Princess Cruises unveiled a glimpse of its cooperation with Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York  today.

Born to Dance is the second show created in this industry-first partnership and will premier aboard Princess this October. It is a high energy dance production, focused on dancers and the ensemble, the unsung heroes of Broadway, according to Daniel Levine, creator and director.

He described the show as a love letter to dancers. Employing multimedia, Borne to Dance traces the journey of great artists and shows that made musical history. Along the way, the audience will get a look at what it takes to be a dancer, the highs and the lows, and that driving need to be a dancer – who is part of an ensemble and seldom the star.

It takes years of commitment and training to be a dancer,” Levine said. “And then you still face rejections and injuries, and the career span is relatively short.”

Born to Dance is an original show, produced by notable Broadway talent for Princess only. At the presentation today, selected numbers were performed by a Broadway cast who has helped model the show, while casting and rehearsing will start at Princess’ Los Angeles in one month from today.

Adrian Fisher, vice president of entertainment experience for Princess, said that eventually, the 50-minute show will be featured on the Golden, Star and Grand Princesses, and have 11 dancers and four singers each. And there will be 118 unique costume pieces.

Eighteen hit songs are featured in Borne to Dance, including All That Jazz, Dancing Queen, Mambo, Oklahoma!, On the Town, One and You Can’t Stop the Beat.

Schwartz said that work was also underway on future productions for Princess.

Photo: (From left)  Stephen Schwartz, Daniel Levine, Seth Rudetsky (presentation moderator), Rachelle Rak, Al Blackstone and Bryan Perri. (Credit: Angela Reale Mathisen)