Chicago musical dancers and how they keep fit for energetic show
With barely an ounce of fat to be seen, the energetic and scantily clad cast of the musical Chicago are leaving Sydney audiences gobsmacked. Cast members reveal how they keep fit enough to perform every show at such a fast pace.
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Rock-hard bodies, skimpy outfits and sultry dance routines: these performers are bringing sexy back to the Sydney stage.
With barely an ounce of fat to be seen, the energetic and scantily clad cast of the musical Chicago are leaving Sydney audiences gobsmacked.
One look at Travis Khan and it’s hard to imagine him as a self-described “skinny kid” who started dance lessons at the age of 21.
But, like the other ripped and slinky dancers in the show at the Capitol Theatre, his amazing physique has only come from an approach that any elite athlete would recognise.
Khan, who plays Harry in the show, hits the gym six days a week for at least an hour.
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Eight hours of sleep is vital to his routine and he has weekly deliveries of specially balanced meals.
“It takes time and people think it can happen overnight, or think they can go into a muscle supplement store and buy all this product and they’re going to get results in a couple of weeks,” Khan said.
Castmate Hayley Martin said every kind of body shape should be celebrated and everyone can achieve “a body that they love”.
“You have to approach it from a place of love rather than a fear of: ‘Oh, I must look a certain way’,” Martin said.
“You have to embrace what you’ve got, and strengthen from within what’s there.”
Martin uses yoga, pilates, meditation, whole foods and an absence of alcohol.
The dance requirements for Chicago entailed special training.
“It’s not splashy choreography, it’s very contained. But everything is switched on, so you’re using just about every muscle in your body,” she said.
* Chicago is on at the Capitol Theatre and stars Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Casey Donovan and Tom Burlinson. It closes on October 20. Tickets available via Ticketmaster.