A New Chapter Begins!

On June 7th, 2011 around 4 pm, I had two missed calls on my phone from Jodie Steinbaugh, the casting director for Stiletto Entertainment. When I called her back, I GOT A JOB OFFER!! :-) Here's the details that I know so far:

• I will be dancing on the Noordam of the Holland America Cruise Lines (click the following link to see the ship: http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Noordam)
• I am one of 6 female dancers in a 14 member cast (in which some are singers)
• I am being flown to LA on July 15th for paid rehearsals
• There I will learn 3 production shows and a welcome aboard show
• In addition, I will have 3 days of training on the LYRA HOOP!
• After rehearsals are over, we are flown to our port... Civitavecchia ROME!
• This is going to be my first home port as we travel through the Mediterranean :-)
• After the Mediterranean, we travel transatlantic over to the Caribbean for a few months
• My contract dates are for August 16, 2011 - about May 2, 2012

I AM SO EXCITED!!! :-D Finally getting a job offer, especially one that I have wanted, is so fulfilling emotionally. I feel like my hard work has finally paid off... I can officially call myself a professional dancer, dancing out there in the industry. I always remembered hearing about alumni who had gotten jobs and I always wondered if I ever would. And now here I am preparing to go travel the world, at no cost, and getting to dance at the same time :-) I am SO excited to see what kind of adventures I'm going to experience and I can't wait to share them on this blog :-)

I know that I wouldn't be where I'm at today without the support of all my family and friends. I cannot thank you enough for being there for me along the way. The same goes for my academic mentors. I've been polished and prepared to face the enteratinment industry and I feel so ready. My heart goes out to everyone who's guided me along the way.

Mom & Dad, you are truly the best parents ever. You have molded me into the adult that I am and I cannot describe how lucky I feel to have you two as parents. Both have you have supported me through everything, even when things got tough. Dad, thanks for forking over the money for my education, and actually starting the dance monster in me when I was little haha. Mom, thanks for all of the fun bonding moments. I will forever cherish our shopping trips and Gilmore Girls days!! Seester, you are the best. I would not have survived a lot of things without you. I'm so glad we are super close, especially now that I'm big!! To all of my closest friends, thank you for your unconditional support and understanding, and all of the laughs. And even to my Starbucks regulars, I cherish our friendships and feel blessed to have met each of you! The support system that I have gained over the years is incredible, so thank you everyone and I love you dearly!! I am truly blessed!!

So in short, because I will be traveling and unable to communicate a lot, I have decided to create this blog in order to share my experiences as much as possible and of course, post as many photos as I can! Please comment and such so I can get feedback and feel connected to all of you :-) I've allowed annonymous comments, so you don't have to be a registered user to Blogger (Just leave your name in the comment so I know who you are!)