House of Dancing Water – Melco develops local talent for Macau’s diversification

On May 7, Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s “House of Dancing Water” made its highly anticipated return to Macau’s City of Dreams with its brand-new chapter. Marking a significant milestone in the city’s ongoing mission of ‘Tourism+’ integration, a grand premiere celebration of the iconic once-in-a-lifetime aquatic show brought together government officials, celebrities, influencers, and media from around the world for an exclusive first look at the reimagined experience.

Since its original debut in September 2010, the show has been performed nearly 4,000 times, attracting audiences from around the world – becoming a global iconic benchmark in live performances. Now, with an investment of over 2 billion RMB, the reimagined show is set to become once more one of the world’s most captivating aquatic spectacles. “House of Dancing Water” is directed by Giuliano Peparini, artistic director of Peparini Studios, and produced by the Our Legacy Creations.

Added to the thrills of the original production, the reimagined “House of Dancing Water” has been enhanced with a contemporary artistic narrative. With an entirely new and uniquely cohesive storytelling approach, Melco’s iconic show strives to showcase the city’s unique charm to the world whilst promoting economic diversification, contributing to Macau’s development as a “City of Performing Arts” and World Center of Tourism and Leisure.

Melco believes that excelling in artistic entertainment performance depends on continuous talent cultivation. Elevating the integrated development of Macau’s “Tourism+” cultural and entertainment offerings, “House of Dancing Water” is brought to life by a world-class team of nearly 300 cast and crew from over 30 countries, approximately one-third of whom are from Greater China, including professional divers and performers. Together, the team presents an artistic feast that combines acrobatics, choreography, stunts and theatrical performances, demonstrating a wonderous collaboration between local and international talent in Macau.

As Macau’s most iconic artistic spectacle, “House of Dancing Water” offers local talent the valuable opportunity to be part of a world-class production, collaborating with the globally renowned team, enabling Macau’s new generation of artists to shine on the international stage.

Asked about how it feels to be part of the “House of Dancing Water” team, local colleague Mr. Filipe Ferreira Dos Santos Ferreira, Physiotherapist/Assistant Head of Department, said, “It feels exciting and overwhelming in a good way as it is a big production that is very diverse. (My role) gives me the ability to provide the best care and gives me great challenges. It is a very new and unique experience which has broadened my horizons in different aspects of the field of Physiotherapy within sports and athletics. My aspirations for the future would be to seek other exciting opportunities that will allow me to experience other productions and shows. Now that I understand that this avenue is open and available to me in the entertainment industry, I’ll be happy to see Melco produce more shows.”

The “House of Dancing Water” team’s Ms. Chelsea Duan, Assistant Manager – Automation, said, “I’ve been in the theatre and entertainment industry for almost ten years, and have participated in several big shows. But nowhere else is like ‘House of Dancing Water’. This is such a high-standard show which gathers talents and well-known expertise from around world. I feel so lucky to work with these people to get the show created. It is also quite an exciting journey to me because I can feel that everyone here is not only aiming to make the show happen, but also to make it the best and a real legend in the industry.” 

“I feel that my development here in the ‘House of Dancing Water’ team has been extremely rapid. We were just a small team and still in re-construction period at the time I joined a year and a half ago. I’ve been through the most challenging equipment refurbishment and system upgrading process, which was rare and precious opportunity, even for people who have been in show industry for years. I’ve learnt a lot of maintenance and system knowledge that only a few people master and developed skills for troubleshooting and programming. All of these helped me to strengthen my technical background and leadership.”

Ms. Duan added, “‘House of Dancing Water’ is a place and project full of diversity and possibility. Colleagues from so many countries with varied cultural background are working closely together and helping one another. This requires not only an inclusive and humanistic management environment, but also mutual understanding and respect from all colleagues. I’m so happy to see that colleagues here could get along so well and make the show happen together as a team.”

“House of Dancing Water” Artiste/Flyer Ms. Michelle Renee Derstine, originally from the USA, said, “For me, being here at ‘House of Dancing Water’ is a dream coming to life as an artist. It feels incredible to give the best version of myself, my skills, and my heart every day and be surrounded by people doing the same. Working with Giuliano and the team was such a unifying experience. This project feels like something bigger than all of us and getting to put our individual mark on it feels really special. Giuliano gave us the opportunity to build something together but also encouraged our individuality and passion to a part of the story.”