By Julia Nicholls
December 4, 2017
If you saw Jared Mifsud from the back you might not think of him as anyone special.You might glance over the long gray sweater he always has draped over his back. Or perhaps you might ignore his perfectly slicked back hair, with its perfected small puff of hair near his forehead. However if you saw him from the front, Jared Mifsud would not pass your eye. You would have to be deaf and blind to miss Jared’s most unique quality — his laugh. You can’t help but smile when you hear it echo and spread, as it releases bits of joy into the brisk New York City air that whisks it away.
The fact that Jared has chosen to partake in one of the most competitive industries only strengthens the impressiveness of his radiant personality. While his sweet demeanor might initially make you think otherwise, the passion and fervour that Jared possesses for dance is like no other. And finally, at twenty-six, Jared has made it to New York to pursue his Broadway dreams, after many years of work and commitment.
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Surprisingly, given how enthusiastic he is about dance now, Jared was not always so passionate about the sport. As a nine year old boy, Jared cried to his mom before the beginning of every dance class. But, after seeing a production of the musical Cats, something changed and by Christmas of fourth grade, dance was the only topic Jared could talk about. And by the time he turned fifteen, dance had transformed from a beloved activity to a professional aspiration. Jared credits Cats with shaping his dance dreams and still holds the show in high esteem. After I confess that I had never seen the show his eyebrows shot up as he quickly blurted, “Oh my god. You have to go.”
Australia, where Jared was born and raised, doesn’t have many universities where one can study dance. Instead, Jared went to The Davidia Lind Dance Center, the top school in Australia. “You dance Monday through Friday from nine till three. And then you get a diploma,” he says nonchalantly, although it is no easy feat. After his graduation in 2010, he began his next adventure not in New York, but on the ocean.
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Starting in 2011, Jared worked for Princess Cruises. “My first ship was a baby,” he says with an emphasis on the word baby, “It literally only had 545 passengers”. His second ship, The Emerald Ship, had 3,000 people and instead of only a mere six dancers, there were seventeen. But, the best was yet to come. The following year Jared got a contract to work on a brand new ship and create four new productions. “It was the best year of my life”, he tells me. Further adding to the best year of Jared’s life, Princess Kate christened their ship before they took off. In the language of Jared, “Like. What”. Jared’s final trip with Princess Cruises came in the next year as he took his final contract for The Regal Ship. Just like every other ship experience, it did not disappoint. However, he decided that he was ready to move onto new experiences as well as get back into singing. As Jared finished his time on the seas, a new chapter of his life began.
After his work with Princess Cruises, Jared took a contract with Universal Studios in Japan. Jared describes his time in Japan as “one of the fondest experiences” of his life as he made a close group of friends and learned accountability and patience. He starred in a show, where he played Dracula and sang “La Vida Loca” (which he now knows by heart), which was full of “monster” characters from the Universal world. The 2 ½ years Jared spent in Japan were as wonderful as the years he spent on sea, but eventually he decided that he wanted to be able to, “go into a restaurant, be able to read the menu and order exactly what I want to eat.” However, he learned more than he ever thought possible from his two careers. “If you can have fun, make money, and learn crucial human qualities, it seems to me that so far life has been a success.”
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“New York is everything and everything and more than what I thought it was going to be,” he tells me as we sit at a table of his favorite Midtown cafe. In September, Jared joined the Professional Semester at Broadway Dance Center based in Times Square. The application process was intense as as all the applicants come from a background of childhood dance training and are motivated by a burning desire to make it in the most competitive industry. The program consists of weekly master classes, daily classes, mock auditions, and other courses that will help them stand out in overcrowded dance auditions. Most dancers in the program range in age from 18-22 whereas Jared, the second oldest in the program, is 26. He admits that, “I’m like the dad of the program which is okay because I’m passionate about instilling confidence in young performers because this industry can be so cutthroat.” However, even Jared with his enthusiastic attitude couldn’t escape the nerves of starting this new journey, as he admits to having a nervous breakdown before starting the program. Just like so many performers and people around him, Jared confesses, “The hardest part has been figuring out where I fit in this city.”
I’m not sure you can truly understand someone’s life until you have seen his or her planner. Jared’s days are marked out with black ink as his handwriting covers each space in the box designated for each day. A normal day at dance for Jared typically begins at 8:30 AM, but only after you account for the time it takes him to get ready and his 30-40 minute subway ride. Some days he even has a day consisting of five classes. In addition to his class schedule, he has been filling out a student visa application in order to stay in the country, working as a babysitter for a family in Brooklyn, as well as doing a few auditions to work towards his goal of breaking into the industry.
“It can be a daunting experience,” Jared admits when I ask him about auditioning, “You just have to remind yourself that at the end of the day, you just don’t know what the panel is looking for.” Jared goes into every audition knowing that even if you don’t book the job, you grow from the process. When he fails to book a show he tells himself, “I’m giving myself a moment. I’m picking up my ice cream and my wine. A bottle of wine for me. Have a moment and wake up the next day and go at it again.” I take a mental note to remember this quote before Jared adds in one of his favorite quotes, “If the audition panel wants an apple and you’re an orange. And there’s nothing you can do to make yourself look like an apple. Why bother. Be the the orange and live it and own it.” My eyes must radiate shock as Jared’s laugh, now becoming its own large presence in our conversation, once again rings throughout the room. “I think you have the most genuinely positive outlook on the audition process that I have ever heard,” I explain to him as I hope to clear up my look. He simply nods his head and takes another bite of his muffin before pausing. He tells me a quote from his one of his teachers, “This industry is bullshit. Don’t be the shit, be the bull”.
* * *
Entering the professional dance industry is one of the most difficult and elusive career paths. The physical exertion is intense and the Broadway market is small. The window for dancers is even smaller. By 30, most dancers feel their bodies have worn down as well a new crop of younger dancers taking over. The grueling demands of the industry and overcrowded playing field prevent many from pursuing dance as a career. However, Jared’s attitude — his genuine mix of confidence, charisma, and fervour — give him the strength to fearlessly pursue this difficult dream.Whether he ends up performing in the revival of Cats, starring in the original Broadway Debut of Gossip Girl The Musical, or lighting up the stage in Hello Dolly, I am confident that Jared will stay the exuberant and euphoric person he is. Because that’s what he does: stay happy. Well, that and dance.