Do you think you could live without your phone?

No, but not because I’m addicted to Instagram or Facebook. Actually, I’m getting a little bit allergic to these methods, but I have a family abroad, and this is my communication method with them, also because I love to take photos, and without my phone, that would be impossible.

What would you do if money wasn’t a problem?

Easy, travel around the world.

Which dance routine gave you the most significant impression?

 I think it was Ohad Naharin. If I’m not wrong, I saw this piece the first time I came to Europe in the Geneve theater. So already, the situation was, for me, a big deal. To be in this European theater and this space is so visceral powerful this is has a beautifully dynamic. It had a super impact on me. Still, today if I watch it, I’m like, Yes.

Who were the three most influential persons in your life?

Did you do performances every day while touring?

Well, not every day, but we were touring a lot and constantly working on new pieces, one day, you were working with a super classical choreographer the next day with a contemporary and crazy one.

So it was a very rich experience.

Which five words would describe you as a choreographer?

I’m very humble, so I cannot describe myself as a choreographer, but I would like to point out the important aspects of being a choreographer. First of all, the structure is essential, the organization especially because I have to choreograph quickly, and I don’t have time to experiment with things when I go to the ballet room with the dancers.

So, I have to be well prepared. I like to be musical, and I always pay attention to the aesthetic and use different dynamics in the choreography.

I like to do meaningful choreographies, and even if you say to me Fernanda, I need a totally abstract choreography, you can be sure that all the movements I would do in my head they’re going to have a story or a meaning.

And I like to work either with sensuality or with humor.

Describe your workday as a head choregrapher.

It’s not boring. It can be different every day. I have days where I am the whole day in the office attending meetings, reading emails, and making a thousand plans. But I have to say; I love it.

Or, I can have a whole day in the studio with my dancers, choreographing and creating.

But, the best day for me is when I’m on the ship, in the theater. The theater, for me, is like a playground. You give me a microphone, and I say, you go here, you go there, come from there on the five to this position,  more power. And that’s when you start to see the hard work you did for months before. Then it’s coming to reality, and for me, this is the best thing.

You’re pulling all the strings together.

Yes, and I love it.

Well, in terms of learning. What was the most mind-opening thing you have learned? What gave you the most significant aha moment?

Yeah, I had many of them. Sometimes I can associate my career a little bit with a phoenix because of constantly restarting and restarting. Still, I had a project to choreograph Carmina Burana for 75 kids who had never danced in their life. It was a community project in Fuerth, and this was, of course, totally new for me because I had to develop a new method to make these kids learn how to dance, how to count music, how to be barefoot, they even didn’t want to take off their socks. It was very challenging because it was not just about the dance and the social skills but the relationship building with these children.

There were children with their parents who had never been to the theater. They had no idea what was Carmina Burana. Classical music was a completely new world for them. I worked with a very talented school teacher together, and it was so powerful. The project was seven months, and I felt that I could change their life in the end.

My life changed as well because it was a beautiful experience. You see them growing and developing, and it was a unique experience. In the end, I got these kids to listen to classical music at home, and they loved it.

How is it then to work with 75 kids? Do you break them up into groups, and then, later on, you bring them back together?

Yes, you need lots of energy. During that time, I lived in Berlin, so I was traveling every Wednesday to Fuerth.

 It’s like five hours by train, and I had four different groups of kids.

I developed classes with them and then went to the choreography during the seven months. And I built a performance where they were connected.

In some numbers, they were even dancing together.

But different patterns, and it was in the last phase that we put everything together, and I have to say, it worked. It was also amazing to see how important feedback for these kids is.

 How old were they?

They were between 9 and 17 years old. So I got the most challenging phase where it’s tough for them to work with their bodies, touch the other, and deal with different things. Because Camina Burana has different aspects, and I had three professional dancers, they were guiding, and they could see how they could get into.

It’s also about getting away from the shame of presenting themselves.

Maybe just a few of them might work in entertainment or dance, but it was a change in their life, for their self-confidence.

I was also building their self-confidence, and they got an incredible feeling of the power of, Yes, I can be someone, I can achieve difficult things in my life.

Talking about your choreographies, what is inspiring you in general? I also mean, how did it start?

It can be anything; important is that you open your antenna and get impulses and inspiration. Because inspiration can be a piece of art, a part of clothes, someone walking in the street, someone fighting, a glass of water, you have to be prepared.

I always say that inspiration is hard work.

Actually, it was not me; it was Ford who said that.

I often have to make choreographies where I have to follow some guidelines that fit into a show. I have to follow what the director is saying, and in this case, the music is essential for me. It’s the main structure for me to get the feeling of how I’m going to move, what I want to say, how the dynamic would be. So the music is essential.

Staying on the subject of transforming an idea or something that inspired you into a movement of someone else’s body, what is that for a process? What is happening there?

I have to make choreographies that will be adaptable for different persons and roles, so independently if I have to follow a director’s instructions or be directing and choreographing myself.

There is a lot of preparation happening before. First, I will tell you when the script is ready.

When we define the music, we know which costumes, we’re going to all these elements which are very important for me.

I do lots of research because I often have to choreograph things with which I’m not confident or styles that I don’t know exactly how to do.

I watch many videos, listen, and research that I don’t do something completely wrong or that doesn’t fit. But this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to be innovative, and I cannot put my mark on that. My style, and for me, as I said before, I need to have a structure.

So first, I listen to the music. I make a structure within the music, so I know exactly how I want to develop the highlight, and I know precisely. Then I do something that’s really like is childish. Still, I need to know which are the people I have, and I have little cut-out papers for the people.

Hence, I started to play with the formations, and also, if I have more levels to choreograph, like dancers and acrobats and singers, you have to create different things for the levels that they can achieve. I have to pay attention to how the scenography is if there are some stage movements, all these things.

I had to be super well prepared, and then after I did the whole traffic, and I knew exactly how the structure of everything is, I start to do the movements. Then when I come to the studio and teach the choreography, I have to see if my ideas are working. Sometimes you think about something that they don’t achieve so quickly, or they were too quick with the traffic, so I can put more movement.

When you see a performer struggling with the routine, how do you handle a situation like that?

I love this question because I have a not conventional method.

I’m a little bit known for this method. Most of the time, the dancers I’m working with are dealing with memorizing the choreography.

Not because they are not quick, it’s because we put a lot of material in a concise period of time to them.

I use metaphors; I give them some picture or some idea that they can put right away towards the movement and the intention. Because there’s no time for them to assimilate the movement, but sometimes with a dirty joke, it works perfectly. Because when I’m shocking them, they never forget that step anymore.

It works really, really well, especially with actors who don’t have so much body consciousness, so you have to give them a picture or an intention or a little story. I had to do a choreography where they were dancing on the turning stage but just in the ring. Hence, most of the choreographies were just torso and arm movements, which is very difficult to memorize because they were different. Still, a little bit similar, and I built a whole dirty story about that, and it worked.

If they are dealing with something technical, I give them a second option. Sometimes, I try to insist because they can improve. I think it’s very important that the artists feel comfortable and the choreography looks good on them. Sometimes it looks good on me but doesn’t look good on them, and they have to feel good.

I think, what we can mention at this point is also to make the conversation a little bit clearer. 

What you’re doing right now is you’re not only working with dancers. There’s an entire ensemble, and you are the one in charge of putting all of this together. So there are actors, acrobats, and singers? How many are on stage?

Before the pandemic, there were like 22 people on stage, and now it’s a different situation. But in general, it’s like around 20, and eight of them are dancers. So, only eight people know or have studied how to move all the rest …

I find it more difficult to choreograph for those who are not just movers and not professional dancers because you have the freedom with the dancers. You can instruct whatever, and they just do. With singers, for example, it’s not everything that looks good on them. So, you have to be really intelligent and build something that has lots of effects that they still can cope with singing. You have to pay attention to lots of aspects, so I find it quite challenging to choreograph for them.

I think actors may have a different way to count?

Yes, when I was a dancer, I hated to count because I’m very musical and I like to listen to the music, and I didn’t want to do everything like this square. I want to pay attention to the nuance that the music gives you.

But when you work very quickly, if you don’t count the music, it’s impossible to get everybody together and to get a harmonious group.

You need lots of time.

It’s possible but not in the time that we have. A singer cannot count; it has to sing. So, you have to put the movements and the accents on the song.

The actors have to speak, you have to put it in words, but for them, it’s also tricky.

Especially for acrobats, it’s tough for them to count. So they are either really musical, or I give little elements that they know how to pick up in the music.

Yeah, it’s challenging.

How does the evolution of technology change the way we work today?

It has two sides. It’s fast because what you did last year was super innovative; this year, everybody did it already. I’m very positive about working with new techniques, I’m very curious, and I love it, but the danger is that you get too technical and you forget the art.

And when you have techniques that are solving all your problems, you’re not creative anymore. If I have to do a choreography playing in the forest, I just put the content with the forest and birds, and the birds are singing, you lose a little bit of poetry, or something very creative that could give a special touch to the piece.

Because at the end there’s the tendency that everything looks the same because they are using the same techniques, so I think it’s essential to use new techniques but to go the extra mile so that you try to use it in another way that nobody else is doing.

Do you think, in general, that we are dependent on technology? Because the art of movement is quite old, you know.

When we think about a classical ballet now, how often do we have to watch swan lake? You know, there needs to be innovation or not?

Also, for the art and for the dance industry itself, to survive longer. I mean, how long can you keep playing one piece?

You can play innovative versions of an old piece. You cannot deny the technology. It’s our world now, and you have to go with that.

I think this is not bad. We have to embrace everything that’s around us. You can do new lectures on that. It can give you new possibilities you don’t have. I like tradition, but you don’t have to stick to the tradition, you have to stick to the good things that the tradition can give you.

One major problem we are facing right now is that we need to get the next generation in the theaters. I still have the feeling when we go to performances, and there are still middle-aged to older people in the audience. So …. 

What are we doing when people are not going to the theater anymore?

It’s an excellent point, and not just for the arts, but today, you see so many kids who cannot even sit at the table and eat their meal without watching cartoons. I think it’s a big problem for the parents to find this balance.

I think you also cannot forbid technology from the kids. We have to find a way to stimulate them and involve them more in the arts. Like the project, I did and let them sit there and watch a piece without their phones.

 It might not be interesting, but at the same time, if the parents would have the habit of just reading with their kids where they can learn to concentrate and have pleasure doing it would already be another world.

When the technology within the piece is evolving, it is also interesting for the kid again. I think it would be completely different when you bring your little kid to see swan lake, and it needs to look at the classical version or when there’s something with 3d effects and pyro and special FX. I think at that moment the kid doesn’t need a phone.

How important is the perception of the audience when you create a piece? I mean, where is the focus? Do you create a show for them, or is it more for the artist that they can express themselves, or is the main focus the audience?

No, it’s the audience, especially in entertainment. Of course, there are many artists who are polemic, and they want to raise questions, and I think this kind of expression is essential. It’s very important that we question things, also through the art, but that’s not my style. I’m not a polemic person, and I think entertainment doesn’t mean that you cannot surprise them. You can surprise them, but I think bringing polemic into entertainment could be very risky.

Especially on the ship, we know the guests are coming to the theater without paying.

So for them, it’s easy to leave the theater if it’s not entertaining enough.

The people are spending their holidays, and you have to really think well what you are doing, also the themes. The people leave the theater if you don’t do the right thing. Also, the attention span is way shorter. You need to grab them immediately, and there are other elements involved. You have to coordinate with the dinner times, with the time that they’re going to spend after the show in the bars, that’s also very important.

So, when we think about producing shows, we don’t think just about the time in the theater, but also about the whole dynamic on the ship. It’s way more complex.

Let’s talk about the economic structure of a show. I mean, how’s the balance? When you start from scratch, for example, where does the money goes first?
When you have a budget and a show, what’s happening?

First, I think it depends on the goal that you want to reach with the show.

But that’s a difficult question for me because I don’t deal with budgets.

Okay, then let’s say maybe for your position because you have to call for a budget that only belongs to you. Where does the money go first?

Yeah, comfortable shoes.

Costumes that are comfortable to dance in, with good material. But it really depends on the idea because sometimes you have a show where the focus is the scenography and the technology, so the whole budget goes there. Sometimes you have shows where the music is super important, so you have to invest in a composer or a nice cut version of the music. So, I think it depends on each show and the idea that they have behind it.

Okay, now we already have some information about working on the ship. Where is the difference between a land-based theater compared to the one on cruise ships?

I’m going to take two aspects. First of all, the speed. In a regular theater, you have for a production about six weeks to do the rehearsals, and you plan that piece with more than one year in advance. Everything is much more structured, and you work with an ensemble that’s used to work together. So, they already have their harmony and their dynamics.

When you work for the ship, you have for one show five days to learn it, to teach it, and it has to look already good. So it’s very challenging to take a group that just started working together. They don’t know each other and have to be immediately harmonic most of the time. They have to express themselves, and they have to get confident with stage movements. How many costume changes can they bear.

They have five days, and I’m talking about a complex show. Sometimes we have shows where they have just two and a half days to learn the whole thing. And then they have to deal with all these different shows. You cannot get confused that on the count of five, the arm is up, but, oh no, that was in the other on the show. So that’s lots of pieces of information, so this is the first aspect that on the ship you work a lot, and still have to achieve good quality, because this is very important for me.

The other aspect is the social aspect. Because when you work on land, of course, there are conflicts as well, but you go home, you go to a restaurant and say ciao. On the ship, you see the same people all the time.

So it’s challenging to turn off or to avoid someone. So you have to work on the personal issues and the social skills.

And, of course, the ship is moving, so you have the safety issue that you have to adapt choreographies because it’s too dangerous with rough sea.

Would you say a dancer working for cruise ships has to undergo more stress than a land-based dancer?

I would say yes also because you have more time on land. Sometimes you have to go through a more profound development of some pieces. So it can also be quite stressful. If you get injured, for example, you probably have someone that will substitute you, or if a costume got broken and you are in the middle of the sea, how do you deal with that? So, on the ship, you have to be much more adaptable and flexible and think quicker.

There’s this word outside within the dance industry that when you apply in a land-based theater, and you have the cruise ship on your CV, some theaters or some directors don’t like to see that. What do we think about that?

Yeah, it can happen, and I think this director is not aware of how the cruise ships industry developed. To work on a cruise ship is much more demanding than before. After working for a cruise ship, I always say to my dancers that you are not afraid of doing anything in your life because you deal with so many different situations that you have to overcome. You have to dance so many styles, and you are on stage every day. So you cannot deny that you get lots of experience and I think this preconception is not a nice thing.

But I can say I have lots of dancers who got jobs in theaters, so I’m not so sure if that’s a big problem. I don’t know how they apply, but I think when they go to do an audition, and they are good enough, maybe not all the directors look what’s in the curriculum, or maybe they say, wow, working in the ship did well for this person.

Or, maybe it’s the wrong place.

I think it is quite fascinating that you must be a versatile dancer, you can study ballet for your entire life but when you apply for the cruise ship…

I mean, how many different shows are there? How versatile does the dancer need to be?

Very versatile, very, very, very much. You don’t have to be strong in every technique, but you have to be able to dance. We have developed a method where we classify our dance, I wouldn’t say I like to classify, but that’s the way we organize ourselves.

We always take one that’s stronger in ballet technique, the other stronger in Latin or hip-hop, the other one is very strong in contemporary, and then you have one that’s super versatile that can do everything. So, we try to combine these people and sometimes you can get very surprised because you have a contemporary dancer that developed and became a super entertainer.

I’m very proud because as I come from the theater, I try to work as much as I can like in the theaters. One thing that we implemented and that I think that no cruise ship implemented before, is to give the dancers daily training as you have in the companies. We always start our days with ballet training. Now we develop, and we do other kinds of workshops depending on the choreography. Sometimes they have choreography that’s more based on hip-hop, so you have a hip-hop workshop before, but we try really to keep on developing them. And they must keep on doing a training on board so that their technique doesn’t go down.

You’re holding worldwide auditions for that cruise company—seven ships and therefore seven theaters and therefore seven times a cast.

The logistical process behind running these auditions that must be massive. How’s the process?

It’s a very complex process. I don’t do that alone, I have people taking care of the whole casting process, but I have my methods, and I have to say, with home office and everybody doing auditions through videos, I’m a little bit afraid of it. Because when I do auditions, I don’t just check if the dancer is a good dancer. There is much more behind that. I have to check that this person can assimilate corrections very quickly, that this person can be versatile, that this person is resistant.

You have wonderful people at the beginning of the audition, and then during the hours, they start to go down, and you have people where you are like, okay, let’s give one more chance, and then you see that they are fighters.

For me, it’s very important to check the social skills. I see, and I can read in between the lines because I know that this will be a problem if you don’t have social skills. You cannot go on the ship. I like to feel the dancers’ energy. That’s why I don’t like online auditions.

We had a lot of Italian dancers because that was the best market. We got good dancers who were telling their friends to come to this company. So the people knew already in advance how we were working and the auditions there they were getting more on the point. But we are auditioning everywhere, like New York, South Africa, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, everywhere.

Can you see a difference there already? How do the dancers differ?

I can tell you about the first audition we did in London. There were so many people, but so many people wrong for this job, they were totally out of place. You had people coming with the eyelashes on a Sunday morning.

And you have places where you see the people are much more relaxed.

If you go to the united states, it’s better to work with agencies because the dancers are used to working with agencies. So each country has its own dynamic and this we have to pay attention of course.

How many people are in an audition in general?

We had auditions with 130 people. We had auditions with three people.

So, yea, it’s really different.

You need about 120 dancers every year.

Basically, Yes, let’s see this year how things will develop in the next year, but that was until the pandemic came. We have lots of repeaters,  dancers who come for more contracts because they feel good with us.

They feel that they can develop and they like to travel because you have to see also just not being every day on stage, but seeing every day a different piece of the world is also a very enriching experience.

I have to say; I feel a little bit like god when I’m putting the people together because it’s also a challenge you have to have a good feeling when you’re putting a cast together. You balance the skills, the prototype of the people. I sometimes have casts that are taller; some casts are smaller, but they have to look good together. And I know that when I bring people six months onboard, their private life is also changing. We have lots of marriages and kids that came from relationships that appeared on the ship during contracts.

So it’s very lovely.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you see these young dancers make?

Many.

I would try to reduce that. I think you have to be very sincere to yourself as a dancer so that you know how you’re going to develop, you have to understand how are you,  dancers they have prototypes this doesn’t mean that you cannot develop or that you cannot open a door, but you have to

know how your chances are.

To be a dancer means that you will hear more NO than YES, so if you are not focused, and I mean it’s useless if you’re a contemporary dancer that wants to go into a classical company, this is really banal what I’m saying, but, I keep on seeing these mistakes.

People are auditioning for the cruise ship just because they need money. Now that’s not going to work, not for them, not for me.

Is that something that you can read at an audition?

Yes, I see things and read between the lines. With the questions, they are asking me. You have to be sincere to yourself, also that you know what you can improve and where are the points that you cannot go forward.

You know you’re lying to yourself if you’re pushing to turn four pirouettes, but these four periods are crap. No, you have to improve this technique.

So I think this is very important you cannot lie to yourself. I believe a dancer has to be also very open-minded because sometimes you say no, I don’t do that, or maybe I won’t go to cruise ship but look what’s around.

Is there’s a new style that you’re not used to? Open your mind, do a workshop. The dance world can also be very superficial.

Don’t be like dance dance dance.

Go study, read, watch films or try to go to other art manifestations because things are changing very quickly and step backward if you are not open-minded.

And another thing that young dancers forget is that we people with experience, we old people….  they forget that we were young and we know all the tricks.

I know when you’re lying. I know when you’re trying to do things. We know we did the same tricks, so don’t underestimate the older people.

Tell us about your biggest mistake?

I don’t tell you about the big mistakes because mistakes bring new patterns.

But I can tell you about a difficult phase and how I overcame this phase. I was in Germany for three years maybe, and I got a knee injury and a knee operation. It was not an easy injury because I needed lots of time to recover, but of course, my contract was not renewed, and suddenly I didn’t have a job, and with that, I wouldn’t get a visa, and I had to go back to Brazil.

I was focused on physiotherapy, and I was just in time to do auditions at the end of the season. So, it was already like I didn’t have much time, but I was still not 100 fit. And my doctor said to me, maybe I won’t be able to dance again. What saved me was my open mind, and even if I loved to dance, I knew I could be happy doing something else, so dance was not everything for me. It was a lot, but I knew I could be happy doing something else. That gave me freedom because I didn’t have to lose everything.

In the end, I managed to get a new job, but I have to say I was happy when I noticed that I could dance again.

I had one situation where I went to the audition and called the director. I said, look, I just had a knee operation, don’t come for the big jumps in the class because I cannot do them. And that’s exactly when this director came. He said thank you very much, come back when you are healthy again. So this bad experience gave me also how to be respectful with these people. My advice for the young dancers is to have a plan B and C that you are happy about.

What would you like to work on in the future?

With my different experiences in life, I would love to give workshops and lectures to young people, students, and people who are just starting a company because I have the expertise and different experiences with dance companies and the cruise industry, so there are so many subjects that  I can talk about and share my experience.

That sounds very promising. 

What do you think is the most underrated job in the entire entertainment industry?

I don’t know if I will be fair, but I will say the dancers because that’s what I know. Dancers are young, and they have a passion. If they are dancing, it’s not because of the money. They are dancing because they love to be on stage and many people just take advantage of that.

They have to go through so many bad situations to make their dream possible, and I think this is not fair.

In the theater, you have musicians, and they have a powerful union. You know they have the support. It’s six o’clock… ciao they leave.

And a dancer stays till seven in the evening, working, working, working.

I find it a pity when the dancers are following their dreams at that young age and when this is not respected….

True, fair point.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

I would say something from the beginning of my career when I entered this contemporary company in Brazil, I was coming from classical ballet, and I was very much inside of my comfort zone, and I felt good the way it was. Then the director came to me and said Fernanda because she knew I had potential, you have to give more, and she was really angry with me. You have to give more, You have to give more, and this was like,  oh maybe I’m not good enough, and I got a little bit angry because of that. But then I threw myself in everything and discovered a new world. I think that was a push that was necessary for me.

Today I can give a good piece of advice again, and it’s to get out of your comfort zone.

You were being a dancer and stepping into this choreographing and managing world. Tell us about your transition.

When I was dancing in Brazil, I experimented a little bit with choreographies just because I was curious. But then, there was a moment when I was dancing in Cobourg and also doing a young choreographer evening. So, I was motivated to choreograph, but I had a back injury, and I felt, okay, maybe it’s time to change.

I also did musicals at that time, and I was very excited about doing that. So I didn’t know if I should study and be a musical actress or if I should go and be a ballet assistant or whatever. It happened that a colleague with whom I worked that he got the direction of a company and called me to be the assistant. So and there, I had the opportunity to keep on choreographing more seriously and bigger productions, and when I became ballet director, I was dealing with really big productions.

So it was quite smooth, even when there was this moment when I didn’t know shall I go here or there, somehow life brought me to the right places.

I’m the queen of plan B. When we have some emergencies, I’m used to thinking outside of the box.

I analyze the situation and apply accordingly. Not every plan B and C are perfect, but also plans B and C can be much nicer than plan A.

It is always better to be prepared and organized then you’re not afraid of anything.

Do you have a ritual or like like a working process? How are you getting prepared? Or what is the advice?

Write down everything, to-do lists. It’s so satisfying when you can check off tasks from your list.

To-do lists are a good thing nowadays. You have so many programs, and there are also many new methods. I have to say, I like to work in a team, and it’s terrific to exchange ideas and to create task forces.

So, I think it’s always more fun to work with other people.

I know this from my old job when I used to be a stage technician. I always think when it comes to stage managers and technicians, what makes them good is when they can paint a worst-case scenario. It’s not a good thing to do because you are always putting a negative mindset on everything, but back in the days, I used to come to a stage, and it was always like, okay when it burns, now where do the people escape, or when you hang something in the rig you think like, let’s say this will fall down in the middle of the show what would you do?

Yes, exercise your mind. I also like to play games with my own mind, even if you picture the worst scenario; yeah, it’s fun to see how I would react if this happened.

What are you currently working on?

Since the pandemic, very sadly, we stopped working with our casts, and we were working during the whole year with guest artists who were coming on board with their own shows.

But no dancers, or very seldom. Now we are working on implementing a cast again, but it will be different than before. I think the world changed the mentality of the people. Also, the budgets have changed. But I don’t see that as a negative point because every new beginning is a new opportunity, and it’s an opportunity to make things better or differently more creative.

For me, it was very important to go through this time using creativity when we were in lockdown. We were not working, but we are lucky that in Germany, the state was paying you to stay home.

But I used the time to learn new things and to rethink everything. I was with my team, and we were doing lots of brainstorming, and it didn’t matter if these ideas would be used or not, but we are exercising our minds, and the result was amazing how creative and how many different things you can do.

I think that everything in life has two sides, a negative and a positive, and you have to stick to the positive side, even if it’s something very bad like this pandemic. So, yeah, we are working on bringing our dancers again to the ships.

 Are there any upcoming shows that we can talk about?

At the moment, we managed to install all four acrobats on every ship, and we developed a show with them. It was a funny situation. We say in brazil, you do the lemonade with the lemon. I think everybody knows that. We ended up with four acrobats on board, everyone else was sent home, but these four acrobats couldn’t go home. One was from South Africa, two from Brazil, and one from Costa Rica. So they were stranded on the ship, and we did a show with them, and it was an amazing show. Because it was very authentic, it was a show talking about dreams and exactly the thing that everybody needed during this pandemic. It was the right theme and the right moment.

We installed the show with all the four acrobats, and we are working in other formats that they can do in synergy with the guest artist that we still have on board. It’s a new dynamic.

If you had the chance to put anything you want on a giant billboard, what would that be?

Don’t underestimate the next!

That’s a statement people can always surprise in a good and in a bad way.

That’s an amazing answer for this show. Thank you very much for coming in, Fernanda Guimaraes.

My pleasure