Abracadabra! Michael Dameski Is Dancing His Dream
Story By Kristyn Burtt
Abracadabra, it’s Michael Dameski!
If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve seen the 29-year-old dance star front and center dancing with Lady Gaga in her latest music video. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime that he’s not taking for granted and he has Emmy Award-winning choreographer Parris Goebel to thank.
It all started with an Instagram DM after Goebel, whom Dameski describes as “an inspiration” in the commercial dance space, posted the flyer with the lineup for Coachella. That’s when he decided to shoot his shot with the “iconic” choreographer, who he worked with during his competition days on So You Think You Can Dance Australia in 2014.
“Please, I need to dance for her. That is like my dream, please,” he recalls writing to Goebel. “I have this comfortable relationship with her. Obviously, I’m not saying it to expect anything from her, but she just was like, ‘Let’s do it, let’s make it happen,’ and that was her initial response.”
Dameski knew not to get his hopes up because projects often fall through, or he might not have been right casting-wise for what Gaga needed. But the call came sooner than he ever anticipated. It wasn’t for Coachella–it was for the “Abracadabra” music video.
Dameski says the rehearsal process with Lady Gaga was “amazing” because “she put a lot of work into it, and her kindness was also very evident throughout the whole process which made the whole environment incredible.” He was working alongside veterans and rising stars in the dance industry, including Brian Friedman, Tucker Barkley, and Jaxon Willard.
He was part of the skeleton crew, helping to set the piece ahead of Gaga coming in to rehearse with the full group of dancers. “Just being in that first rehearsal, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is my jam, this is my element, this is jazz, this is how I grew up training,'” Dameski says of Goebel’s choreography. “It’s a lot of power, a lot of strength, a lot of lines, and the type of job I want to be doing, where I’m showcasing what I’ve done as a kid, where my passion lies.”
The dance star praises Lady Gaga for sharing the behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage on her Instagram account and crediting the dancers by name. “Dancers don’t really get this type of opportunity. Yes, the dancers get to dance with an artist, but sometimes that recognition isn’t always there in a sense,” Dameski explains.
“Without the dancers, it wouldn’t be the show that they have. I do think it’s important for the artists to recognize the dancers who make their videos, and their music, come to life.”
So, let’s hear it for Lady Gaga for giving dancers the appreciation they deserve!
Dameski’s recognition for his artistry began long before he stepped on set with Gaga though. He started as a soccer player with his father’s encouragement, but it was his two older sisters’ dance classes that interested him more during his childhood in Australia. “I would come home to my sisters dancing, and I would join in with them,” he says. “And that’s where my passion kind of led. It was them instilling in me that this is what I was meant to do with my life.”
He reveals that he was the type of kid who loved what he learned in class and then would “go on my own and push myself even further.” Dameski is known for his unique sense of movement and technique, but he admits that it didn’t develop until he was cast in “Billy Elliot the musical as Billy.” He continues, “Being an Aussie kid, theater wasn’t necessarily something on my radar, but the role required you to be a tap dancer, a ballet dancer, and at first I didn’t get the role. I was actually very terrible at tap and ballet, but I knew that this was something I really wanted.”
Dameski was so determined to book the role that he trained in those styles to sharpen his skills and audition a second time. The additional classes were exactly what the producers of the show were looking for from him. “I still didn’t have the top-notch technique, but they saw the potential and the growth that I had made in that time,” he says proudly. “That’s when I really found my voice because I was put in this environment of being around professional adults who do theater, who know themselves.”
He joined the Sydney cast in October 2008 with a rotating cast of five Billys, which was just the beginning of his long journey with the show. He continued to the Melbourne company and eventually made his Broadway debut on Jan. 31, 2010, staying until September 2010 to join the Second North American Tour of the production. On Jan. 29, 2011, he made his final appearance as Billy after his voice began to change and it was time to focus on himself.
Dameski calls it a “pivoting point” in his career because after almost three years of tap and ballet, he had to shift back into his home studio which focused more on jazz, hip-hop and musical theater. “Those styles took a while for me to warm back into,” the dancer says frankly. “It was a very humbling experience because you imagine at such a young age being the star of a show and then you go back to school and you’re no longer that star.”
Little did Dameski know that this time back at his home dance studio was preparation for the return of So You Think You Can Dance in Australia. The TV comeback happened just as he was graduating from high school. Even though he was only 18 at the time, he knew that “the universe was aligning” with him yet again.
“I was so confident because this is in my wheelhouse,” Dameski continues. “Even though I wasn’t necessarily trained in ballroom specifically, I knew how to fake-it-to-make-it sort of thing. Whenever it was the ‘Dance for Your Life’ moment, [I thought], ‘I’ve got this in the bag’ because I was so used to being a soloist.”
His dazzling solo — filled with signature Dameksi turns — was so good that it went viral globally and, to no one’s surprise, he won the season. Paula Abdul, one of the show’s judges, made sure to bring him to the attention of Nigel Lythgoe, then a judge and executive producer of the U.S. version of So You Think You Can Dance. Dameski received a 10-month U.S. visa to perform on only one night in the eleventh season, but he stayed to enjoy the career growth that the U.S. offered.
“We don’t get these opportunities in Australia,” Dameski divulges. “So, being here and having that opportunity, we just are very hungry for it. And I still am hungry for it because… this is so far from reality from where I grew up.” It’s why he advises the next generation of dancers to “stay hungry” for a career in dance because too many people sit back and wait for the right moment to approach them. “Put yourself in uncomfortable environments,” he says.
“Put yourself in places where you know you’ll grow so that when you get right into an audition and you get right into a job, you’re prepared.” He believes that competing in Season 2 of World of Dance in 2018 did exactly that for him. It was hard to compete as a soloist on the former NBC show, but coming in as the runner-up brought him global attention for a second time. ”
It wasn’t just opening doors in the U.S. I got to travel all over the world, and I still get to,” Dameski explains. “I still get to ride that wave, which is incredible because it has been a few years now since the show.”
His desire to strive for more in his career includes a hope of returning to Broadway in “something like a Moulin Rouge” because it is a dance-heavy show. He also has his eye on choreography and possibly creating his own program to “train dancers” and get them on the same path where he’s found success.
Dameski wants to inspire young dancers with the advice he would give to himself if he was starting out all over again: “I would go back and tell him to work really hard and stay focused. If you have a plan, stick to that plan. I think I always advocate that for myself, I never really wanted to have a plan B.”
Ultimately, that DM to Goebel was his way of taking a chance on himself and making his dream come true. Abracadabra, Dameski will be dancing alongside Lady Gaga again.
