Mickey Pasamonte is the son of Phil and Maria Vitug of Liberty, MO. He is the oldest of 5 children and started dancing at the age of 9. He's skilled in the art of jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary and partnering work. Mickey was trained by his dad, Phil Vitug, all through his high school years. He started his professional career at the age of eighteen. And now at 21 he continues to have a successful career in Los Angeles, CA.

What are your accomplishments as a dancer?

Some of my accomplishments as a dancer are performing in Vegas for a live audience and for TV, choreographing for dance studios, traveling the world and working for Disney. I'm currently performing in Disney's Aladdin the Musical Spectacular, which opened the acting and singing doors for me. Adding singing and acting under my belt will help me achieve a very successful career in the entertainment business. But at the same time it's hard for me to tell what my accomplishments are because my goals change so often and I usually set the bar higher and higher for myself. I don't usually have just one goal. Consistently working as a dancer is the biggest accomplishment for me, because not a lot of dancers out here in LA have work, and to have a consistent paycheck as a dancer is hard to come by on nowadays.

What makes someone successful?

To make someone a successful dancer it takes a lot of patience, hard work and thick skin. Auditioning can be pretty rough. Months or even years can go by where a dancer won't book a job. This is where being a dancer begins to get tough and they may have to get a part time job just to pay the bills and survive. When I first moved to LA I didn't have a dance job right away, I had to get a part time job at a retail store making minimum wage. I wasn't able to dance for the first two months anyway because I had a fractured elbow, which didn't speed up the process for me to start my career. I was living off of my savings from my first dance job, which I was grateful that dancing on a cruise ship paid well and I saved enough to live off of it. But as soon as my elbow healed I started auditioning for whatever I could get. The itch of not being able to dance gave me the drive to audition for as many jobs as I could get, and in this process I danced for small gigs that helped me get the experience I needed to land the job that I have now. But in this process I was turned down by so many choreographers in countless numbers of auditions. This is where having thick skin is important. A lot of casting directors, choreographers, producers, etc. will turn dancers down in every audition. A dancer can be rejected for their body type, weight, face, style, dancing abilities, etc. It doesn't mean that they're ugly or talentless it just means that they do not meet the criteria that the job is requiring. But a lot of dancers take this personally, but how can't they, they need the money and this is their choice of career. And being turned down so many times can start taking its toll on you after a while. Landing a job is about being in the place at the right time. But usually dancers only work for a week or so until they land another job. Or in my case landing a contract job means security for a while. I like having security and a weekly paycheck can only happen in a contract job for a dancer.

Having a busy lifestyle – how do you maintain balance?

As a working dancer having a busy life is pretty hard to balance. Dancing is not a nine-to-five job where I can plan out my week and know exactly what I want to do and when I want to do it. Right now, for me, I have the Aladdin show during the day and at night I'm in rehearsal for another show that I'm doing for Disney starting from 9 PM to 6 AM. Rest is very important for me especially when I dance as much as I do now, so on my days off I usually take that time to rest my body and recharge for the next time I work. Sometimes I do get days where I don't have to work and on those days I like to make it a point to hang out with friends to at least get some kind of a social life going. But for me being a busy, working dancer is better than being a non-working dancer.

How did you figure out that dance is your passion? What obstacles did you have to go through as a dancer?

I have my dad to thank for introducing me to the dance world. Without him I wouldn't be a successful dancer at such a young age. So many dancers my age still rely on their parent's financial help from day to day and waiting to land "that gig" to set off their career. I'm truly blessed to be financially independent. But a lot of hard work was put into all this before I became a professional dancer. I danced six days a week, six hours a day. My dad was pretty hard on me. He demanded a lot from me physically, emotionally and mentally. I wasn't serious about dancing until the age of 16 when I knew that this was going to be my career. But growing up wanting to be a dancer was brutal. I was teased so much by so many of my peers in high school that it made me feel a little insecure about wanting to be a dancer. Although I'm happy to say now that I'm glad I stuck with my passion for dance because my life is pretty amazing right now. I'm living the life that I've always dreamed of, and I'm so grateful for it. But for me I feel like I'm not "working" because I am doing what I love to do. At the end of the day it only really feels like work when I get a paycheck.