Slaying! This Maltese dancer just landed a gig to dance on MTV’s EMAs stage this weekend!
This girl has been slaying for a while now, being offered a scholarship to study dance in the UK a few years ago, signing a six-month contract to dance for Global Village in Dubai, and a whole slew of other amazing things, but this possibly takes the cake. Meet Michaela Debono, the Maltese dancer who will be dancing on MTV’s EMAs stage this weekend!
We spoke to Michaela about this gig, how she feels and her journey so far. “I feel LIT,” she begins, totally excited about this. Who wouldn’t be? “I feel so grateful and blessed that my talent, dedication and hard work have been recognised and appreciated. I also feel very overwhelmed as I knew this was going to happen eventually, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” she admits. “I am literally living my dream!”
So, what was it like getting to this stage? “The process was like a crazy rollercoaster with unexpected turns and unpredictable situations,” she reveals. Juggling three jobs, chasing people, paying high rent, long hours of training, sacrificing the weekly social events, sacrificing relationships, a lot of alone time, constantly convincing myself out of the dark stages, reminding myself of my vision and sticking strong to it even if I got a million ‘no’s.” What helped Michaela the most was loving herself, staying positive, being grateful for everything and trusting that everything happens for a reason. “You have to see it when nobody else does, basically.”
We tried to get juicy deets of who she’s performing with, but she’s bound to secrecy, only revealing that she’ll be performing for two artists on the night, so we’ll just have to watch the show to find out. “We are now ready from choreography, but we haven’t seen the stage yet. Today is the first day we’ll see it and rehearse on it. It’s very long and intense but so exciting. As dancers we are expected to be super adaptable and quick, so things change last minute and you just have to do it.”
It was quite the intense few days, having landed in Seville, Spain just two nights ago. “We learnt all the choreography in one day, then we had another day for formations and spacing, and now it’s finally time to put the vision on stage, involving tech, lighting, spacing, props, the artists, etc.”
When asked what advice she’d give to artists like her, she gushed. “Just got for it with all you’ve got and like that, you’ll never regret that you could have given more,” Michaela says. “If you want change prepare for challenges - anything is possible. If you believe in it, it will happen eventually.”
“If your mindset is not strong, make sure you fix that ASAP as your mind is the main thing that’s going to determine your outcome of any situation. Also be the best version of yourself ever, eat right, educate yourself about the body and what you need to do to take care of it and be the strongest ever. Surround yourself with the best energy and supportive people and be thankful that you are trying to live your best life as you envisioned it. GO GET IT!”
The MTV EMAs are happening this Sunday. If you’re lucky enough to connect to the show, cheer on our Michaela!