SINGAPORE: In the days leading up to her move to Macau in 2024 to work as an aerialist, Megan Sophie Lau grappled with doubt.
As a philosophy, politics, and economics graduate from the National University of Singapore (NUS), the 24-year-old could not help but wonder if she was trading a secure future for a fleeting dream.
In her last year of university, she had applied on a whim to join the House of Dancing Water, touted as the world’s largest water-based show, after seeing a casting advertisement online.
She was taken by surprise when she received a callback for auditions, and later an offer to join the cast.
“Am I making the right decision? Am I throwing my degree away?” she remembered asking herself on the morning of her departure in October 2024.
The dream of performing professionally had been a seed planted long ago, when she first started ballet at the age of five. She believes everything she did – years of dance training and aerial practice – had prepared her for this moment.
Still, she had to weigh the pros and cons of taking up the offer.
“I want to follow my dreams, but I also kept questioning whether it was viable,” she said. “But I’m young, in my twenties – this is my prime. And this job is extremely physically demanding. I knew I wouldn’t always have the window to do this.”
Macau’s House of Dancing Water combines acrobatics, dance, stunts, and theatre – all performed around and above a 30-foot-deep pool holding 3.7 million gallons of water, the equivalent of more than five Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The show, which first premiered in September 2010, reopened in May 2025, after a hiatus of nearly five years.
Since then, Lau has been performing 10 to 12 shows weekly as an aerialist in the show, executing choreographed acrobatic routines high above the stage.
She is the only Singaporean in the cast of about 100 people who come from 20 countries around the world.
She also serves as the understudy for the lead role of Princess Aani, a heroine imprisoned by the Dark Queen. She steps into the part once or twice a month.
Landing this role marked a full-circle moment for Lau, who was awed by the show in 2014 when she first watched the show with her mother. After the performance, she told her mother she dreamed of playing Princess Aani one day.
Two years later, she returned to watch it again with friends.
A lifelong love for dance
Dancing has always been a central part of Lau’s life – every moment outside of studying as time spent in the studio practising.
Over the years, she expanded her repertoire to include contemporary, lyrical, and jazz dance, winning competitions both locally and internationally.
In 2021, she discovered an aerial arts school in Singapore and began taking classes as a hobby. She progressed so quickly that she was soon invited to teach part-time, offering contortion and aerial classes while pursuing her studies at NUS.
But her journey to becoming a professional aerialist was met with concerns.
“Telling my mum I wanted to join the show broke her heart,” she said.
Her mother, Cynthia Sng, 58, who works as an entrepreneur in the dance industry, recalled: “It was an emotional rollercoaster. As a mum, I was naturally worried – it is a dangerous job that requires her to be rigged up to heights of 20m. (I was also) worried about her completing school and the opportunity cost of future employment in corporate roles.
“Most of all, the thought of her moving overseas and not being able to see her daily was heartbreaking.”
Lau’s older brother, too, had concerns.
“He kept asking, ‘Do you really want to do it? Accidents do happen and can you match up to the experienced performers? You could have a good job here.’ But I knew their worry came from a place of love,” Lau said.
To reassure them, she showed her family her training videos, safety measures in place, and how she attends regular physiotherapy sessions. Slowly, their fears eased.
Learning to live alone – and fly
Lau works as an aerialist and an understudy for the role of Princess Aani in Macau’s House of Dancing Water show. – Photo courtesy of Lau via The Straits Times/Asia News Network
Despite their support, moving to Macau brought a new set of challenges.
She had to find an apartment, learn how to pay bills, cook and navigate an unfamiliar city – while adjusting to the demands of a full-time performance schedule.
“The job is physically intense, so I had to learn how to manage my training load and energy, and take care of my body,” she said. “I was a little homesick and called my mum every night. She told me to take things one day at a time and enjoy it.”
Today, her mother is her biggest supporter.
Sng said: “We call almost every night, and I could feel that she loves what she is doing and is thriving at the House of Dancing Water. While it was tough to overcome these fears I had, I realised that Megan was in the best position to pursue her dreams and I didn’t want to stop her from doing so. As a mum, the best thing I could do is to support her.
“When I watched the public show premiere, I was full of excitement and pride. I decided to watch it once more the next day because my heart was so full of joy.”
It may be part of her daily routine now, but performing in front of an audience still brings a rush of excitement for Lau.
“I feel like a sponge, soaking it all in and growing so much as an artist. And most importantly, I feel alive doing what I do,” she said.
For about a month while finishing her final university semester, she flew back and forth between Singapore and Macau for classes and rehearsals.
She did her academic readings on flights and worked on assignments late into the night after eight-hour rehearsal days.
But she has no regrets about choosing the unconventional path, while her peers from university have joined government jobs and multinational corporations.
She added: “Life is unpredictable, and just because you studied something doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself in a box with what you want to do with your future. Because this path I found myself on wasn’t planned nor was it completely by chance, but some magical combination of both.” — The Straits Times/Asia News Network
