wasn't quite ready yet.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: You know, I hadn't had my time to be like, I'm done being on the stage.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: So I said, I'm not quite ready yet.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: Just I'll let you know when I've hit that point.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Two years later, the back of the hamstrings were kind of hitting me, and I said, It's my time.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, here I am.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: So I've just finished my first year of teaching uh the shows with Royal and installing them.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I got a full year booked ahead.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: So let's go.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's impressive.
18:45
SPEAKER_05: I like saying I love hearing this journey for you because I think it's really important for people to hear that like there is a full-time career doing this.
18:53
SPEAKER_05: And when you stick with a company and are loyal to a company, you can like go up the ladder to get to the, you know, the end goal, which like you have set yourself up for a job that is connected to what you know and love, but not killing your body every day.
19:10
SPEAKER_05: You know, you're you're no longer on stage, which is totally okay.
19:13
SPEAKER_05: And let's be real, like performing is never done for us.
19:16
SPEAKER_05: But you have you are set up with a job that you know the insides and outs of.
19:21
SPEAKER_05: Like you are meant to do this because you've put the work in and the time in.
19:25
SPEAKER_05: So that's I think it's really refreshing for like our listeners to hear some like your journey.
19:30
SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
19:30
SPEAKER_05: I'm happy to be here.
19:31
SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
19:32
SPEAKER_05: Great.
19:32
SPEAKER_05: We have so much to cover in such a little amount of time, but let's learn about a day in the life of a cruise ship dancer.
19:39
SPEAKER_06: This could truly be like a four-part series, just this in it, because I mean, obviously, with the people we have, you guys have just this wealth of experience and knowledge.
19:47
SPEAKER_06: But I want you both to go back for me, back to 2008, back to 2000, whatever it was, years and years ago, when you were either sending in a DVD like I did to the company and saying, please hire me, here's my DVD.
20:00
SPEAKER_06: Did you always want to work on a cruise ship?
20:02
SPEAKER_06: Was that something that was a dream?
20:04
SPEAKER_06: Was it something you worked actively towards, or was it just something that you happened to go to that audition because you went to 15 and that's the one that stuck?
20:10
SPEAKER_06: I'm so curious.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, for me, I had learned about cruise ships um going to the Triple Threat Dance Convention.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: It was kind of the Canada's version of just the competition world.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: We didn't really have a lot of competitions back in my day, back up in Canada, because we're usually about five years behind the states of that kind of stuff.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Just to be transparent there.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, they had a lot of the girls who owned uh the convention had worked for Princess Cruise Lines, and then they went and toured Janet Jackson and Britney Spears and all the people back then.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: And they had said how amazing of an opportunity it was, just because you get paid to travel, you know, you if you come out of school, it's an easy way to pay off your student loans.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: They had put all these perks in here.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: So I was like this little like 12-year-old girl, and I was like, I dance on a cruise yet.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: Like that was just what I wanted to do.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: And I saw an audition notice in Vancouver for celebrity, and yeah, I went to my first in-person audition.
20:59
SPEAKER_01: I, even though I fell on my RS in the audition, I somehow still booked it, I still booked it.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: So you know, I got back up and I booked it.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: And that's when I was at the NYCDA nationals in 2008.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: I was in the lobby at Sheraton and I got my offer for celebrity cruises.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: I remember that moment very vividly.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: But then when I decided to switch companies, uh, just because at the time, like I mentioned, celebrity only was in-house for their classes of ships.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: So I only had two ships that I could bounce between.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to go to Royal Caribbean because all of their ships were part of one big company.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: Now celebrities also the same way, but just back in that time it wasn't like that.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: So I switched over to Royal Caribbean, but I had gone to an in person New York audition, but I was still working for celebrity.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: So I kindly passed down the opportunity but said I'd reach out when I was interested in Royal Caribbean again.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: And then I was on a celebrity ship, emailed Royal, and I said, Hi, do you remember me?
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Yeah, we do, but it's gonna be here.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: So can you send us a video?
21:56
SPEAKER_01: DVD Times.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: Yep, DVD time.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: I burnt my demo on DVD.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: I yes you did.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you did.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: I printed my eight by ten headshot and my resume and I put it in a yellow envelope.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: And I did the ship.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: I dropped the ship in Barcelona and I walked on Los Run Blus and I picked the postage and I mailed it in the mailbox.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: And then four days later I had an email from Royal with my contract offer.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: So thanks, Patrick.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: That's yeah, right.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Patrick.
22:25
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
22:27
SPEAKER_05: I love that story.
22:28
SPEAKER_05: That's so great.
22:29
SPEAKER_05: And in I think again, like what you just kind of mentioned, you had interest from Royal, you were working for celebrity, you knew you wanted to go there, and you just decided to do a nice little reach out and say, Hey, I'm interested.
22:44
SPEAKER_05: Do you remember me?
22:45
SPEAKER_05: I think people are terrified and don't know if that's allowed to happen.
22:49
SPEAKER_05: And I think that in certain scenarios it is.
22:52
SPEAKER_05: You know, if you had an offer that you couldn't take, they obviously want to hire you at some point.
22:57
SPEAKER_05: So it doesn't hurt to just send a little email and just touch base and give a status update because you never know when that email hits an inbox at the perfect time.
23:05
SPEAKER_05: And they might be like, oh, absolutely.
23:08
SPEAKER_05: And going back to like my cruise ship story, that's kind of what I did because I got an offer from Star Power Nationals 2007.
23:16
SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Star Power.
23:17
SPEAKER_05: I love you.
23:18
SPEAKER_05: You gave me my first job.
23:19
SPEAKER_05: I was wearing sweatshorts and like half socks at the audition.
23:23
SPEAKER_05: And I was it was awful.
23:25
SPEAKER_05: Um, I was so inexperienced.
23:27
SPEAKER_05: But they saw something in me, I guess.
23:29
SPEAKER_05: They called me up.
23:30
SPEAKER_05: Patrick called me and said, We want to hire you.
23:32
SPEAKER_05: I said, I can't.
23:33
SPEAKER_05: I'm going to college.
23:34
SPEAKER_05: I went to college, hated college, dropped out, called Royal Caribbean and said, Do you have a contract that I could go into?
23:42
SPEAKER_05: And I guess it was just right place, right time because I I think I was probably one of the last people to get hired for our ship, Leslie, where I fit the shorty girl you needed to be a certain height to do this class of ship.
23:53
SPEAKER_05: And it worked out perfectly.
23:54
SPEAKER_05: And it was the best job ever.
23:56
SPEAKER_05: So you never know in that email when when to reach out because it's exactly might be the right time.
24:01
SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Listen, a hundred percent proponent of sending an email.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Definitely, definitely, definitely.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: I um my first well, so my first audition was for a cruise line.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: Did I dream of doing cruises?
24:13
SPEAKER_00: No.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: But I got to the audition, and I think by the time I ended the audition, that became the dream.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Based on the way, based on the way the casting director and and the people of the audition sold it to me.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: It's like, wow, we get to tr travel the world and and make money.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was only 20 years old when I auditioned, and you had to be 21 years old to work for Holland America Cruise Lines.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: So they said, Oh, we're so sorry.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, we can't offer you a contract at this time, but I sent an email on my 21st birthday.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: Hey, yes, you did on the day, and they they said, Well, happy birthday.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Here's a contract.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: And so my God sent me my offer on my birthday.
24:52
SPEAKER_06: So I wow always you'll never forget.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: Never be afraid.
24:55
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, never be afraid to send an email because well, and it really is the right time, right place.
24:59
SPEAKER_06: Stay in contact.
25:01
SPEAKER_06: And similarly to all of you, my my first, I sent a DVD and they hired me in the summer for that January contract, but they didn't offer me a second job after I was done with the first contract.
25:13
SPEAKER_06: I had submitted for what I wanted, but like, like we said, I'm real short.
25:16
SPEAKER_06: The vision was the short ship.
25:17
SPEAKER_06: Like that was kind of it.
25:18
SPEAKER_06: So they didn't offer me anything.
25:20
SPEAKER_06: So I was ready to go to New York City.
25:22
SPEAKER_06: And I had also gone to an audition that summer, like just to be like, you know what?
25:26
SPEAKER_06: Listen, they never actually saw me audition.
25:27
SPEAKER_06: They saw a DVD.
25:28
SPEAKER_06: So maybe I just need to go and show them what I'm doing, what I can do physically.
25:32
SPEAKER_06: So I went to an audition in Atlanta, didn't get hired.
25:35
SPEAKER_06: Two months later, was really pretty upset about it, um, but was ready to move to New York and then got a phone call from good old Patrick.
25:41
SPEAKER_06: I don't even know if Patrick's still there.
25:42
SPEAKER_06: But Patrick was like, okay, he was like, somebody, somebody broke their ankle at install in Barcelona on the Voyager.
25:49
SPEAKER_06: Are you want to come?
25:50
SPEAKER_06: Uh yeah, canceled my sublet, canceled my plane ticket, flew out to Barcelona.
25:55
SPEAKER_06: And he was like, You're your audition, like we had your headshot on the table.
25:59
SPEAKER_06: Like, and the Voyager was not for me because it was tall people.
26:02
SPEAKER_06: I showed up with my 4'11 self and they had to hem my pants like five feet.
26:07
SPEAKER_06: You know, everybody at the backstage tour was always asking, why is there one short dancer?
26:12
SPEAKER_06: Like it was that clear that I was like really not supposed to be there, but I, you know, I was able to.
26:17
SPEAKER_06: They trusted me enough to do it.
26:18
SPEAKER_06: So, like, I think the lesson in all of this is don't be afraid to send the email.
26:23
SPEAKER_06: Don't be afraid to keep in touch because you just never know.
26:26
SPEAKER_06: You don't know if they hated you.
26:27
SPEAKER_06: I always thought they hated me.
26:29
SPEAKER_06: Maybe they didn't hate me, maybe I was just short.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: You never know what the puzzle pieces are behind the scenes sometimes.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: So you just gotta keep trying and keep putting your stuff out there, right?
26:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
26:39
SPEAKER_05: Okay, so I obviously know how to answer this because I'm currently running cruise line auditions, but I want to hear about what your audition was like before we even get into the ship life and a little brief overview of it.
26:54
SPEAKER_05: Because I remember mine.
26:55
SPEAKER_05: Like I said, I was in sweatshorts and uh hey off, you know, remember when you would wear socks and you would roll them down under your arch back in like the 2000s.
27:03
SPEAKER_05: A big chunk of sock.
27:04
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
27:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's what I wore to my audition, which was not correct.
27:08
SPEAKER_05: So don't do that.
27:09
SPEAKER_05: But do you guys remember your actual audition in person and what was it like?
27:13
SPEAKER_05: Do you do you remember anything specific about it?
27:15
SPEAKER_00: I do.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: I remember my audition.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, let's talk about what I was wearing.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Of course, I was wearing my Lulu pants.
27:21
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: My black slimming Lulu pants into my uh my black Laduka jazz shoe.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, you gotta you gotta look fancy.
27:29
SPEAKER_05: You came prepared.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: And I'm a I'm a I'm a stronger, bigger guy, so I have to make myself look sleek and and small cruise chips because that's what I thought, but later I would learn that partnering is is key and my body type is fantastic for that.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: We got there, and I think I believe the first thing that we did, nice and easy warm-up, just so they can, you know, assess us during the one quick moment though.
27:53
SPEAKER_06: Where were you?
27:53
SPEAKER_06: New York, LA, California somewhere.
27:56
SPEAKER_06: Pittsburgh.
27:56
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
27:56
SPEAKER_06: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
27:57
SPEAKER_06: So auditions happen everywhere, BT Dubs.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Yes, oh yeah.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Auditions are all over the place.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: I believe it was a it was at a dance studio in Pittsburgh.
28:04
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: A small a smaller space, and we jumped into a roquette style kick line combination.
28:10
SPEAKER_06: Oh man.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: And then they they let everybody out of the room and they call this in two at a time to perform this rocket kick.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: It was like two at a time.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: It's like high kick, high kick, high kick fan, high kick fan, high kick, high kick, just going crazy.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: And then we had to just do turns on a dime right there.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: Give us your best turn right, give us your best turn left.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay, thank you so much.
28:30
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
28:31
SPEAKER_05: And then was that a cut, or is it like were they cutting after the turns or we didn't do any any cuts during that?
28:39
SPEAKER_00: It was a small audition.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: We were just doing everything and everything.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: And then I mean, competition kids nowadays can do everything.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: And I was a competition kid growing up, but I'd never done a kip-up where you rock back and push off your hands and flip up to standing.
28:54
SPEAKER_06: Still kind of new, I feel like.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
28:56
SPEAKER_06: What they needed you to do that.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: Well, so the Castinger said, uh the casting director said, Can you do a kip-up?
29:02
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yes, I can.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Of course I can.
29:05
SPEAKER_03: Because you say yes.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Like whenever anybody asks you, just yes.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes is the answer.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: And I I always say, or I say yes, or I say, No, but I'm willing to learn, or no, but I will learn if that's a make or break.
29:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: I can't do a back tuck, but if you need me to in a week, I will, you know, I'll do it then.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: So I said, Yes, of course I can do a kip up.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Okay, let's see it.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Okay, here we go.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: And so I go, and I I just did one just straight out of the gate.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: Successfully successfully.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, okay, great.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: I guess I I guess I can.
29:39
SPEAKER_06: I wonder if they saw it on your face that you were surprised.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Probably.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: Probably.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: Probably.
29:44
SPEAKER_06: Amazing.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that that's that's my most memorable moment was the day I decided or learned that I could do a kip-up was my audition for my first career.
29:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the audition.
29:53
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
29:54
SPEAKER_05: That's interesting that they asked that.
29:56
SPEAKER_05: I feel like that you normally they'd be they'd ask everyone, like, can anyone do a kip up?
30:01
SPEAKER_05: And then people would volunteer.
30:03
SPEAKER_05: Not like, can you do a kip-up?
30:04
SPEAKER_05: Do a kip-up for us.
30:05
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's like uh that's not a skill that everyone knows how to do.
30:08
SPEAKER_05: It's not like a calypso.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: It did translate.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: We did a show, we did a disco show, and during the finale, we had to we had to come up, we had to do our bounce hop, bounce hop, bounce hop, big toe touch, switch side, split, split, split, bounce up, kip up off the floor.
30:23
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
30:24
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: In some white, white, fire-trimmed balloon pants.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
30:29
SPEAKER_05: I can see that now.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: So it did it it it did translate to the contract that I got.
30:34
SPEAKER_05: So love that.
30:35
SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Marina.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: Well, I uh technically I auditioned live twice because I auditioned for Celebrity in Vancouver, Canada at Harper Dance Center.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: And that's the one where I fell in my bum.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: Lovely.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: But then I auditioned in New York for rural Caribbean cruise lines originally before when I before I sent in the DVD.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: We and I believe it was at Ripley.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: I believe.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: But then I I'd already done one cruise ship contract.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: So I'd done a celebrity contract, and then I had four months off.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: And I went to New York actually, because I was still young enough because I started ships when I was 18.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: I was actually in the NYCDA nationals, like in between, and I did their summer intensive, like in between, like in that four months.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: So then I ended up, someone had told me, like, oh yeah, Royal's having an audition.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: So I had like an hour, and I was my mom's like, Marie, you should go.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Mom, it's it's like an hour before it starts.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm flustered.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: She's like, just go.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: So I slapped myself together, ran down the 12 blocks, got to the studio.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: So I was a bit more cruise ship aware.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: So I had my beige fish nets on.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: I still, because it was we're talking 2009 now at this point.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: I had my low rise booty shorts that are not flattering at all to my long torso short leg physique.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: And I had my low color crop top on.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: And I think I had my hair half up, half down.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, we did a little across the floor to sway by Michael Boobley.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: That was that time period.
31:54
unknown: Yeah.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: Did an across the floor to that, and then there was a cut.
31:59
SPEAKER_01: And then we did, I did the kind of like a more of a lyrically type style number, quite stylized, to fantasy.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: Cute.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: And then cut.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: And then they did another, I honestly don't know the name of the song, but it was more of like an athletic jazz.
32:15
SPEAKER_01: And it had this like horrible floor work section, me and the floor.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: I personally never got along with the floor, it just wasn't my thing.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: I know special dual looks.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't ready for it.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: I had my beige flats on for this one because most of the audition was in heels.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: It was just that number they had is put on flats, and it was for one of the shows called Come Fly With Me, which used to be the secondary show to hairspray on the Oasis.
32:35
SPEAKER_01: And so you'd do all your wax and your jumps, and you'd go to the floor, and I had to do this like flying squirrel.
32:39
SPEAKER_01: That's what they called it.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: Like yeah, I had to be like on all fours and like go into a star jump, like the like flat on the ground.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, it wasn't really my forte, but I pushed through, I kind of semi-did it.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Didn't get cut, so that was good.
32:55
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end, they asked for our tricks and flips.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: I was not trained to do tricks and flips in my day in Canada.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: We didn't really do tumbling passes in like it was a different era.
33:06
SPEAKER_01: Like now all the kids do it, but back in my time I didn't.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: So they said, Okay, here's your music.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, do you have any tricks?
33:12
SPEAKER_01: And I said, I got foit turns.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: So I had a girl, it was it was me and one other girl, and she was doing tumbling all around me, and I just met her doing my 32 foit days.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: Nice! As she flipped around me, so but I landed it fine, that was it, and I was like, Okay, cool, great.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: And then yeah, that's when everything else like came up.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that was my audition for Royal Caribbean.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: Wow, but they definitely they do lots of cuts and they'll do various styles throughout an audition.
33:42
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34:59
SPEAKER_05: I think that's really helpful to hear because a lot of people don't realize how many dancers show up for these auditions.
35:07
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
35:08
SPEAKER_05: You know, in the hundreds, people will show up.
35:10
SPEAKER_05: And like you mentioned, Leslie, they do have different auditions all over the country and the world.
35:16
SPEAKER_05: So if you can't make it to the New York audition, if you can't make it to the LA audition, there's probably an Atlanta, there's probably a Pittsburgh, there's probably a Chicago.
35:23
SPEAKER_05: Like, you just have to really look on like religiously look at these websites, which can, you know, save them to your favorites.
35:30
SPEAKER_05: And each cruise line company should have them all saved because they post at different times and like fly, you might have to fly, you will, but like, you know, if you go to a New York, it's gonna be a catacol.
35:40
SPEAKER_05: If you go to an Atlanta or a Pittsburgh, it might be a little bit more condensed, it might be a little smaller.
35:44
SPEAKER_05: Like, think about where works best for you because you might get cut at one and kept at the other because based on who shows up.
35:51
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
35:51
SPEAKER_06: They they really are there's not really a season, I don't feel like either for cruise ship auditions.
35:55
SPEAKER_06: Like they're just kind of rolling because of contracts start and stop at different times.
36:00
SPEAKER_05: Yes, that's the other thing.
36:01
SPEAKER_05: I feel like based on what like RWS does currently is we always have like a like our busy season for auditions is like right after Labor Day and then right at the top of the new year.
36:13
SPEAKER_05: So we have like two, those are like the main times, I would think.
36:16
SPEAKER_05: But then I think most companies have them sprinkled in at all times throughout the year.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're definitely sprinkled with royal.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: You'll also have to check because sometimes they have auditions for just their basic production shows, and then they'll have musical specific ones also.
36:29
SPEAKER_01: So those are also usually the musical ones.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: If you got through the whole audition process, if you got a contract, it you're probably going on into Miami rehearsals within a month.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: Like it's a pretty quick turnaround for the musicals.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: Can't say the same for the production shows.
36:43
SPEAKER_01: Those can be you could wait one week, you could wait two months to find out if you have a contract, but for the musicals, it's pretty bam bam right into it.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: So that's a good thing to keep in mind.
36:53
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
36:54
SPEAKER_06: Because they didn't have those really back when we were doing it.
36:56
SPEAKER_06: And like, like I said, I got hired in I think July of 2020 to 2020, 20, 2007, but the contract started in January of 2020.
37:05
SPEAKER_06: So like they they just had they were like the short ship, here it is.
37:08
SPEAKER_06: And so you could be waiting that long, you know.
37:10
SPEAKER_06: It's kind of normal.
37:11
SPEAKER_05: Right.
37:12
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
37:13
SPEAKER_05: Let's talk about rehearsals.
37:15
SPEAKER_06: Rehearsals.
37:16
SPEAKER_06: Oh man, I can't wait to hear about y'all's experiences in rehearsals.
37:20
SPEAKER_05: I that rehearsal process was an eye-opener for me.
37:24
SPEAKER_05: And this is my first job ever.
37:27
SPEAKER_05: I'd never dance in a heel in my life.
37:30
SPEAKER_05: Do you remember that day, Leslie?
37:31
SPEAKER_05: In rehearsals.
37:32
SPEAKER_06: All of us really.
37:33
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I had gone to college, but because of my height, I was never cast in anything that required a heel.
37:40
SPEAKER_06: I was always cast in.
37:41
SPEAKER_06: I was a kid, I was a cookie, I was a a a cat.
37:44
SPEAKER_06: Like I was never in a showgirl kind of number.
37:46
SPEAKER_06: So I was really dancing in heels for the first time too, even though I had been to school.
37:50
SPEAKER_06: But I lost two toenails in rehearsals because I just did I had never danced that much in a different kind of shoe.
37:57
SPEAKER_06: It was, it was grueling.
37:58
SPEAKER_05: And we were like, we rehearsed, like, I feel like that we learned our show.
38:02
SPEAKER_05: They didn't pressure us to be in heels right away.
38:04
SPEAKER_05: I don't remember.
38:05
SPEAKER_05: But I feel like there was a day when we got our heels.
38:08
SPEAKER_05: They said, Here we go.
38:09
SPEAKER_05: Put your heels on.
38:10
SPEAKER_05: And then the rehearsal director saw how tragic all four of us young girls was like, what is what are y'all doing?
38:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
38:17
SPEAKER_05: And like our rehearsal director was like an ex-rocket.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: Of Christelle.
38:21
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and tall, beautiful legs, like takes no crap from anyone, kind of woman.
38:25
SPEAKER_05: But she had some pity on us because we were we were struggling and she did a crash course with us.
38:30
SPEAKER_05: I remember her teaching us how to walk in our heels, like across the floor.
38:34
SPEAKER_05: And like, granted, we all had amazing technique and it was an easy transition, but it's still a whole new world up there.
38:39
SPEAKER_04: So that's why I'm always like, learn how to dance in heels before you get the job.
38:43
SPEAKER_06: Because well, I don't want you to do that.
38:45
SPEAKER_06: I'm curious now because y'all have more recent experience than we do.
38:48
SPEAKER_06: But back at the time, they the shoes we were using were not flexible character shoes.
38:54
SPEAKER_06: They were not a Laduca style shoe.
38:56
SPEAKER_06: They were a full sole, hard bottom, rubberized three-inch heel.
39:01
SPEAKER_06: So that is a very different experience than a flexible Laduca style shoe.
39:05
SPEAKER_06: So, what are they giving people now on y'all's in y'all's experience?
39:08
SPEAKER_05: Ballroom shoes are happening, I feel like.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it also just depends on the show.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: Because if you have, if you're doing a Latin ballroom show, you're in a Latin ballroom heel, which come across hard, but they they break down pretty easy and then you can do a full point.
39:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Royal does have, they don't we don't do the Laducas at Royal Caribbean, but we do have it's not completely hard.
39:28
SPEAKER_01: Like you can break them into it, like into them, but we used to have a softer sole shoe once upon a time, but they just didn't have longevity in them because people would just break through them.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: So they do have a harder shoe.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: It's like a T-strap, little peep toe moment, a little three-inch heel.
39:43
SPEAKER_01: But once again, also if you go on some of the older ones, if it's like they might have that classic single strap over.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: It just depends the costume, okay, what show you're doing.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: Some of them have a can can boot now, which is a similar to like a Laduka boot, but it's once again not Laduca.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, it it really just it's always a heel, but it yeah, there's usually not a ton of flexibility, but you can still point your foot a little bit.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: Not as not full biscuit, but like partial biscuit.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
40:09
SPEAKER_01: A scone, if you will.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: A little scone, not a cashew, but a scone.
40:15
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
40:15
SPEAKER_05: Rehearsals.
40:16
SPEAKER_05: What was your experience?
40:18
SPEAKER_05: And also, I guess, from like rehearsal director now as well, since you were both rehearsal directors.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you my first contract story that is pretty crazy, and then I'll give you my my latest as rehearsal director story, which is also a bit crazy.
40:32
SPEAKER_06: Amazing.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: So my very first contract that I received on my birthday was two contracts in one.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: I was to I was to go fly to LA.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: I believe it was 10 days from when I got the offer.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: I think I was a Phil, but they didn't tell me.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: So I get there and I find out that I'm in two separate casts, and it's me and a guy who had done 14 contracts at the time.
40:54
SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: I know.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh like the best mentor to me.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: I love him, Justin.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Justin, if you're Justin, if you hear this, he's the best.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: He taught me everything.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: But we rehearsed in the morning with one cast and at night with the other cast.
41:08
SPEAKER_05: So we're getting double rehearsal pay?
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
41:12
SPEAKER_05: Okay, that's good.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: But still, so that was it was like eight, eight a.m.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: to three p.m.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: and then four to eleven was like what they were they were super nice, and we did have ghosts for one cast.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: So people that would fill in for us if we needed.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: They called them the ghosts.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: I've never heard that.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: They were they were local to LA and they would they had already known known the shows, so they were if if we needed it, they would come step in for a day or two to sort of help us out.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: But uh it was uh I believe we learned five shows from 8 a.m.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: to three p.m.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: with that cast.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: And then we had the those five shows plus two more.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: But it was my first cast, my morning cast was a cast of twelve, and my afternoon c cast was a cast of fourteen.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: So Justin and I, after four months on our first ship, we had one week off in between contracts where I proposed to my now wife.
42:07
SPEAKER_05: Oh my god.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: And then and then flew away for six months, and then and then did the rest of the shows with our second cast.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: So while we were on the first ship, while we were on the first ship, we were still rehearsing to then go on to the next ship and perform.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Because the second cast the second cast I was in had one 10-month contract.
42:27
SPEAKER_02: Oh.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: And when they changed itineraries, they had two male dancers that added into the cast.
42:32
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: So it was sort of a sort of a change for them as well.
42:35
SPEAKER_02: But I don't know.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: We went we went to Australia and New Zealand, so I I would do whatever.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: I said, okay, sounds good.
42:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
42:41
SPEAKER_05: I would hurt over my life to go to Australia.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: I know, and I would I was I was so green.
42:47
SPEAKER_00: So any anything anyone said, I was like, Yes.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: I was there 20 minutes early every single day, like, let's go.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm so psyched to be here.
42:54
SPEAKER_00: So anything they they said was yes.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: Um and then another crazy story is my uh first and second contract as a rehearsal director.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh we did uh 18 different shows over 18 weeks.
43:06
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: So my cast, Love Them to Death again.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh we did rehearsals in New York City in Astoria for uh, I believe six weeks.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh and over those six weeks we learned seven or eight shows in a piecemeal style.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh so our singers were always with our music director, uh-huh and the dancers were always with myself, and we had another rehearsal director, Adam, in the room.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: It was two casts at one time, and we just taught as much as we could.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: So we were just throwing choreography like crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy.
43:35
SPEAKER_00: And we got the singers one day a week.
43:38
SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: So during that one day, we had to then block, block, block, block, block, and get them into their pieces as much as we could.
43:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh so when we were doing presentations in the office, uh, it was very like, okay, this is one number that we had from one show, and now we're gonna transfer to another show that we'll do three months down the line, and then another show that we're gonna do six months.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Down the line.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: So it was up to myself and Adam and the cast to just keep everything compartmentalized in our brains.
44:07
SPEAKER_05: Right.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: So that we could we could pull from any direction we needed to, because it was such a crazy process.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: And then when we got on the ship, when we got on the ship, we put all the shows together in their full iterations.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: So I would then teach, I would then teach the singers all their blocking.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: We would have full rehearsals together, whether it be on the top deck, near the pool deck, could get a little tan while you're out there, or in the gym, or in the theater late night.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: We put the shows together, tech to them in one day, and then perform perform them and on to the next show.
44:37
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
44:39
SPEAKER_05: I can't imagine knowing all of those shows like in my brain.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
44:43
SPEAKER_05: That's a lot.
44:44
SPEAKER_00: It was pretty crazy.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: And I had I had a dance captain who his primary job was to make sure that the dancers were one show ahead of me.
44:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:53
SPEAKER_02: Oh.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: So I would say, okay, I need you to rehearse the next show, all the dance routines that we've learned, so that they're nice and clean, so that when we get into the space, I can then put the singers into their spots and we can have a show.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: So he was always one one show ahead of me.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: And then I was mostly with the singers, getting them combined to create a show.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: It was a process.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: It was a process.
45:18
SPEAKER_06: Because I know for me and Courtney, I know we have had this experience, and I want to push back on it for everybody listening.
45:24
SPEAKER_06: So back in our day, I remember very clearly a sector of performers and people and teachers and faculty thought cruise ships were kind of a poo-poo job, like cruise ship dancers.
45:36
SPEAKER_06: And I was never, I was like, why would you ever think that?
45:39
SPEAKER_06: This is a real job.
45:40
SPEAKER_06: I'm getting paid to dance.
45:41
SPEAKER_06: I'm a very good dancer.
45:42
SPEAKER_06: All these people I know are very good dancers.
45:43
SPEAKER_06: This is a legitimate thing.
45:45
SPEAKER_06: And I would still hear, oh, well, that's just cruise ships.
45:47
SPEAKER_06: Did y'all have that experience?
45:49
SPEAKER_06: And all the things you just said, Gene, about learning a thousand shows for this is a real legitimate job.
45:56
SPEAKER_06: We are all good dancers.
45:57
SPEAKER_06: But I want to know, have you did you hear that yourself?
46:00
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: 1000%.
46:02
SPEAKER_06: What do you think that's about?
46:03
SPEAKER_06: And do you think that's still happening?
46:05
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
46:07
SPEAKER_06: 100%.
46:07
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I agree.
46:08
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
46:09
SPEAKER_06: It's sad.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my sad.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: My school is very, at least when I was there, was very modern and contemporary dance heavy.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: So if you did not go into a contemporary or modern dance company, you were seen as a lesser than.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: But I I there was one teacher at the school who I actually didn't take class with, who has since passed.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: Um his name was Ron Tassone.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: And he was the first first person that I told that I got the cruise ship offer.
46:36
SPEAKER_00: And he was over the moon excited.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: And he was like, Yes, this is what you have to do.
46:40
SPEAKER_00: I've been telling you.
46:41
SPEAKER_00: He was like a musical theater, more jazz style teacher.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: And he was the only person at the school that said, absolutely yes, take the job.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: And I had teachers full on say, if you go to cruise ships, you're just gonna get stuff that stuck there.
46:53
SPEAKER_00: You'll never make a career of yourself, you'll never do anything past cruise ships.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: But I have been to almost 80 countries and I've paid off my student loans, and I have a house and I have a child and I have a wife from cruise ships.
47:05
SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty happy with where I with where I am in my life.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: So I I would say that I've made it and and then some.
47:11
SPEAKER_05: So that's so inspiring to hear.
47:14
SPEAKER_00: Cruise ships, cruise ships are awesome.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: And I'm a huge, huge advocate for cruise ships.
47:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
47:19
SPEAKER_01: I used to get a lot of people that would say the same thing to me, and I would kind of just remind them, I'm like, well, I've been doing this job now over 16 years at this point.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: The only time I did not know what I was doing work-wise was during COVID.
47:31
SPEAKER_01: And the longest time that I had a break between contracts would have been maybe about four months because I just liked doing back to back.
47:37
SPEAKER_01: I was all about the hustle in that aspect.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: But I had the most consistent dance career that anyone could probably think of because I just I always knew what I was doing.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: I had a paycheck coming in.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: You can't really complain about that.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: And for me, I never felt like I got stuck in one position.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: Like I always felt like I grew with Royal.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: Like I started when the ships were small.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: When the newer and bigger came out, I was very fortunate that I was getting put on them.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: I was adding aerial skills, I was adding leadership skills, I was going into musicals, I was performing in different venues that were brand new to Royal Caribbean.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: And when they created the 270 venue, I did the takeout and opening of a ship.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: You know, like there were so many things.
48:11
SPEAKER_01: Then, you know, I became a dance captain.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: You know, so I never felt like I plateaued in like my learning experience as a performer because I always was pushed.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: And even stylistically, like you get thrown everything.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: And what's kind of awesome is that I never paid one dime for my aerial training.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: And I've performed in over like 15 apparatuses.
48:30
SPEAKER_01: So I got paid to train.
48:32
SPEAKER_01: I got I when I did Latin ballroom, I did a tango show and a Latin ballroom show where you spend Royal Caribbean's really passionate about it.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: They'll make you do uh Latin ballroom classes for an hour with their ballroom specialists every morning.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: So if you're learning a jive number that day, you have a one-hour dive class that morning.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: So I got ballroom training.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, they they teach you so much as you're doing it.
48:53
SPEAKER_01: So it's you're learning the whole time.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: So like I just thought that was amazing.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: So I got free training.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, I got paid to travel the world and I had a consistent paycheck.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: Like, how can you complain?
49:03
SPEAKER_01: I just think complain.
49:05
SPEAKER_06: No, yeah, it's that's I'm so, I'm so, so glad to hear that.
49:08
SPEAKER_06: And like, you know, Courtney and I have felt the same way of like, this is this is one of the best jobs you can have as a dancer.
49:14
SPEAKER_06: And if you can, if you like it and you want to do 15 contracts, because you know, it's not for everybody, and like we can all understand that to an extent.
49:22
SPEAKER_06: But, you know, I just I continue to want to drive home that like this is a great job.
49:28
SPEAKER_06: This is a real job.
49:29
SPEAKER_06: Like, absolutely do this job if you can.
49:32
SPEAKER_05: And there are there are more opportunities for this type of job than there are that one job on Broadway or that one show at a regional theater or dancing behind that one artist.
49:44
SPEAKER_05: Like, yes, there's tons of artists, but every artist is looking for something different.
49:48
SPEAKER_05: So for dancers to just be like against it, and I would love to remove that stigma of cruise ships are at the bottom because you get paid and save more money on a cruise ship than you do a lot of jobs that are in the industry that feel more prestigious in quotes, more prestigious on a resume than a cruise ship.
50:08
SPEAKER_05: But you are, like you said, Marina, dancing for your life.
50:12
SPEAKER_05: I mean, the amount I oh my gosh, the rehearsal process was the most intense process I've probably ever had in my career.
50:18
SPEAKER_05: And the amount of partnering that I learned how to do that, like I had no idea.
50:23
SPEAKER_05: I no one taught me how to partner.
50:24
SPEAKER_05: You just get thrown in and you're getting taught and you're getting thrown around the stage, like so epic.
50:29
SPEAKER_05: And it's gonna help set you up for any job.
50:32
SPEAKER_05: Like, if you can do a cruise ship, you can literally do anything because it's prepared you with so many like styles and variety of movement.
50:40
SPEAKER_05: It's just and then you like you said the perk is you're getting paid to see the world.
50:44
SPEAKER_05: I mean, who couldn't yeah well, it's it's a dream.
50:47
SPEAKER_05: It's a dream, yeah.
50:49
SPEAKER_01: I think one thing that's so important too is that because there's so many different styles that all these companies offer and throw at you, like you don't have to be perfect at them.
50:57
SPEAKER_01: If they've hired you, they know that you have the capability to do it.
51:00
SPEAKER_01: So they're gonna teach you, they will show you what to do.
51:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously, it's a fast-paced environment, don't get me wrong, they want you to pick it up nice and quick, but they will still teach you like aerial work as a example and you I never been in a harness.
51:12
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna take a minute to figure it out, but they wanted me in the air and I did my work and they put you in it.
51:17
SPEAKER_01: So it's don't no one should ever feel nervous that oh, well, I can't do this and I can't do that.
51:22
SPEAKER_01: Cause if they've hired you, they know there's potential.
51:24
SPEAKER_01: So just believe in yourself because they will teach you and guide you so that you look the best doing their product for all their guests on board.
51:30
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
51:31
SPEAKER_06: Well, and also I I just remember specifically for the for Boogie Wonderland, one of the shows that Courtney and I did, some of the choreographers of that show were from Giordano.
51:41
SPEAKER_06: Like the people who created this work are recognized in the industry.
51:45
SPEAKER_06: And I'm sure that's the case with other lines.
51:47
SPEAKER_06: Like, they're not just hiring like Joe Schmo to like make up a dance.
51:50
SPEAKER_06: Like, no, these are real people with real careers and industry credit.
51:54
SPEAKER_06: And, you know, so all of it, it's so legit.
51:57
SPEAKER_06: Oh please do a cruise ship.
51:59
SPEAKER_05: There are a lot of very high-level reputable choreographers who have produced all of these shows that you should hear about in rehearsals, but don't think that it, like you said, Leslie, it's it's not someone that you could add to your resume.
52:12
SPEAKER_05: You're doing their choreography, whether you're learning it through an install director or a rehearsal supervisor or whoever it is, it's still their choreography that you get to dance.
52:21
SPEAKER_05: And that's pretty awesome.
52:22
SPEAKER_05: But you, you know, I think that a lot of people are like, oh, it's just a production show.
52:26
SPEAKER_05: Eh, whatever.
52:27
SPEAKER_05: It's like, no, this is Fierce Choreo.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
52:30
SPEAKER_00: And if you're part of an original cast or an install, install cast, you get to meet those choreographers, you get to work directly with those choreographers, and who knows what happens down the line from that experience.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: I've worked with a lot of Broadway choreographers, RWS Global offers, they bring in choreographers and they bring in different directors to set works on workshop casts.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: And that's sort of how they decide then who is going to choreograph for cruise lines or who's going to choreograph for certain things.
52:56
SPEAKER_00: And I've gotten opportunities to work with so many different people.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: And then you never know because down the line you get a phone call, hey, you know, Broadway's open and this is the show that I choreographed, and they could pull you straight from there.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: So you you meet so many different people and you make so many different connections.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: And networking is one of the biggest things in this job.
53:13
SPEAKER_00: So your network expands tremendously when you work for cruise lines.
53:17
SPEAKER_05: I have a question before we jump into ship life.
53:19
SPEAKER_05: And I would love to know if you can think back to some of your first rehearsal experiences.
53:24
SPEAKER_05: What are some of the things that you wish you knew before you went into your rehearsal process for your cruise ship job?
53:31
SPEAKER_05: Um, things that like you weren't prepared for that you just kind of got thrown into, or like advice that you could give to dancers who maybe have dreams of working on a ship, but you want to help prepare them better than you m may have been.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
53:46
SPEAKER_00: This is this is a hot take.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to your when it comes to your tips and your your tricks and everything you can do, don't show everything you can do.
53:56
SPEAKER_06: That one because that thing.
53:57
SPEAKER_00: Because if you if you show everything you can do, you're going to do everything that you can do in the show.
54:03
SPEAKER_06: On a moving ship.
54:04
SPEAKER_06: That's true.
54:05
SPEAKER_06: In rocky seas.
54:07
SPEAKER_06: 300 times.
54:09
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: My big thing was uh my 540.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: I had a 540.
54:14
SPEAKER_00: Great, I'll show it to you.
54:15
SPEAKER_00: They say, Can you do a trick?
54:16
SPEAKER_00: Sure, here we go.
54:17
SPEAKER_00: Did the 540 and had to do it in the finale every single every single night in the show.
54:21
SPEAKER_02: Ugh.
54:21
SPEAKER_00: And there was people that were doing full tumbling passes.
54:25
SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, it's weird to say, but thankfully I can't do any tumbling passes.
54:28
SPEAKER_00: So I can give you a fierce one-handed cartwheel both sides.
54:33
SPEAKER_06: Nice, nice.
54:34
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I I would say my advice would be don't show everything you can do and then breathe.
54:41
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to breathe.
54:42
SPEAKER_00: When I when I was young, I was so green.
54:45
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, everything was yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
54:47
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to take a step back and say, you know what?
54:50
SPEAKER_00: Actually, well, now being 31, it's the the young guns that are in there.
54:55
SPEAKER_00: Um I just did a workshop with a bunch of students from Pace, and I was, I don't know, 29 at the time, and they're all 18 going crazy.
55:01
SPEAKER_00: And so the choreographer said, Can you do this?
55:03
SPEAKER_00: Can you do this?
55:03
SPEAKER_00: Can you do this?
55:04
SPEAKER_00: I said, you know what, let's let's have so and let's have so and so do that.
55:09
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
55:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's it's okay to take a step back and breathe.
55:13
SPEAKER_00: So there's my there's my advice.
55:15
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
55:16
SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
55:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was about to say the same thing.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: That was a good point, Gene.
55:19
SPEAKER_01: But I think the one thing too is just like ask the questions, be open.
55:23
SPEAKER_01: Cruise ships are just like kind of like an unknown world.
55:25
SPEAKER_01: And to be honest, I feel like when I was in rehearsals, I didn't really have that moment.
55:29
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't until I really got on the ship and I was holding the the fire hose and the fire hydrants that I was like, what did I sign up for after being in the theater for 12 hours?
55:41
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, What's a lifeboat?
55:42
SPEAKER_01: I don't get it.
55:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
55:44
SPEAKER_01: So I think that that was more like my shock.
55:46
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think just like, and also just being open to get to know your cast.
55:51
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I'm not saying it's be best friends with everyone, but they are your family and your support when you're away from yours for these six, eight, 10 month contracts, however long they are.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, just be open and support each other, be kind to everyone because you never really know what everyone's going through.
56:07
SPEAKER_01: And just be open and vulnerable is really the kind of just my best advice.
56:11
SPEAKER_01: Cause I feel like everyone's like, I gotta be strong and tough, and I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna, you know, slay the house down.
56:16
SPEAKER_01: But you know, you can be a human too.
56:19
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's an important quality to have.
56:21
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I love that.
56:22
SPEAKER_06: Court, what I remember from rehearsals was your rehearsal is not over when your rehearsal is over.
56:27
SPEAKER_06: I remember having to, you know, we had we rehearsed eight to four or whatever it was, go home, eat your dinner, relax.
56:34
SPEAKER_06: But then we had, I had to rehearse more.
56:36
SPEAKER_06: I had to remember, it was a lot of information at one time.
56:39
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
56:39
SPEAKER_06: And I don't think I would have been able to get through it had I just forgotten about everything for the rest of the night.
56:44
SPEAKER_06: Like I remember having to come home and go over choreography and go over spacing and go over blocking.
56:49
SPEAKER_06: Um, so like, you know, yeah, we had a great time.
56:52
SPEAKER_06: Both of our birthdays happened during that rehearsal process.
56:55
SPEAKER_06: Like we went out to the beach, we went to Publix, like it was really fun.
56:59
SPEAKER_06: But like I remember having to like really drill down and and keep rehearsing because it was like you said, a kind of a shock of like, oh God, this is a lot of information at one time.
57:08
SPEAKER_05: And with that, I do have a question for both of you in the current, because back then, and I'm curious to hear how it's different.
57:15
SPEAKER_05: Back then we didn't have phones where we could record everything.
57:18
SPEAKER_05: And back then, they wouldn't give you a video of the wrap-up of rehearsal at the end of the day.
57:24
SPEAKER_05: You had to retain it in your brain and go home and think about it yourself or collaborate with your roommate who's in the show and review things or ask questions with one another and teamwork it.
57:35
SPEAKER_05: It wasn't watch your video and remember what comes next.
57:38
SPEAKER_05: So are we filming the rehearsal processes and are casts getting a re roundup of the rehearsal every night after the day is complete?
57:47
SPEAKER_01: For me personally, it kind of can depend on the group.
57:51
SPEAKER_01: I don't I do record things just for myself because I like to look at things and kind of see what I've taught and reviewed that, you know, at the end of the night.
57:58
SPEAKER_01: But if I do pass off any videos, it's usually straight to the dance captain.
58:02
SPEAKER_01: It's not just like a, hey everyone, because I don't I don't hand out the receipts to everyone.
58:06
SPEAKER_01: So if I do hand out a video of like a breakdown of just like counts, so that in eight months' time when the dance captain's giving notes and there's a bit of an argument saying, I'm pretty sure it's on seven, no, it's on the end.
58:16
SPEAKER_01: The dance captain has a receipt because I love a receipt.
58:19
SPEAKER_01: So like I do give videos to the dance captain.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: I will record runs towards the end and I will let I'll put them normally on a Google Drive and let them watch.
58:28
SPEAKER_01: That's just how I've noticed that they seem to correct themselves better through that.
58:32
SPEAKER_01: Because even though I can give corrections, it's very much a oh, I didn't do that until they watch themselves.
58:37
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, oh wait, I did I did do that.
58:39
SPEAKER_01: So I I have found that with the new generation a video is helpful, but it's definitely against my normal, my normal go-to, if you want to say, but I'm still a bit old school that I don't allow phones for note sessions.
58:51
SPEAKER_01: Everything has to be put on paper.
58:53
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
58:53
SPEAKER_01: I because I I don't trust that they're not on their Instagram.
58:57
SPEAKER_01: I right they also I know when they're typing and when they're scrolling, their thumbs are doing different things.
59:01
SPEAKER_01: I know what they're doing.
59:03
SPEAKER_01: Or when they like my Instagram story during notes and it goes off my Apple Watch.
59:07
SPEAKER_01: We've had that happen.
59:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm like busted.
59:09
SPEAKER_01: So um, no, I'm I am old school in that sense where all notes, um, blocking numbers, everything has to be written down all in a notepad.
59:17
SPEAKER_01: So I say for day one, get your pens and paper, because I won't have phones and note sessions.
59:21
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's my old school coming out there.
59:23
SPEAKER_01: Love it.
59:23
SPEAKER_00: I'd say, yeah, same.
59:25
SPEAKER_00: When I was a dancer, we had to write everything down.
59:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, luckily, my brain is pretty crazy being a competitive dancer.
59:31
SPEAKER_00: I got so many things thrown at me through the years that I was able to just sort of retain and regurgitate.
59:36
SPEAKER_00: But as a rehearsal director, especially for doing 18 different shows, and it was being so piecemeal, we recorded at the end of every single day and I put it into a drop box.
59:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then when we would refresh it, maybe a couple days down the line, I would wipe the video and put the better video and then keep slowly, slowly, slowly replacing so that when we did get on the ship, the dance captain and myself could review to make sure that we could put everything back correctly.
1:00:06
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1:00:18
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1:00:31
SPEAKER_05: Participants will enjoy top-notch technical training alongside engaging seminars and QA sessions, all inspired by collegiate dance programs.
1:00:39
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1:00:48
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1:00:55
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1:01:04
SPEAKER_05: For all the details, visit PreProdancerInstitute.com or click the link in our show notes.
1:01:10
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1:01:21
SPEAKER_05: I think it's important for like the this generation to understand that like it is the Dance Captain videos are meant for a certain thing, like as a reference point to for them to do their job throughout the contract.
1:01:33
SPEAKER_05: It's uh your job as a dancer to retain the choreography that's being taught to you and come back the next day knowing what it is and can't rely on a video to do that.
1:01:41
SPEAKER_05: And we're so used to that now in competitive dance and in just the generation that we're in with phones and everything, that I think a lot of dancers aren't retaining things.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_05: They put it in and throw it away and then say, I'll just watch the video.
1:01:53
SPEAKER_05: I'll just watch the video before I get to rehearsal.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_05: What if there isn't a video, y'all?
1:01:57
SPEAKER_05: You have to make sure you're training properly because you don't know.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_05: Each company might have different rules.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_05: Some companies might be like, absolutely, we're not filming a thing because it's copyrighted show choreography and we can't distribute this out and only DC gets it.
1:02:09
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'd never seen a video of us doing our ship, you know, from millions of years ago, because only the dance captain had access to the show videos, you know?
1:02:18
SPEAKER_05: So just something to think about for that next generation who might want to do this for a living.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: The later plan doesn't really work, especially when you're learning three, four, or eighteen shows, depending on what company you're on.
1:02:29
SPEAKER_01: But you might be like, Oh, I'll just watch the video later.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't have that, you you don't trust your muscle memory.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_01: It all snowballs, it's all gonna add up.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: You get to that third show and you're like, hold on, what was that first one?
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_01: So you you really need to prepare yourself and be organized and you know, write things down.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_01: Or if that means, you know, maybe if you don't get access to videos, if you film yourself for the day, just doing what what you've taught, just so you can be like, hey, at least I have my own kind of video Bible.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: If you want to stay up the show, then that's what you gotta do.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: But you need to prepare yourself for that success because it will snowball if you are not on top of it, if you're learning multiple shows, because it does all of a sudden you don't realize it and your mind goes like it just blows up because you're like, what's going on?
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about ship life.
1:03:10
SPEAKER_05: Now I know it's taken us a while to get here, but like I think one of the things that a lot of people are afraid of when it comes to a cruise ship contract is what is it like living on a ship?
1:03:19
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
1:03:20
SPEAKER_05: That's like you said, it's kind of unknown territory.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_05: It's a little bit of a like a maybe people have vacationed on a cruise ship and it's very luxurious and glamorous, but is that the same type of experience that the staff and the the dancers are going to get when they are actually working and living on a ship?
1:03:36
SPEAKER_06: And also being asked to do other things besides your shows, because that is you alluded to that, Marina, a little bit of what else you have to do as a crew as truly a crew member on the ship.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_06: So I'm curious to hear about that too for our listeners.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_00: I will say it has gotten better through the years, at least as I've performed.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_00: Um when I was on my first contract, we were boat communicators.
1:03:59
SPEAKER_00: So on the first day, we were the people with the loudhalers saying, Hello, welcome to Hall in America cruise lines.
1:04:04
SPEAKER_00: In case of a fire, this is where you come.
1:04:06
SPEAKER_00: And then they would teach, we would teach them all about fire safety, et cetera.
1:04:09
SPEAKER_00: The good thing with at least Hall in America Line versus uh any other cruise lines, we didn't really have any big duties.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_00: So we were guest status, even though we were we were dancers.
1:04:20
SPEAKER_00: So we could go anywhere on the ship, we could go to all the specialty restaurants, we could be in the pool, we could be in the hot tub, we could use the gym.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_00: Nice, we could do anything, anything the guests could do.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_00: We just lived one deck below, under under the sea, at deck A, which is I mean, we lived right underneath the stage.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_00: So there was there was no excuse to be late to work because it was literally three seconds three seconds away from where you were gonna go.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_00: It's gotten so good that now there are certain contracts you can get through RWS or Holland, etc., that everyone in the cast gets a guest cabin.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_06: What?
1:04:55
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_00: There are there are contracts now.
1:04:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yep.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_06: Even the dancers, yes.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_00: Yes, depending on your status.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can if you dance captains have their special cabins, you know, company managers have their special cabins.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, people everybody's getting a porthole, everybody's getting everything.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_00: Wow, yeah.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_00: Things are are move things are moving up.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_00: And one of my favorite things was I I get bored very easily, so I have to constantly be be doing something.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_00: Because we didn't have any extra duties, I signed myself up to do extra duties to make extra money.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_00: So there's there's opportunities that you can do on board.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: I dressed up as an eagle when we were in Alaska.
1:05:32
SPEAKER_00: And I I I danced around as a mascot and made extra money with the photog team.
1:05:38
SPEAKER_00: I I hung art and I would sell art for the art team and make extra money through that.
1:05:42
SPEAKER_00: I worked for the port shopping ambassador and would sell diamonds in the ports with the Diamonds International.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_00: Diamonds International, yes.
1:05:49
SPEAKER_00: There's there's the plug.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, there's there's so many different things you can do now, and the status is only getting better for cruise ship dancers, singers, singer dancers, etc.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_00: I love hearing that.
1:05:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to see you.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_00: Happy to see it.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_01: And that also di it will vary depending on the cruise line.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_01: Like with rural cripping, you still have some minor duties.
1:06:07
SPEAKER_01: It's really not that much.
1:06:09
SPEAKER_01: It used to be way worse back in the day, like when I worked for Celebrity, which they don't do anymore.
1:06:14
SPEAKER_01: But I remember standing on the gangway saying, Welcome aboard.
1:06:16
SPEAKER_01: Welcome aboard.
1:06:17
SPEAKER_01: Or thank you for coming to cruise.
1:06:19
SPEAKER_01: Or like handing out tender tickets.
1:06:21
SPEAKER_01: And I never did bingo.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_01: I never was part of that uh generation, but um, there was a time where that was a thing.
1:06:26
SPEAKER_01: Whereas now with Royal, uh, you'll just kind of do backstage tours or like meet and greets with the guests, maybe.
1:06:32
SPEAKER_01: If you, depending on what ship you're on, you have some ships where there's two different dance casts on board, or there's an ice cast or an aqua cast, because Royal Caribbean hires dancers and divers and sinkers for aqua shows now.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes you might do spotlights or help dress, do the quick changes in other venues.
1:06:49
SPEAKER_01: So, but it's all they all support each other.
1:06:51
SPEAKER_01: So if you're dressing the ice skaters, the ice skaters probably dress you.
1:06:54
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of just a full circle thing.
1:06:56
SPEAKER_01: So everything's all performance and dance related.
1:06:59
SPEAKER_01: It's nothing that's kind of in the cruise division world.
1:07:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, you're not doing trivias or anything like that.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you'll just do a couple, but it really also depends on how long your cruises are.
1:07:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, and that's something that you have to also need to get a contract.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, how many shows are you learning?
1:07:14
SPEAKER_01: Are you doing four and five day cruises?
1:07:15
SPEAKER_01: Are you doing 12, 14-day cruises?
1:07:17
SPEAKER_01: Because that can really make and break if you do extra things in between those show days.
1:07:21
SPEAKER_01: If you're doing a short cruise, you're probably just doing your shows and your basic safety duties that, like, you know, doing your crew drills and stuff here and there.
1:07:29
SPEAKER_01: So it's pretty cookie-cutter in that sense.
1:07:31
SPEAKER_01: If you're doing the longer ones, they will throw in extra things.
1:07:33
SPEAKER_01: So you're not just totally getting paid to see the world completely.
1:07:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think that's important to mention, like you said, the length of the actual cruise itinerary because that does impact how much you're gonna be doing.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_05: On Leslie and I ship, we did uh seven-day cruises.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_05: We had two production shows.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_05: And out of the seven days, we had the opening little tiny bumper show that, you know, kicks off the cruise, would then we'd have a day off.
1:07:58
SPEAKER_05: And then we would do our Broadway rhythm and rhyme production show twice in one night.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_05: So you would do it one at seven o'clock, and then you'd repeat it again at nine o'clock to turnovers pretty quick.
1:08:08
SPEAKER_05: It's like a 30-minute in-between, freshen up, reset your costumes, and let's do it all over again.
1:08:13
SPEAKER_05: And then you'd had all you had off for two days and you'd be at the beach in Mexico living your best life as a passenger.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_05: And then we're back to next production show number two, same kind of thing, twice in one night.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_05: And then you'd have your little closer bumper show that just a little finale sail away.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_05: And that was our weekly schedule.
1:08:31
SPEAKER_05: And we had a lot of downtime.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_05: I remember sleeping in a lot.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_05: I remember like lit like being on vacation a lot.
1:08:38
SPEAKER_05: I remember being bored, honestly, a lot.
1:08:40
SPEAKER_05: A lot.
1:08:40
SPEAKER_05: You know, like you, it depends on your contract, but you can't you do have a lot of free time as a dancer on a cruise ship.
1:08:46
SPEAKER_05: So that is, and especially pending your itinerary, you get off the ship and you explore and you see the world.
1:08:51
SPEAKER_05: And that's what's so great about it.
1:08:53
SPEAKER_05: Uh and dancing for your life.
1:08:55
SPEAKER_05: But you have to, like that being said, the show schedule, you have to have the stamina to be able to get through two shows in one night.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_05: And those are hard shows.
1:09:03
SPEAKER_05: You are rarely off the stage.
1:09:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_00: That is that is a very important thing to note.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_00: It is so important to keep moving when you get on the ship.
1:09:12
SPEAKER_00: So if you're on a 21-day cruise, I've done, I've done 21-day cruises, I've done 128-day cruises, but five shows over 21 days are the shows are gonna be very spread out.
1:09:23
SPEAKER_00: Whereas you're in rehearsal, you're in rehearsals, you're dancing your face off from eight in the morning until 5 p.m.
1:09:28
SPEAKER_00: every single day.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_00: You're your heart is going, your cardio, you're ready to go.
1:09:32
SPEAKER_00: And then when you get on the ship, you're sitting there.
1:09:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
1:09:35
SPEAKER_00: So if you're not going to the gym, if you're not going to the gym and keeping up your cardiovascular system, when you get on that stage, you're gonna be pouring sweat and you're not gonna know what's happening.
1:09:45
SPEAKER_00: So you have to keep consistent and keep that cardio going when you're on the ship.
1:09:49
SPEAKER_06: Right.
1:09:49
SPEAKER_06: Can you guys speak a little bit to like what uh services the ship provides you?
1:09:55
SPEAKER_06: Like, is there health insurance?
1:09:57
SPEAKER_06: Are you being fed?
1:09:58
SPEAKER_06: How is the food?
1:09:59
SPEAKER_06: I think the parents are gonna be curious about like truly what does your day look like, you know, and what happens if you get sick, what happens if you get hurt?
1:10:07
SPEAKER_05: Good question.
1:10:08
SPEAKER_01: So before you board most cruise ship contracts, you have to get a full medical done um just to see what your health is, where your health is at um before you come on the ship.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_01: Because once you do get on board, you are fully covered by medical, at least with rural Caribbean and most cruise mods that I know you are.
1:10:23
SPEAKER_01: Save your RWS got a thumbs up there.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, so pretty much they just want to make sure that you're not, you don't have like a your medical is to prove that you don't have a hidden issue prior to coming on board.
1:10:34
SPEAKER_01: So you're just healthy as can be, or whatever your status is before you.
1:10:37
SPEAKER_01: So anything that happens on the ship, they will take care of.
1:10:40
SPEAKER_01: I've broken a wrist on board.
1:10:42
SPEAKER_01: I fell from sky in an aerial accident, broke my left wrist.
1:10:46
SPEAKER_01: I was in England for 52 days, but I did not pay a dime.
1:10:49
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_01: I was fully taken I was fully taken care of.
1:10:52
SPEAKER_01: I had all the surgeries, all the care taken by taken care of by the company, and I'm still dancing and was still hired by them post injury.
1:10:59
SPEAKER_01: So I'm an advocate that you are taken care of.
1:11:01
SPEAKER_01: They don't just like you know you don't get injured and then sent back home and they forget about you.
1:11:06
SPEAKER_01: Like they do take very good care of you if you get hurt on a contract.
1:11:09
SPEAKER_01: As for food, it's all free unless you go to a specialty restaurant.
1:11:14
SPEAKER_01: You want to go to the steakhouse or the Italian place and treat yourself, but you always be called the crew mess.
1:11:19
SPEAKER_01: So they have breakfast, lunch, and dinner there.
1:11:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a little bit complicated.
1:11:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, some of the really big ships, like the Oasis class, their mess is open almost all day.
1:11:28
SPEAKER_01: So you can kind of poke in at any time.
1:11:30
SPEAKER_01: I think the one difference from, say, being on land where you can just open your fridge and your food is there any time of day.
1:11:36
SPEAKER_01: There's breakfast hours, lunch hours, dinner hours.
1:11:38
SPEAKER_01: So you kind of have to also look at what your schedule is for that day.
1:11:41
SPEAKER_01: If you're like, okay, well, I got a seven or nine o'clock show.
1:11:44
SPEAKER_01: I need to be call times at six.
1:11:46
SPEAKER_01: I like to be backstage at five, the mess opens at 4:30.
1:11:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, you have to kind of plan when you're gonna eat so that you're ready for your shows and your days.
1:11:53
SPEAKER_01: So that sometimes I think for our younger people for starting ships, uh especially now being a rehearsal director and seeing, you know, when you're booking rehearsals for the day on board, I always keep in mind when the mess hours are so that they can have their breakfast, lunch, and dinner so they're not missing the meal times.
1:12:09
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes your your 18-year-olds don't know they have to plan when they're going to eat anymore.
1:12:14
SPEAKER_01: So that's a bit of an adjustment that's a bit of an adjustment.
1:12:16
SPEAKER_01: So I always remind them.
1:12:17
SPEAKER_01: Like I've had one class where I'd be like, you eat at this time.
1:12:22
SPEAKER_01: Go to the mess.
1:12:24
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, but all but all the food is taken care of for you, which has obviously got its pros and cons.
1:12:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're not probably having avocado toast and poached eggs every morning for breakfast.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_01: Like you're not buying your groceries, so it's you know, you gotta keep in mind they're trying to feed thousands of crew members in some of these ships.
1:12:40
SPEAKER_06: So and crew members from around the world who have different dietary likes and dislikes and needs and everything.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_06: So there's there's always a variety.
1:12:47
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
1:12:48
SPEAKER_01: We love a curry on board.
1:12:49
SPEAKER_01: We love a curry.
1:12:52
SPEAKER_00: We were very, very lucky that we could also get room service.
1:12:56
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
1:12:57
SPEAKER_04: Ooh.
1:12:57
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so we could we could just call in any hours of the m the night.
1:13:02
SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of my cast members, as soon as they would get done with the shows, they would run down and order room service and then they would shower.
1:13:08
SPEAKER_00: And then by the time they were done showering, there you go.
1:13:10
SPEAKER_00: Room service is there.
1:13:12
SPEAKER_00: We also worked with our stage manager backstage, at least when I was rehearsal director, to get food delivered backstage in between shows.
1:13:19
SPEAKER_05: Wow, that's nice.
1:13:20
SPEAKER_00: So I ha I ha I could never I could never eat between shows.
1:13:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I don't know who what that is.
1:13:25
SPEAKER_00: But my cast wanted they wanted chicken nuggets and they wanted the things and this and this and this and teas and coffees and so we had a cart delivered in between all the shows to get them what they needed to.
1:13:36
SPEAKER_00: So cool, cool.
1:13:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're all does the same thing.
1:13:38
SPEAKER_01: We get like our after show food.
1:13:40
SPEAKER_01: They'll they'll bring the grilled chicken and the broccoli and all the the rice and the pizza and chicken fingers, whatever the whatever the dance captain orders, they'll bring food shows again.
1:13:48
SPEAKER_01: And you're allowed to also in selective times, you're allowed to go up to the guest we call it the windjammer or the Leto on some show.
1:13:54
SPEAKER_01: It's just the buffet for the guests.
1:13:56
SPEAKER_01: So as long as it's not too busy, you are allowed to go up there and have their food, which just got more options than maybe in the downstairs mess world.
1:14:03
SPEAKER_01: But you so you do have options, and depending on your position on board, we also have the room service.
1:14:07
SPEAKER_01: So when I was dance captain, I was able to get room service as singers normally are, and not all the dancers are.
1:14:12
SPEAKER_01: Once again, just depends on the ship and your position and stuff.
1:14:15
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, there's multiple options.
1:14:17
SPEAKER_05: I think that one of the things I want to mention to all of our listeners as we wrap up this episode, one of the like reality shocks, I'd say, for me as living on a cruise ship was that you are kind of on like a little mini floating city.
1:14:33
SPEAKER_05: And back in the day when we did it, we had very limited access to our cell phone and internet.
1:14:40
SPEAKER_05: And I know it's a very different world at this point.
1:14:42
SPEAKER_05: I'm thinking that there's probably more access to that now.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_05: I've I've had dancers who are literally tuning in and joining me at my steps on Broadway class virtually from out at sea.
1:14:53
SPEAKER_05: So, like there is, there are ways to still stay connected now.
1:14:57
SPEAKER_05: And I just want people to understand that.
1:14:59
SPEAKER_05: But you are at the end of the day still working, eating, sleeping, breathing with all of these people.
1:15:06
SPEAKER_05: And you can't really escape them.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_05: You know, you can kind of lock yourself in your room, but like you're gonna go to eat and you're gonna see your friend from the cast that you maybe don't feel like seeing today, and that's just how it is.
1:15:17
SPEAKER_06: You know, you or the guy you were dating, and then now you're not, and he's still there.
1:15:22
SPEAKER_05: And the one the love knows.
1:15:25
SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah.
1:15:26
SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah.
1:15:27
SPEAKER_05: So, you know, you just have to keep that in mind that you're you're gonna see a lot of people come in and out, like especially staff members and crew members, because they're on different contract terms than us.
1:15:36
SPEAKER_05: But as as far as your cast, you are working with them and then you go home, but really home is still around them each night.
1:15:43
SPEAKER_05: And just keep that in mind that, like, like Marina said at the beginning, like you really try to get to know your cast because they're gonna be your family when you're away.
1:15:51
SPEAKER_05: And you can absolutely stay connected.
1:15:53
SPEAKER_05: Don't think that you just because you're at sea, you're completely like disconnected and away from the world and not involved in the industry.
1:16:01
SPEAKER_05: Like I always tell dancers, I it it's you'd rather be on a cruise ship than just be taking class in New York City or LA.
1:16:08
SPEAKER_05: I mean, no offense.
1:16:09
SPEAKER_05: I'm I love all my class takers and I'm rooting for you to guys to get that job.
1:16:13
SPEAKER_05: But there's a lot of dancers who are like, I don't know, I just rather stay here.
1:16:18
SPEAKER_05: And I'm like, what?
1:16:19
SPEAKER_05: You had an offer that you turned down because you just want to stay here and take class with me.
1:16:24
SPEAKER_05: No, go work on a cruise ship, make money, see the world.
1:16:27
SPEAKER_05: Like there will always be class, but those opportunities that present themselves to you might not always be there.
1:16:32
SPEAKER_05: So when they come and you and and do it before you get too old and you want to settle down.
1:16:37
SPEAKER_05: If when you're young and you are open to traveling, like take advantage of that type of opportunity because it truly is one of a kind.
1:16:45
SPEAKER_05: And when I even to this day, when I tell people I worked on a cruise ship, they go, No way, really?
1:16:50
SPEAKER_05: You did something like that?
1:16:51
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's such a cool job to say that you did.
1:16:54
SPEAKER_05: And not everyone can say they've done that.
1:16:58
SPEAKER_05: Crazy.
1:16:58
SPEAKER_01: It's very true.
1:16:59
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's it's the best though.
1:17:01
SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
1:17:02
SPEAKER_01: So it's obviously every job has its pros and cons, but I just think it's such a great opportunity, and people really should go for it because you can't turn it down unless you know what you're turning down.
1:17:11
SPEAKER_01: So you might as well just try it.
1:17:12
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't like it, you don't like it, and that's okay.
1:17:14
SPEAKER_01: But if you love it, maybe you've opened up a whole new door that you didn't know about.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_01: So just just go for it because it's amazing.
1:17:20
SPEAKER_01: I just yeah, pro advocate for it.
1:17:23
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I think we've covered.
1:17:24
SPEAKER_06: I mean, we could I this has been so enjoyable to like go back to that time in our lives.
1:17:29
SPEAKER_06: It was such a great time.
1:17:30
SPEAKER_06: It was, you know, the world the world was at your feet at you know, when we were young and doing that, and like that's it's it was another lifetime entirely.
1:17:38
SPEAKER_06: Um, so it's been nice to kind of reminisce and so great to hear that like things have changed and there's more opportunity now and there's more perks to be able to do it.
1:17:46
SPEAKER_06: And you know, I just think it's only gonna get better from here for the treatment of dancers and you know, the ability to to see the world and everything.
1:17:54
SPEAKER_06: So I'm so glad we had this conversation.
1:17:56
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
1:17:57
SPEAKER_06: Thanks for having us.
1:17:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:17:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:17:59
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
1:17:59
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
1:18:00
SPEAKER_05: And uh how we always have our guests lead us out on making the impact is just with one final thing you want to share about the topic.
1:18:08
SPEAKER_05: So if you have any inspiring words you want to send out to maybe dancers who have dreams of being on a cruise ship one day, to parents out there, to teachers out there, who are prepping dancers for the next generation of cruise line dancing.
1:18:22
SPEAKER_05: Anything you'd want to say to our dance world of on our episode topic about a day in the life of being a dancer on a cruise ship.
1:18:29
SPEAKER_00: I would say do it.
1:18:31
SPEAKER_00: Do it.
1:18:31
SPEAKER_00: Don't be afraid to do it.
1:18:32
SPEAKER_00: Please go on cruise ships because it's not first of all, okay.
1:18:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna say everyone's gonna be jealous of you.
1:18:38
SPEAKER_00: If you work on a cruise ship, everyone's gonna be jealous.
1:18:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh the people that I go work out with daily in my hometown, they're still asking me all things about that I did when I was on a cruise ship because it's really awesome.
1:18:47
SPEAKER_00: No, nobody else can say that they literally woke up in a different country every single day.
1:18:54
SPEAKER_00: Like you you you get to travel the world, you get to see the world, you get to meet so many different people, you get to experience so many different cultures, and then you get to come home and you get to brag about it.
1:19:04
SPEAKER_00: And it feels like it feels it feels really good to just be like, yeah, I'm I'm awesome.
1:19:09
SPEAKER_00: So go go work on a cruise ship and and be awesome.
1:19:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:19:12
SPEAKER_01: And then when it comes to auditioning, if you go to one audition and you don't make it through the first cut, go again.
1:19:18
SPEAKER_01: You just never know what they're looking for because like the vision still exists and they probably want people that are 5'1 and under.
1:19:25
SPEAKER_01: But you might go on.
1:19:26
SPEAKER_01: I teach a show called Showgirl and the Spectre from the Seas while I assist it, and they want showgirls that are like over six feet tall.
1:19:32
SPEAKER_01: Like they go to the Mulan Rouge and do auditions for these showgirls.
1:19:35
SPEAKER_01: So you just never know what they're looking for.
1:19:37
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they're looking for a blonde that's five six.
1:19:39
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they're looking for a redhead who's five eleven.
1:19:41
SPEAKER_01: Like you just never know.
1:19:42
SPEAKER_01: So if they turn you down one time, don't let it ruin your hopes and dreams.
1:19:46
SPEAKER_01: Go back again, re-audition, try a different city, apply online because they will see you.
1:19:52
SPEAKER_01: They will.
1:19:53
SPEAKER_01: And there will be a job for you.
1:19:54
SPEAKER_01: There's a little spot for everyone, more than you think, on these companies because it's just such a variety of shows.
1:19:59
SPEAKER_01: So just because they say no, don't take it for don't take any don't take no for an answer.
1:20:03
SPEAKER_01: Just keep going for it.
1:20:06
SPEAKER_05: We hope you enjoyed our latest episode all about a day in the life of a cruise dancer.
1:20:11
SPEAKER_05: Special shout out to our guests, Dean and Marina, for joining us on the chat.
1:20:15
SPEAKER_05: Don't forget to follow them on Instagram.
1:20:18
SPEAKER_05: You can find Dean at DDBisco and Marina at MCC56.
1:20:24
SPEAKER_05: Also, if you're interested in learning more about the two cruise line companies, RWS Global and Royal Caribbean Productions, follow them on social media.
1:20:32
SPEAKER_05: You can find Royal Caribbean's Instagram at RCCL Talent and RWS at RWS Global for upcoming auditions and looks inside what it takes to be a cruise ship dancer.
1:20:45
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1:21:06
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1:21:13
SPEAKER_05: Be sure to check out IBA affiliated competition, Axis Dance Competition, where Linda Diamond's years of experience brings you the vitality of a new beginning.
1:21:23
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1:21:28
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1:21:31
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1:21:37
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1:21:43
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1:21:50
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1:21:59
SPEAKER_06: Season six is on a roll with some more excellent episodes coming your way, including regional differences at competition, winning versus losing 2.0, and a genre spotlight on tap.
1:22:09
SPEAKER_05: Wishing all of the families around the world a very happy new year from Making the Impact Podcast.