Today we’d like to introduce you to Mikayla Hassinger.
Hi Mikayla, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was adopted at a very young age. While I was growing up, I had a hard time communicating with my parents. My parents put me in all types of activities and sports to keep me distracted. Eventually, they put me in dance at the age of three and ever since then, dance has been my life. My parents describe dance as my Island of Competence. Where I’m at today in my career is all because of my parents. Dance was the only way I could effectively communicate how I felt. I grew up In Salt Lake City Utah and Dolores Colorado in which both places I was always the only person of color. In both of these places, I was able to find a safe haven through dance. When I moved to Colorado when I was 10, I found an amazing dance studio called Dance in the Rockies. The studio was an hour away from where we lived. Every day after school my parents would drive me and hour there and an hour home.
Usually, I would study or do my homework in the car because we wouldn’t get home till midnight each night. My sophomore year of high school, I was accepted into the professional training program at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. This meant everything to me because I finally got to dance with other girls that looked like me. This was my test to see if I really wanted to become a professional dancer. NYC was such an eye-opener for me and I knew that this was what I wanted to do, but now I wanted to check out the commercial side of dance. My senior year of high school came along and I needed to figure out what my next move was. I had outgrown my dance studio here, so my parents and I decided the next best decision for me was to move to Denver. My senior year, my parents packed me up and shipped me off to Denver.
The summer prior to me moving I had auditioned and made it into The Denver school of the arts. A week before school started I last minutely decided that I didn’t want to go to an arts school and compete with a dance studio outside of school. I ended up dancing with one of the top studios in the nation. I will be forever grateful for Michelle Latimer Dance Academy for taking a chance on me seeing how they do not normally take one-year students. A week after I graduated I moved to LA and got into Edge Performing Arts center on a one-year scholarship. Everything I have today is because my parents never gave up on me. I am at where I am today because of hard work, dedication and the unconditional love and support of my family.
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?
I don’t think anything in the entertainment industry is a smooth process. Growing up in Utah and a very small town in Colorado it was always a struggle of me being the only black child. Even in dance, I had some instructors that wouldn’t let me do a Duet with a friend because we didn’t ” look alike”. I always remember having to wear the Lighter flesh tone tights because there was no tights that matched my skin complexion. Now that I’m older the struggles I go through are more about my body shape or that I don’t fit the “type” they’re looking for look-wise. Most of the time everything is based off a specific look. It is very hard not to get discouraged in this industry. There was a period of time where I definitely didn’t feel good enough. and fell very depressed. One of the major struggles I had and honestly still have till this day is not comparing myself to other dancers. Everyone in LA is fighting for that one job and it’s hard to not compare yourself. We all grow differently. Trust yourself, love yourself and don’t give up on yourself. LA is the city of struggles, but also it is the city dreams so make it happen! We’re all struggling out here, but we keep an open mind, we don’t give up and we stay hungry!
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?
I am a professional dancer and I’m classically trained in all styles of dance. I currently live in LA and I’m in the commercial dance industry. I just finished my first world tour with the Colombian artist Maluma and it was truly a dream come true. I’m known for my outgoing personality, the fluidity in my movement and the way I light up any room I walk into. I will never forget this one moment I was on a tour with Maluma and we had just finished a show in Germany. I was walking through the crowd when this woman stopped me. She had asked if her daughter could take a picture with me. This young girl she was probably about 6 was so happy to meet me. She told me that seeing someone who looked like her following their dreams doing what they loved inspired her to pursue her passion for dancing on the big stage. I’m sharing my story for every little girl that looks like me. It is okay to be and look different and that you can turn your dreams into a reality. I dance to tell a story that words cannot. Dance has saved my life in so many ways that I cannot begin to explain.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Thatgurllkayla
Image Credits
Wes Klain, Phraa, yosoytes
