Indy!!!!

Hello family and friends!!! I can’t believe it’s already October, and my second week aboard the Independence of the Seas! It feels like just yesterday when I was auditioning in New York and now here I am, flying in aerial shows with Royal Caribbean Productions!! 

I started rehearsals July 28th in the RCCL studios in Hollywood, Florida. We learned four shows before I was flown to Barcelona, Spain on September 24th. I had an overnight before I was to join the ship so I was able to spend the day exploring the beautiful city! It was a gorgeous day; the streets were packed with people celebrating a holiday in honor of their town. I watched the parade of elaborate costumes and enjoyed the festive marching band music. Then I toured around, admiring the brilliant designs on the houses and businesses, stopping at a few street vendors to gaze at the various craftwork. 

I indulged in delicious tapas and white sangria for lunch in the town square. I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I am to eat, shop, and explore various parts of the world. Sometimes it feels like it’s a movie and I’m trying to soak everything in!!!  

The next day, the six other flyers and I joined the ship. The Independence is MASSIVE!!! It’s the biggest ship I’ve ever been on, and it’s stunning! Over the next week we learned the aerial apparatuses that are used in our shows: velocity stilts, two point harness, trapeze, bungee, hand loop, silk loop, ladders, and Spanish web. I’m so excited that I can now add some of these to my resume for New York auditions!!!! :D That was my goal at the beginning of the year and now I can focus on my singing as well as continuing my aerial and dance training!

The rest of my cast joined us on the 2nd of October in Southampton. I was able to run off the ship for some quick internet and lunch with Joce and Lucky before we started rehearsals. My cast is a lot bigger than I’ve ever had, there’s twenty of us!!! We have six singers-Shawn and Stephanie, Randy and Danielle, and Nick and Michelle. I did my second contract on the Vision with Michelle so I’m really happy I have the chance to work with her again. Allie and Dima are our featured ballroom couple in two of our shows. They are married and from the Ukraine. We have the seven flyers- LeConte, Michael, Luke, Lucky, Melissa, Joce, and me. And the dancers-Elliot, Jacob, Sarah, Chloe, and Meghan. 

We had four days to open Invitation to Dance, our ballroom show. It went pretty smoothly as there’s not a lot of technical elements to deal with. I love the costumes!!! There’s a lot of fun skirts that really help me to feel like a ballroom dancer. I can now add all of the ballroom styles I’ve learned to my resume as well-quick step, cha cha, tango, and jive. Allie and Dima will continue to teach us the technique and give us notes so hopefully by the end of the contract, I will have mastered it all!!! 

Once Upon A Time will open in two days!!!! This is our fairytale show and the first show to incorporate some flying and there’s a lot of scene changes so the process has been slower. Because I have the duet as Sleeping Beauty, my part is pretty simple, just dancing :D Next cruise we will open Center Stage, which is more of a singer show with not a lot of dancing, then we will start working on Under The Big Top. UTBT is our circus show and it’s a beast. Lots of flying, lots of technical elements, LOTS OF FUN!!! I can’t wait to get the costumes on and open that show!!! 

Well folks, I will leave my update here, but keep checking back for more! Pictures will come soon! :D I’m looking forward to when people can come cruise!!!! Miss and love you all!!!