Holly and Lily Mackie are roughly a year apart in age and have always been close. While there have undoubtedly been sisterly spats, these two have been a dynamic duo most of their lives. And after a couple of years apart kicking off their careers, they’re about to head off on a new adventure together.

Now aged 19 and 20, the sisters have been making their mark in the world of professional dance - with an emphasis on “world”.

Holly has just completed two years performing at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, and Lily is back on dry land after a year dancing on international cruise ships.

And tomorrow, they’re preparing to cruise off together, with big sis about to join little sis on the high seas.

The Mackies were born on the Gold Coast but spent much of their childhood in Inverell, where mum Tracey was a McLean Care staffer and Holy Trinity School teacher, among other roles, and dad Peter was a car detailer.

The girls had done littlies dance classes on the coast, and took up studying with Laura King at Craze Dance Academy from their early school years.

And so a passion was developed that has since treated them to enviable lifestyles.

Laura says the girls were “very much in love with dance and performing, which made teaching them always a pleasure”.

“We’re so close in age that pretty much every single class we did was together, we always went to the same school and we had similar friends,” Holly says.

“We’d choreograph our duos in our loungeroom.

“I was definitely the bossy one.”

One school holidays, Holly auditioned for a ballet scholarship at The McDonald College, which she secured and undertook in years 9 and 10.

After that, the family moved back to the coast and both girls kept up their training at Studio Dance Force in Tweed Heads.

In 2014, Holly did another audition, this time to work at the Moulin Rouge.

“They came to Australia and ran auditions, as they do every second year - they really seem to love Australians; there are a lot of Australians at the Moulin Rouge,” she says.

But they didn’t accept her … at first.

“They told me I was too short. The minimum height was 175cm and I was 173cm,” Holly says.

But one can only assume talent made a couple of centimetres seem irrelevant.

Holly auditioned again and got the job.

She says she wasn’t surprised, per se, that she was able to make dance her career, but that didn’t make it any less exciting.

“I worked so long for this and did a whole year of dance full-time, and that was all leading up to getting me a job,” she says.

“But Moulin Rouge was my dream job and I never, ever thought that would be my first job.”

She headed over to make Paris her new home in 2015.

“I think it hit me when I first arrived in Paris how difficult it would be; I didn’t know any French, for a start,” she says.

But she says the Moulin Rouge cast is like a family and the older members look after the newbies.

“Everyone just loves having ‘little ones’ around,” she says.

“The oldest female dancer there is 39 or 40 and has been dancing since before I was born, and a lot of them have their own kids, so they like to make sure you’re OK, especially when you first move there and have to find your own accommodation, set up your own banking, et cetera.”

Holly lived in the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre, for a year in a very small studio apartment, then moved in with a fellow dancer in the 17th, right near the Arc de Triomphe.

In her time at the Moulin Rouge, she’s performed in the resident stage show Féerie twice a day, six days a week; was promoted in her first week to can-can soloist; has performed with four Bermuda pythons; has learned French “enough to get me around”; and has met people from all over the world.

During her annual leave, she’s also travelled “quite a bit of Europe, because everything is so close together”.

“But I felt like I could be a tourist every day in Paris. There’s always something new to discover.”

Holly says her life has been about dance for as long as she can remember.

“My parents always asked me, ‘What would you be doing if we never put you in dance class?’ and to be honest, I don’t have a clue.”

At 17, Lily did her own audition for Celebrity Cruises and on her 18th birthday she was offered a contract with the company.

Working on these ships has meant 17-day cruises during which she’s done four shows, such as Land of Make Believe (a pantomime for younger audiences) and Elyria, an 18-plus burlesque show in which she did aerial work); and three theme nights, including Motown and Latin ballroom.

On workdays they do the show three times: one tech run and two performances.

On their days off, they do body conditioning, running, gym and so on.

Dancers stay with the ship for six months at a time, while the guests change every 17 days.

Lily says she was “a little nervous” about moving away from home for the first time to basically live at work, but she knew others who’d entered the industry, which made her “quite comfortable to take that step”.

“I’ve been training my whole life to prepare myself to get there, so I think I was ready,” she says.

“I was the youngest by four years in my cast, so I was looked after really well…

“I applied for a few different cruise ships, but Celebrity was the one I was hoping to get – they’re an amazing company to work for and have so many opportunities.”

One of those is travel.

“I ended up going to 23 different countries on my ship, so I got to see a lot of the world and explore a lot,” Lily says.

“I loved Phuket, Thailand, because the beaches were amazing and so was the atmosphere.

“Israel was a really good experience, I loved Dubai as well, and Italy was amazing.”

Lily says the biggest adjustment is probably living in the cabins - but it’s a small price to pay.

“They’re quite small and you have a joint bathroom with another person, but you become like a little family on the ship and it’s quite a good lifestyle.

“We work at night time mainly, when the boat’s at sea, so every time it’s in port, we can get off.

“Considering we don’t have to pay for accommodation, food or flights, it’s a great experience; it’s an amazing lifestyle.”

Today Holly and Lily Mackie are off to Miami for about six weeks, during which they’ll learn their routines for all the different on-board shows and theme nights.

Then they’ll board their ship and head off around the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bamahas.

Although many teachers and mentors have played a part in their lives, Laura has a special one.

“We’ve always been in close contact with Miss Laura. We always keep her updated and she’s been a great support,” Lily says.

“She’s given us our foundation and she’s the reason we’re working today.”

And the feeling’s mutual.

“I missed them a lot after they moved to the coast with family commitments,” Laura says.

“But they continued to dance and work hard, improving and keeping in contact, always telling me what they were up to. I'm so excited for their success – they deserve it so much and it proves that hard work, dedication and having a true passion can take you far.”