Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyne Stecklein.
Hi Tyne, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up dancing in Aurora, Colorado at Miller’s Dance Studio training in all styles of dance since the age of 3. I knew at a very young age I wanted to pursue a career in dance, I absolutely loved it. My mother, Andra Stecklein, was one of my main dance teachers, and she was my biggest supporter and harshest critic. I’m so grateful for her care today as I know it helped lead me to the success I’ve had. My father, Dean Stecklein, was an educator and a high school principal at the time with a background of coaching football quite successfully. Thankfully both of my parents were supportive of me wanting to pursue my dreams. They said after high school graduation, I could have a year in Los Angeles where they would support me financially to see if I had any luck working professionally… and if not the following year, I would go to college. I never had a Plan B or a backup, it was going to be dance for me. I got my first dance agent at the age of 13 from a national dance convention and through them, I was direct booked for my first gig touring as a backup dancer for a Latin artist. I was asked to move to Los Angeles immediately, this was right before my 18th birthday. My parents and I packed up my car and drove to LA. I began rehearsing for this tour, only to be fired two days later because I wasn’t “right” for the job… This was my welcome to Los Angeles. The silver (and in my case I consider gold) lining of this experience was that I got to know my now husband, Corey Anderson, he was the dance captain on this tour and my partner for those sweet and short two days.
I believe everything works out for our benefit, and I was quite determined and fearless at this young age and moved forward with training at the professional dance studios and auditioning. I landed another tour dancing for The High School musical concert tour, directed by Kenny Ortega. This was a huge blessing, as it led to many big opportunities for me with Kenny in the future, including dancing in my first film a year later, High School Musical 2.
I’ve always loved learning, and since I did not go to college, I wanted to grow my skill set, and this is when I fell in love with the craft of Acting. In between dance jobs starting at the age of 18, I would take as many acting classes in different techniques and methods as I possibly could. Acting quickly became my adult passion. I landed my first film role in the movie Burlesque, which I was also a principal dancer on, and from there, I began pursuing a career in acting in addition to my dance career.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As I previously mentioned, being fired from my first professional job really was a true intro for how this profession goes. I’ve had many struggles along the way and continue to today. I think that’s what’s so hard about this industry there’s never any guarantee. You don’t get a pay raise or a promotion… You can do great work and be the utmost professional time and time again, and yet you still have to audition for every job. I was one of two females, the other was Mekia Cox, dancing for Michael Jackson at the time of his passing. I went from having what was every professional dancers dream job an awesome contract for 2+ years, and in a moment it was gone. At the time, there was no protection in place for artists like the dancers on this job, so our last day of rehearsal with Michael was also our last day of pay. And then it was back to the drawing board, back to the mass auditions.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At this point in my career, I like to think of myself as a multi-faceted artist. I’m not a dancer who can act or an actress who can dance, I am an actor, as equally as I am a dancer, and I love both art forms deeply. I’m also an educator teaching for Adrenaline dance convention on the weekends. And in recent years, I turned my past hobby of painting into another career path, which I’m so enjoying! I’ve been so fortunate to back up dance for amazing icons like Cher, MJ, Luke Bryan, Maxwell to name a few. I’ve been featured doing amazing choreography with incredible dance partners on Dancing with the Stars, in addition to dancing as a professional for one season partnered with Bill Nye the science guy. I’ve danced and acted in TV shows such as True Blood, Fuller House, and Penny Dreadful; City of Angels to name a few. And I got to play the female lead in an indie film recently called Rosebud Lane, which just released on streaming platforms, this role Ginny really had my heart. All of that to say at this point in my life storytelling and making an impact with the work that I’m doing is really important to me. I want to tell stories that matter and do bold work. I’m fascinated by human emotion, and locking into to it as closely to reality as I can in all of my different art forms.
I’m also a mother of two young boys, Brecken (4) and Ocean (2 in May) and of anything I’ve done with my life, I am the most proud of them. They have by far exceeded the excitement of any professional job I’ve had. They are now my teachers, and I am a better actress and certainly teacher because of them.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
You have to find teachers that really care about their students. I think that is a rarity today. At a young age, I was mentored by amazing master teachers like Adam Parsons, Malaya, and Justin Giles. As an actress teachers like Michael Laskin and John Lacy invested so much into myself and all their students. I’m so grateful for their care and passion for teaching. I also think it’s important to continue to learn and push yourself as an artist… as soon as you feel comfortable in a class, you need to find a new one. I’ve honestly never been good at the networking thing, to me it’s always been about the work. About my crafts. But also showing up and being a true professional. That will get you hired over and over again.
Contact Info:
- Website: tynesteckleinartdesigns.com
- Instagram: @tynestecklein
- For theatrical and dance booking inquiries email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Nikki Dalonzo Brian Guilliaux Gareth Taylor David Fesiuk
