German Freestyle Soccer Duo - Walt Disney World

Dear friends of the Freestyle Blog,

almost ten years after my first freestyle performances, I recently had my first job that employed me for several weeks. Together with my colleagues Camill Hauser and Kjell Straus, we were given the opportunity to showcase our soccer skills at the German Pavilion in Disney's EPCOT theme park for six weeks. Throughout the year, German artists perform there, representing and promoting our German culture. In addition to Germany, ten other nations are located around the lake (also known as World Showcase Lagoon). Since mainly musicians and bands have performed on the German stage in the past, many visitors were surprised to see two artificial turf pitches, mini goals, and soccer players in Germany jerseys on the stage.

Although soccer is not one of the most popular sports in the USA, we were surprised to see how many visitors were wearing soccer jerseys in the park and then amazed by our skills when they came to see our shows. Despite the lack of soccer culture, it was clear that sports are very important in the USA. Even though people there have had little to do with soccer so far, we were able to “charm” numerous visitors in our own way. Not only were the young spectators enthusiastic, but many people also commented that it was “very impressive” after our performances.

Since Camill and Kjell completed the first half of the six weeks together, I had to get used to the choreography at first. Compared to my standard performances, our show here was structured quite differently. On the one hand, the show was significantly longer at 15–20 minutes, and on the other, almost half of the choreography consisted of speeches by us. This was because we were not only supposed to showcase our ball skills, but also represent German soccer culture. With each performance our show act became more fluid, and after two to three days with six shows per day, we quickly internalized the choreography. After the first five days of shows, I was amazed at how quickly we got used to the sometimes tropical temperatures (up to 100°F with over 80% humidity).

I got to entertain visitors for a week with Kjell and two weeks with Camill. Although our shows only took place from 12:40 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., there wasn't much free time left after recovery, grocery shopping, and meal preparation. Nevertheless, we were still able to visit other nations in the park here and there and watch the fireworks that are set off every evening. It was amazing how quickly the almost 100 shows we performed in such a short time flew by.

We all enjoyed Florida very much, and I am very grateful for the experiences I was able to gain there – not only on stage (especially speaking in a foreign language in front of large audiences), but also in dealing with a very diverse audience in a foreign culture. I would like to thank everyone involved who made this job possible – especially our agent Katrin Wildfeuer, who took care of the entire organization, as well as all the Disney employees who looked after us on and off stage. And last but not least, my two colleagues and good friends Camill & Kjell, with whom I grew together show by show to become a real “German Freestyle Soccer Duo.” 🫶🏻

See you soon, Orlando!

German Freestyle Soccer Duo | Kjell Strauss & Kjell Straus

Pictures by blogmickey.com