Episode
37. early career moves, dance companies & being a part time New Yorker: how to make a dance career work without burning out with Erzsi Bernath
- Podcast
- Kicking It Real
- Published
- Jun 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4809
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
This episode felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. Two WMU alums who haven't had a real sit-down in way too long, finally doing it on mic. If you haven't met Erzsi yet, she's the kind of person who stayed at her studio alone through her entire junior and senior year of high school when everyone else quit, paid off her student loans in months by taking a second job on the cruise ship, and somehow still shows up with more self-awareness than most people twice her age. She's danced everywhere from Royal Caribbean to Odyssey Dance Theater to Bridgerton, and she currently splits her time between Chicago and New York while running 13 convention weekends a year with West Coast Dance Explosion. We get into what the cruise ship world actually looks like from the inside, and why she thinks it might be one of the smartest financial moves a dancer can make right out of college. We talk about what it means to build a career that doesn't look like everyone else's, and why she stopped being ashamed of that. We talk about the all-or-nothing mentality that dance trains into you and how hard it is to shake. And then we get into the heavier stuff. Health challenges that have put her plans on hold in ways she didn't see coming, watching the Tonies recaps from her couch, and grieving the career you thought you'd have while still showing up for the one you do. Her reframe on that is one I haven't stopped thinking about. If you're a dancer trying to figure out what it looks like to keep going when the timeline you planned stopped working, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 🤍 Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Erzsi here 🤍 Instagram: @erzsi_bernath