Meet Kaley Logan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaley Logan.

Hi Kaley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started ballet when I was four because I had abnormally short achilles tendons, and doctors were planning to put me in splints to lengthen them, but my parents hated the idea of putting their hyperactive four years old in splints. So, it was then recommended to us to put me in ballet to work on lengthening my achilles. From then on, I absolutely fell in love with dance. I did so much as a kid, soccer, wrestling, chorus, violin, and so many other things, but throughout the years, dance remained my top priority and passion. Dance definitely never came easy to me, but it was the one thing I always felt the most genuine doing. My dad was in the military my whole life, so I moved around quite a bit and had to adapt pretty quickly, but I always felt comforted by having dance as my constant home. I joined a local ballet company as a trainee my freshman year of high school where I definitely developed my ballet technique significantly, which led me to being able to experience incredible summer intensives like Ailey and LINES. After my experience at LINES, I realized I no longer wanted to pursue only ballet and really found the desire to delve into my artistry rather than just being a dancer. So after two years, in a not-so-healthy ballet environment, I left the company to join a local contemporary company as an apprentice instead. Alongside this, I spent my sophomore-senior year of high school at the magnet arts school in my city, Howard W. Blake Magnet School of the Arts in Tampa, Florida. I really started to figure out that contemporary dance was definitely where I wanted to be, but I had a lot of unlearning and relearning to do.

Right after graduation, I found out I had been waitlisted for my dream school, and since I had an injury come up during audition season, I had no plan as to what I was going to do after high school.

Since I had no plan, I had to take a gap year and move to Sacramento, California, where my dad had been stationed at the time. I was definitely against the idea of a gap year and was worried about the future because of it, but looking back, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. I met incredible faculty at Northern California Dance Conservatory, where I actually met some of the first openly LGBTQ+ instructors I had ever personally had. I also trained at Leighton Dance Project, which was a game-changer for me. LDP was the place where I really developed my personal artistic identity because I given the space and support to do so.

In summer of 2019, I moved to Los Angeles to start school at AMDA, where I felt extremely seen, and my artist voice only developed further. My 3rd semester of school was spring of 2020, and 4 weeks into the semester, Covid-19 hit. This took an extreme toll on the way I viewed my education and my future, however, being only online for a year and a half also allowed me to develop and see my career path in a different light. I grew much closer with my instructors while being online, and they helped me in countless ways as a dancer, artist, and human. I fell in love with filmmaking and started writing again. Also spending so much time alone, I was able to improve almost daily and continued to develop my artist’s voice. In January of 2021, with the encouragement of one of my instructors, Stefanie Santiago, I taught my first class in over a year. Since then, I have been teaching open classes monthly and gained the courage to audition and join a choreography and creatives’ program called Ignite through a program called Lume. I continued working with Ignite, teaching and furthering my education with AMDA, which only allowed me to develop my artistic voice in multiple avenues. I am currently halfway done with my final semester at AMDA and will be graduating in February of 2022.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say it has definitely been the most winding, bumpy, and treacherous road for me. I’ve had to pick up and start over multiple times starting at 18 months old because of my dad being restationed. The hardest move for me would definitely have been the move from California to Florida. I was going into the 4th grade and I felt like everything was strange and I was beyond uncomfortable. I definitely struggled with finding my place in the dance world. I did competition dance 6th-8th grade and knew that that’s not where I wanted to be, hence my switch to focusing purely on ballet, which I loved dearly thanks to Jillian Michaels, who was my ballet instructor in middle school. She made me feel seen and that the space I held had so much purpose. Once I dove into the ballet world, I immediately felt like I didn’t fit there either. While I loved ballet deeply, I was told countless times that I was too short, too wide, didn’t have nice enough legs, feet, or anything for that matter. I was told that the only thing that would get me anywhere would be my drive and that even that would only get me as far as a corps dancer. Around this time as well, I realized that I was queer, and being in a more conservative area, I would feel other-ised often. I felt uncomfortable being told I had to dance more feminine and look a certain way to be successful (which I honesty still get to this day sometimes). It took me many years to be comfortable in my queerness and unlearn the guilt and internalized homophobia I had. I struggled with, and still do struggle with, depression and anxiety because of this. My gap year and the hit of Covid-19 also were major mountains for me, with so many things that existed within them. I would say my most recent struggle would be specifically the past year for me. I went through the process of really understanding my identity and coming to the conclusion that I am non-binary. This past year I went through many instances of being invalidated, misgendered, and feeling like I didn’t have a space in the dance industry. I have been told many times that I had to make myself more hirable when in reality, all I want and have ever wanted is to be seen and “hirable” as me, simply being genuinely me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’d say I’m a dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, writer, and just an all around creator. I facilitate a safe and inclusive space in my classes and emphasize the importance of dance being personal and an art over the business side of the industry. I create films of different genres, filming and editing them myself. I create dance films as well as visuals that are narrative or abstract and experimental. I film for other creators as well. Many of my films include my own spoken word poems as well. I am most proud of the way I’ve grown to be unapologetically myself within my craft. I know it’s not a requirement, and it’s definitely not the path for everyone, but it is extremely important for me to be the queer dancer, choreographer, and creator that I deeply desired to have when I was growing up. I feel like I have the capacity to share and be this person, so that’s what I aim to be. I am proud that I didn’t allow myself to be watered down out of fear and that I created my work with the entirety of my heart and soul.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
The way I have come across and developed mentors was by being true to who I am and surrounding myself with the people who have the same mindset as myself. I feel like I’ve never deliberately established the concept of a mentor-mentee relationship with anyone because personally, I find it hard to work in that dynamic. For me, I feel like that brings a lot of pressure on myself, unintentionally, so I instead just continue working with more experienced creators that bring me guidance when I need it. In regard to networking in general, I feel like it’s a very similar concept for me. I just continue to remain genuine, and the right people come around at the right time. Then, I continue to surround myself with the people who bring light to my life, regardless of to what capacity we interact.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kales.lb
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRYSxxIG_X075z-TKVOMjsA

Image Credits
Jess Alba, Stephanie Landwehr, Lily Chumas, Maryann Chavez, Tucker Harrah-Ferguson, Jessica Caulk, Sasha Serdyukov, Dina DeSimone