Why You Should Know Kayla Mak
Offstage, 9-year-old Kayla Mak is like any other 4th-grader. She’s a happy kid who likes math and watching TV. (Her favorite show is “So You Think You Can Dance,” of course.) But get her onstage and you’ll see a whole different Kayla—a girl who’s anything but ordinary.
At the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation’s fall show, Bright Lights Shining Stars, in NYC, Kayla performed in a large group number with her studio, Westchester Dance Academy. Though the senior dancers kicked off the ballet routine, it wasn’t until Kayla bourréed out from the wings that the crowd went wild. Kayla was the smallest dancer out there, but it wasn’t just her size and extra-large smile that commanded attention—she wowed the audience because she more than kept up with girls twice her age. Kayla nailed her pirouettes with ease and showed off massive leaps, crazy flexibility and stunning penchées.
Kayla has trained at WDA in Mount Kisco, NY, since she started dancing at age 4. “My mom was a dancer, and she said, ‘You’re dancing all over this house, let’s get you into a studio,’ ” Kayla says. Soon, she was enrolled in her first ballet class. “I love using ballet to express my feelings,” she says. Kayla also studies lyrical and jazz, and started competing when she was 5. In addition to solos—her “Arabian Waltz” contemporary ballet solo earned her the National Mini Female Outstanding Dancer title at NYCDA and the Young Dancer of the Year title at American Dance Awards this past summer—Kayla performs in group routines, which she says are “fun because I get picked up a lot, but it’s a little scary dancing with the older girls.” If she’s intimidated, it doesn’t show: Kayla performs with the utmost confidence. This year her training will go beyond WDA as she tours with NYCDA, assisting and taking classes.
What’s next for Kayla? “I want to be a professional dancer,” she says. “Any kind of dancer.” A simple answer from an exceptional young girl.
FAST FACTS
Most-played on her iPod:
“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen
Favorite food:
“My mom’s spaghetti with meatballs”
If she were a superhero, her superpower would be:
Flying. “I’d get to see the world. The first place I’d go is Japan. My cousins live there.”
Favorite movie:
Step Up Revolution
. “One of my teachers from JUMP was in it—Misha Gabriel!”
Three words that describe her:
“Smart, flexible, kind”
