But as the ever practical Singaporean, Ms Lau drew up a pros and cons list to help her with her decision.
Despite the cons list being longer, she could not shake off the “biggest pro”, which was achieving a childhood dream of getting to perform in a show she had loved.
Beyond coming to terms with it herself, Ms Lau said it was a big shock for family and friends that she wanted to move overseas for such a non-conventional job.
“My mum’s always been very supportive with my entire dance journey. She was the full-on dance mum, following me to all the competitions, sending me for lessons, exams,” she said.
“But because this is an aerial job, she was naturally very nervous about how risky this job might be for my safety.”
But now, her family and friends are her biggest supporters. On premiere night, her family and friends, including one who came from Beijing to support her, filled up the seats.
About 12 friends have made trips to watch the show so far, and her mother has visited Macau to help her settle in and watch the show twice. She is grateful that Singapore is around four hours by plane from Macau, as some of her cast mates have come from as far afield as France, Belgium and Australia.
“I think I’ve been really lucky, compared to the other castmates, that Singapore is so close to Macau. I had many people to come watch, which was just such a blessing.”
DOCUMENTING THE DAYS
With her mornings free and a day off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Ms Lau has begun using the spare time editing videos for her Instagram account, where her posts offering glimpses of her daily life have attracted unexpected interest.
Some videos, such as those capturing moments like bidding farewell to her mother and brother at the airport, began simply as personal keepsakes, but now she is determined to document the journey.
“I wanted to remember this portion of life. I thought it was a very interesting job and a lot of my friends also wanted to know what I’ve been doing, what the day-to-day of a live performer looks like,” said Ms Lau.
Her filming setup is modest – just her phone and a water bottle to prop it up while recording training sessions – but the response she has received has been a pleasant surprise. Even strangers have come to watch her perform in the show after seeing her posts online.
Despite all the stunts she is doing now, her favourite part of the show is the curtain call, when she is standing on stage and hearing and seeing the audience.
“It always gets me a bit emotional every time I see how many people come to watch our shows every night,” she said with a smile.
For now, Ms Lau does not have a fixed timeline for how long she plans to remain as a full-time aerialist. She just hopes to cherish every second at the House of Dancing Water.
