Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Oluk.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a Canadian performer and producer and have lived and worked in Los Angeles for the past five years. I started dancing in my childhood, which led to studying Musical Theatre at the Randolph College in Toronto. After graduating, I worked in musicals, music videos, films, cruise ships, and plays as an actor and dancer. I’ve always been interested in the intersection between dance and film, both in musicals as well as in contemporary projects where dance blurs the line between performance and narrative.
It was my experience as a dancer and actress that led me to producing. I remember being frustrated by degrading auditions, never-ending cattle calls for musicals that seemed like they were already cast before the auditions were held, it was a sense of feeling powerless. I wanted to figure out how to make the kind of work I wanted to be a part of as a creative and not be waiting around for the phone to ring.
Now I have an even balance of performing and producing in my life. I find both fulfilling, as producing is another way to creatively express yourself. Last year I produced a short documentary directed by Camilla Hall that was filmed in my home city of Edmonton, Alberta. It was exciting for me to work with creatives I met in Los Angeles back in Canada. Currently, I feel very fortunate to work with Bow + Arrow Entertainment on a variety of their projects, as well as I create and collaborate with various Los Angeles-based creatives.
Recently a short dance film SOCIAL DANCE-STANCING that I created, performed in, filmed and produced during quarantine was screened as part of the 2020 Portland Dance Film Festival’s “Stay at Home ScreenDance” programming. I worked with dancer Keva Walker, whom I met at The Sweat Spot, and we used our iPhones and had a lot of fun making a dance film remotely. I also was fortunate to be featured in Argentinian director Carolina Cortella’s latest project LA QUEENS, a portrait of women in Los Angeles through the lens of isolating during 2020.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had a dance injury in about 2011 or so, when I was still in my 20’s which was really hard to deal with. As a dancer, you know you have a finite time of peak performance, but I wasn’t anticipating it to be so deeply altered so early. It was a long-term use injury, and at first it sent me into a spiral of sadness. I wanted to be able to do what I had always done, but my body just wouldn’t respond the same way.
It took a lot of physiotherapy and a new mental approach to dance to find myself where I am now. A big part of shifting my paradigm of what dance looks like was the classes I’ve been taking for the last four years at Ryan Heffington’s now closed The Sweat Spot studio in Silver Lake. Those classes reconnected me to the innate joy of movement and the freedom to move authentically, rather than trying to replicate or emulate the way someone else moves. I’ve met so many amazing people through that studio, and it’s reinvigorated the joy of dance in my life. I’m once again dancing nearly everywhere I go, whether it’s the supermarket or on my quarantine walks.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I think I’m proud of the community of creatives I get to work with, they inspire me every day to keep working and pushing myself beyond the limits of what I think I’m capable of.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Flexibility. And not just because I was a professional dancer 😉 I think being flexible is what led me to a lot of great moments in my career. One of my first feature film roles, I didn’t book during the audition, and I was disappointed to say the least. I’ve always struggled with auditions, and I still get anxiety at the thought of them. I later was part of a conservatory program in NYC and invited my friend to come watch my final performance, she brought the director of the film (who I didn’t know would be there), and he decided to cast me in a different role based on that performance. I’m not sure how that relates to flexibility, I went on a tangent there, but I stayed true to myself and didn’t hold on too tightly to outcomes (booking the audition), and in the end, it worked in my favor. I think that’s something I’m always working on, not holding on too tightly to outcomes. Work authentically and with integrity, and the right things will find their way to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kelseyoluk.com
- Instagram: @fossewalks
Image Credit:
Credit for the dance photo (in white dress), and the headshot is – Carolina Cortella; Poster for SOCIAL DANCE-STANCING; Still from REMAIN (2018) directed by Carolina Cortella; Credit for the two cactus photos is Carolina Cortella – as part of the stills for her series LA QUEENS
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