Mackay born professional dancer steering her own ship
An adventurous upbringing living on an island off the coast of Mackay has given dancer Hayley Berck the courage to steer her own ship. Read her incredible story.
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A girl who grew up on a secluded island is embarking on a career navigating cargo ships after discovering her love for the high seas working as a dancer on luxury cruises.
At just 21, Hayley Berck has her eyes firmly fixed on the horizon.
Born and raised on St Bees Island which is now a National Park north east of Mackay, Ms Berck said she spent her childhood exploring the 1100ha island with her siblings and meandering in and out of the three homes there, which were shared with extended family.
Dancing from the age of 4, Ms Berck said she “always had a lot of energy”.
“I just loved it,” she said.
“I just did jazz for about 10 years and started training some more when I was about 15 and started doing competitions.
“I graduated from North Mackay High four years ago and as soon as I graduated I moved to the Gold Coast and started a Diploma of Dance at Dynamite Studios dance academy.”
Mid way through the diploma, Ms Berck suffered a mystery illness “from overwork” and was forced into recovery mode for more than six months.
“My body started shutting down and I got a type of fatigue and my legs would give out,” she said.
“The doctors were unsure about what was happening, but I reckon it was stress and my body telling me to have a break.
“At one point I was on 12 different tablets a day and I didn’t want that.”
In physical pain and unable to function, Ms Berck said the experience taught her to look at life differently.
“I let myself recover completely and I started fuelling my body properly and listening to it and I stopped stressing about the little things,” she said.
“It changed my mindset completely, and taught me to always be nice to people because you don’t know what they’re going through and to also be nice to yourself.”
When her health resumed by mid 2021 she was back at the dance academy, completing her second year of the diploma.
“I realised then I wanted to dance on cruise ships and I sent a video off and was accepted onto Celebrity Cruises,” Ms Berck said.
“I was given a contract in September of 2021, but the crazy thing was all the borders were shut because of Covid and I had to get a visa, so I literally packed up my house in 24 hours.
“But I was going to do it.”
Joining the ship “Celebrity Constellation” in Miami the same month, Ms Berck was one of seven dancers performing in three different shows on board during her eight month contract.
“There was a rock music show, a soundtrack show and an 18+ show, and we also did theme nights,” she said.
“It was my dream job.”
But it was the Greek ship captain who recognised Ms Berck was destined for something other than dancing.
“He showed me the bridge one day which was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I asked all these questions.
“He could see I wanted to navigate the ship.
“From then on I decided I wanted to be an Officer.
“I never wanted to leave the ship.”
In a leap of faith, Ms Berck enrolled herself at the only Maritime College in Australia which is located in Tasmania, after teaching herself as much as she could about the male-dominated field of nautical engineering.
“At college I decided to not go with the cruise ships and to go with a cargo contract instead,” she said.
Ms Berck says she leaves on her first cargo ship as a cadet at the end of the month and has also decided to write a book documenting her adventurous upbringing which has extended well into adulthood.
“What helps me with decision making is asking myself if will I regret the things I didn’t do when I’m 80,” she said.
“I love life and how I am doing exactly what I want to do.”
“There is nothing stopping me.”
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