Meet Dani Sawchuck

We recently connected with Dani Sawchuck and have shared our conversation below.

Dani, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?

I grew up taking ballet from the age of 4. To be young a ballerina you learn quickly that if you aren’t disciplined then you won’t get better, Not to mention, it was unacceptable if you didn’t show up on time or if your hair wasn’t properly fastened.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’ve been a dancer my entire life and have had such an amazing career because of it. I started working in Vegas 13 years ago in a show called Jubilee, a showgirl production, which ran for 34 years. I went to an audition for it when I lived in LA and moved to Las Vegas a month later for the show. Ever since I have been working in shows including another long running show of 32 years, a cabaret style burlesque show called Crazy Girls. Crazy Girls gave me the opportunity to host as well as dance. This opened up a whole new world for me as a performer, not to mention longevity. I had to put together a 10-15 minute bit where I told jokes and interacted with the audience during the show. the producer, Norbert Aleman took a risk on me, believed in me, and gave me a chance. I have him to thank for giving me, “the dancer”, a chance to mold myself into this new direction.

Over the years performing as a dancer in Las Vegas, I decided to go back to school for massage therapy because a dancer must work to pay the bills and if you become injured then that becomes difficult to do. I saw too many of my friends end up in tough spots being out on injury and I wanted to be able to help get them back to work and on stage again. Almost a decade later and I still have my massage therapy business.

My husband, Murray SawChuck is a magician and I help him out from time to time with his shows in Las Vegas and on Tour which is always a blast because we get to work and perform together. As I write this, I’m currently in the green room in Richmond Hill, Canada before Murrays show which I’m assisting in a few tricks. Over the years he’s even taught me a few magic tricks of my own that I’ve performed in various shows, including ‘A Touch Of Burlesque’ in which I hosted, danced and did a couple magic tricks. During Covid, my husband and I started a landscaping business called Dirt 2 Dreams. We still have our company to date and its been an awesome side venture for us.

In my free time I love to keep active. I work on my comedy and hit up the standup scene in vegas. I also have been training a duo arial hoop act.

Ive worked with quite a few celebrities over the years but my favorite band to work with is ZZ Top. I choreograph and dance for them in their Vegas residency shows. Not only are they all amazing people, from the the band to their crew, but performing for 5000 people is always an exhilarating experience.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important qualities to have as a performer is resilience, positive attitude, and versatility. My advice for the young dancers coming to Las Vegas is to remember that…it is a small town! Also, you must have a positive outlook and be pleasant to work with, as these are the most important qualities you can have for longevity to get booked in show business. A dancers career is a short life span compared to most other careers, so my advice to the young dancers is to think about your future before your career is over. Its weird to think about your next move when you won’t need it for a long time but its smart to keep a back up plan in your back pocket.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Majority of my performer career has been dancing but the last few years I have got to be the host of a variety of shows, and I’m pushing forward in that direction. I have magic, hosting, comedy, choreographing and arial as additional skills. Now, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to put them all together, or at least some of them together depending on what the specific show needs, to make myself more versatile than just being a dancer.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Anna Vinterfall
Anneli Adolfsson
Trev

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