The Heart of Dance with Kayla Mak, Teen Dance Prodigy

Yeah, sometimes like it's so hard to motivate yourself when you have like so much homework or just like the motivation for me was just like, I know I wanna dance like in my future. Like I feel like my passion and I just love how I feel when I'm doing it. And like nothing else can really fill that part of my heart, so.

Welcome to RX Chill Pill, the podcast that strengthens your resilient mind every time you listen to the extraordinary stories, expert tips, and meditations to elicit your relaxation response, the antidote to your stress response. I'm Dr. Juna Bobby MD. I'm a physician and mom of two amazing kids specializing in mind-body medicine. Find out more about me, my personalized online courses on procrastination, focus, and resilience coaching for kids, teens, and parents at mindbodyspace.com. In today's episode, I speak with Kayla Mack, She's an amazing teenager with a passion for dance. You might have seen her on World of Dance, where she lit up the stage and impressed J.Lo and made it to the finals. She's won many competitions, including the Hope Award at YAGP, which is one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. And she also starred as Clara at Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We talk about her experience shooting a now viral day in the life of a ballerina for Teen Vogue and the process and details about winning her place on World of Dance. We talk about what keeps her going through the grueling schedule of being a pre-professional dancer at her level and how so many mentors have helped her along the way, including her teacher, Kelly Burke, from the Westchester Dance Academy. She talks to me about her amazingly supportive family and circle of friends. What really impresses me about Kayla is her natural resilient voice that she uses with herself to cheer herself on and her insane work habits. I can see why so many people have mentored her, 'cause she has these qualities of curiosity, eager to learn, and cheerfulness that any teacher or mentor would wanna be around.

Hey, Kayla.

Hi.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, actually not us, I mean just me. But thank you for joining me. How are you doing?

I'm good. It's super weird with this whole quarantine stuff right now. I mean, just like staying at home, like I don't think I've spent this much time with my family in a while. So it's been fun, but so bizarre.

You know, I wanted to ask you about that because you are never home, right?

Yes.

I watched your Teen Vogue Day in the Life of a Ballerina.

Yeah.

So yours was an awesome video. I loved it. It was so— Yeah, you're so cute and like so natural.

I get so scared with those kind of things, like talking on camera. I don't know why, I just get super nervous. Really? It was really fun.

Yeah, I was with you and you were just being completely yourself and natural.

Oh, like, I think this show helped a lot. Like, just like all the interviews for World of Dance helped like a lot. I've never really done that kind of stuff before, so like my first interview, like sitting in the chair with like the sound booth, like everything like that. I was like sweating so much. But they were like, can we get this girl like oil blotting sheets please? And I was like, yes, thank you.

You sweat? I didn't see you sweat at all, like on that whole—

I was good.

So on that whole Vogue thing you did for Teen Vogue, you know, Isn't your generation, though, so used to kind of talking to your own phone?

Yeah, I don't know. It's weird.

So that's not something you normally do?

I mean, I'm not like a vlogger per se. Like, I don't really like look at myself that way.

So that was the first time you've done anything like that?

Yeah, I've never really done like a vlog series before.

Well, I am very, very impressed because you just do, and you were so genuine in the whole thing.

Like, it was, you know, wasn't staged at all.

I wanted to make it as authentic as possible, like in the morning. Oh my gosh. I just like, I like pressed my alarm and I was like, all right, I got to film now. Like, I didn't put any makeup on, like nothing. I just total natural.

Well, how did you get ready for that? First of all, let's wind back. Like, did they reach out to you after all the World of Dance, which we'll get to later? But did Teen Vogue reach out to you for that?

It was like It was out of the blue, honestly. Like, I was, I was just like doing my homework and then my mom comes up to me and she's like, check the email I just sent you. Like, it's from Vogue. And I was like, I couldn't believe it. Yeah, they were like, we're doing a series on like teenage kids, like doing something that they're like super passionate about. And we'd love for you to like be our like first video. And it was just really a crazy experience.

And were you scared to do it or were you just like all over that?

I was a little scared at first because like, again, like I'm not a vlogger, but like, and I had to get used to like the nature of it, like just get used to like, I don't know, like talking to myself and like no one else really. And like, especially in public. Oh my gosh, in public it's super, um, awkward kind of, but you get used to it.

You just gotta like be discreet because you were walking down the street and you're filming stuff, right?

Yeah, so I had to like sometimes I'd like wait for people to like pass me and then I'm like, okay, let me start vlogging. It was a workout.

So did they give you like an outline or you just went ahead and did whatever you felt like in one day?

Well, they, um, they wanted to, well, they, we had like several calls just like talking about my life and like what I do on my daily, you know, on the daily. And basically, you know, I just told them my like daily routine from Monday through like Saturday. And, uh, And then we, they basically like just jotted down some notes and just wanted to like emphasize on like a couple things. But most of it was like basically me. Wow.

And what were the couple of things they want to emphasize?

Um, the Tiger Bomb. What else? Um, this like just school, like how vigorous it is and like training. And just like the late nights and the train rides, all of that.

But all this, all the sacrifices you make every day.

Yeah. But they also wanted to show like that I was like a regular girl, like student by day, like dancer by night kind of stuff. So, uh-huh. Yeah.

And what was the deal with the Tiger Bomb? Why were they so interested in that?

I don't know. I really, I, I love Tiger Bomb. Like, I just like I just thought I should mention it because I was like, why not? Like, you know, that's what I do every day. Like right before ballet class, I like put a little Tiger Balm somewhere and then that's like my part of my daily routine.

So is it some— is it a special brand or you can get any kind of Tiger Balm?

It's like a drugstore, like regular thing, I think.

And then it just feels like really hot or cold when you put it on, right? It's for pain.

Yeah, it's basically like an Icy Hot. It's really— it's like it relieves muscles.

Mm-hmm. Um, so how much footage did you give them? Was it like an hour and they cut it down to like 5 minutes, or did they edit it?

I mean, I had to vlog every day, so I basically vlogged, uh, sent them some time lapses. Actually, no, yeah, I probably sent them like, like probably close to an hour or like an hour and 15 of footage a day.

A day?

Yeah, because I had like rehearsals and I had to film like basically all my rehearsal that I did, so Yeah.

Wow.

And so they went through like 7 or 8 hours of footage to edit it down.

Yeah. I really applaud like the editors and the producers that they— I think like the video like looks so amazing. Like, it was not, not like me, not me, but like just like the editing and like how they like put all the music together and like the effects. I thought it was so, so amazing. So I was like super grateful for that.

Well, you were the star, so you were amazing. But I, I think that that's so interesting for listeners to hear that it was basically around 8 hours of footage that they cut down into how many minutes? I can't remember.

I don't know, maybe like 20.

That's pretty wild. Yeah, that's amazing. So did that really reflect every single day for you then?

It really did. Like, just all the emotions, even when I was filming in the morning, just like my voice even, they just got it they got it down to like the perfect T and I really like appreciated that. So and it wasn't— it didn't feel like staged at all or like they didn't really like push anything on me like to do something like they were like, whatever you do, like in your normal day, like we want to see, which was like really cool.

So that's awesome. And you didn't feel misrepresented in any way, it sounds like.

No. Yeah, I was super happy with how it came out.

Oh, that's so great. Talking about emotions, I mean, you said even your emotions that you go through cycle through throughout the day, right? I mean, having known you in the short while that I have, you are just such a bubbly and cheerful person. Oh, and but you do have— I mean, it's tough, right?

Am I right to say that? Yeah.

And you're 17 now?

Yes.

So how long have you been having this kind of really super, I would say almost grueling schedule? Because even for an adult, it's a lot of hours, right?

Yeah.

Although you probably have more energy than I do.

But I don't know about that.

So how long have you had this kind of packed schedule?

Well, I started taking dance like seriously and like doing like long hours of dance at about like 11 or 10 years old.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that was in your studio back in Westchester, right?

Yes. Yeah.

And which— what was the studio?

Westchester Dance Academy. I started in the competition world, which I, I still love to this day.

So, so when did you start doing that?

Um, at about the age of like 9. But that's when I was like super shy. Like when I was, when I was little, like I'd always like go in the back and I was just like super like timid. But by the end, like maybe when I was like 10 or 11, I started like breaking out of my shell. It was super nice. So yeah.

Oh, wow.

Is it like Dance Moms?

No, not at all.

The series? No.

Okay.

So it's a different kind of competition.

Yeah. So like you, if you go to a studio, you could compete in groups. But like at my studio, there was like no drama like Dance Moms. But was—

is it that kind of competition though, where you dress up?

Yeah. Like first place? Yes. Yes. Like you have costumes and you do your makeup and you just dance on stage and you get evaluated by the judges. But And it goes on like, like the whole weekend, right? Yeah. Yeah. Friday to Sunday.

So you would travel a lot and do a lot of these competitions?

Yeah. Yes. A lot of them were local, like maybe like Boston or like Meadowlands, but the nationals, one of them's in Florida. So we had to travel for that.

Okay. But so basically every weekend you were going and traveling and doing competitions. And mostly that was with a group of people on stage because you said you were in the back kind of hiding. I mean, when you were shy.

Yeah, like in classes. In classes. So like most competitions that I did had convention, which is like you take classes like in a ballroom with like a ton of other dancers and you just like basically just take like a bunch of classes, really good classes. So, uh-huh. Yeah, that was like one of my favorite parts of like competition, just like being able to take class with all these like awesome dancers and amazing teachers. And yeah, just like make connections.

And how old were you when you started dancing?

I started dancing when I was 4.

Wow.

Okay.

And was it, was it the same studio?

Yes.

Oh, so you started there and you were there all the way until last year?

Yeah. Yeah.

Wow. Okay, so that's like 12 years at the same studio. Yeah, that's amazing. So what was your schedule like, basically? Like, they would do classical ballet and then contemporary. Is that how it worked?

Or—

Yeah, basically. Yeah, we just have like— yeah, we'd have ballet, um, contemporary. Sometimes we'd have jazz, um, stretching classes, um, pointe. Contemporary. We'd have like rehearsals for competition and we'd have, you know, jazz pieces, lyrical pieces, contemporary pieces, contemporary ballet pieces. So it was a lot, but it was, it was a really great time. I really loved that studio.

So was it a lot of hours every day back then too? When did you start? Like, so 4 years old you start and you just start having, I guess, like mini, mini classes, right?

Yeah.

And then when did you start like ramping it up to daily classes? Classes?

And 9 or 10, my teacher like moved me up to like the older girls, maybe like 15, 16, 14-ish, kind of like that age range, I guess.

So you were the youngest?

Yeah, I was, I was the baby.

And how was that being like so little and being with teenagers in the same class?

It was, it was really like weird, but at the same time, like I've just like grown close with them and they've helped me. Like, they're like my older sisters. Like, I love them so much. They're a really important part of my life and I'm just like super grateful I have them. But it— I loved being with them. Like, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

They were totally accepting and nurturing of you. They weren't like jealous. No drama, huh?

No drama.

So you're not going to have a reality show. Thank goodness.

I know.

I know.

Thank goodness. That's awesome. I love to hear that dancers supporting each other like that.

Yeah, I had like a strong group of friends are still there.

So yeah, it's pretty big, right? It's like a big student body.

It's growing. It's definitely growing.

So I've heard a lot of good things about Westchester Dance Academy.

Yay!

So when you go into the school and you're up to like 5 days a week, how many hours a day training?

Probably like 20, 22, 23, 24-ish hours a week. Yeah.

Okay, so that includes Saturdays, right? Do you, do you practice on Sundays?

We had off Tuesdays and Sundays.

Okay, so in like 5 days you would do all the, like, 4 hours of dancing?

Yeah. Wow.

So how did you do your homework?

Um, I tried to I try to get as much done at school as I can, but I usually just have a late night of homework every day.

Oh, so you would stay up late and finish?

Yeah.

Uh-huh. And that's been going on since middle school? I mean, middle school is pretty easy though, right?

Yeah, no, I definitely appreciate middle school now. Being a junior, oh my gosh.

Yeah, that's one of the toughest years.

Yeah, it really is.

So you've been going on this schedule forever, it sounds like. Did you always just do it for fun? Like, was it because you just love dancing? And were there days when you didn't want to work out? Or I mean, or go to the studio? Are there days like that? I mean, in the past?

Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, sometimes. Like, it's so hard to motivate yourself when you have like so much homework or just like, you know, like all your friends are like at school, like going out and stuff. Like everyone has that sort of like FOMO. I don't know, like fear of missing out. The motivation for me was just like I knew I want— I know I want to dance, like, in my future. Like, I feel like my passion, and I just love how I feel when I'm doing it. And like, nothing else can really fill that part of my heart. So, wow.

But when did you start feeling that way? Because so let's go back to when you're 11, right? You start competition dancing. Did that bug hit you?

I think so. Yeah, definitely. I think it was just like the feeling of like being on stage and like being able to like connect with so many people like outside. Was really cool. So I really enjoyed— I, I enjoyed that aspect of it.

So you said you used to kind of hide behind the group of girls on stage. At what point, like what age, did you start to feel like, well, I'd like to be in the front?

Well, I mean, oh my God, I'm still— I still struggle with it.

Really? It's, um, yeah, that's amazing to hear that, and it's so important for people listening out there to understand that, you know, that you struggle with that even with all the stuff you've done. I mean, you've— you dance so much solo.

Yeah.

Now.

Yeah. But just like as a dancer, like being such a perfectionist, it's hard to like have like be so vulnerable and just like go in the front and center.

Uh-huh. So when did you start competing where you started? Did you start solo competition or did you— did the teacher tell you to do it? How did that come about?

So what, one of the kids that used to, well, now she's a soloist at ABT. Her name's Katherine Herland. So yeah, so she used to go to our studio and we heard about this thing called YGP. My teacher, Kelly Burke, who's amazing, I absolutely adore her. She trained me to go to YGP, which was like in the city, so super convenient. And yeah, that's one of my like big solo competitions. And how old were you? Like 10 or 11, I think.

Oh, so you were little.

Yeah, I was tiny. It was scary though, but it was fun.

And you loved it?

I did. It was just like, it was a really competitive environment, which was like scary. But just having my teacher there was really, really nice. And having just like all my support there was It really helped.

And how did you do in these competitions?

YGP, um, I got the Hope Award. Amazing. Thank you.

That's amazing. So when you were like— how old were you when you got the Hope Award?

The Hope Award? I was a— I was in the junior category, so I was probably like 14 or 13. 13 or 14.

Um, and was this before that First Position movie came out or after?

I think it was, it was way after.

I think, I guess that was a long time ago.

I think, yeah, I think so.

So when you got the Hope Award, were you surprised? Or, I mean, it sounds like when the minute your teacher picks you out when you're 9 years old and puts you in a group with 15-year-olds, you probably pretty much knew that you had something.

Oh no, I mean I think she just wanted me to like push myself, which was like super helpful and just be with older people with more experience. And it was a really good like lesson for me. And I'm, as I like grew older, I was able to do that for like other younger girls.

But she, she was able to see something in you. Like, what did you do anything different? Like you're really flexible, right? And you're also very smart and you pay attention. Like, did she tell you what she saw in you that why she wanted to move you up like that?

She appreciates the flexibility, but, um, I guess like just like technique-wise, I guess like you're a natural. I don't know, maybe.

Were you surprised when she wanted to move you up like that?

I don't remember like her specifically being like, Kayla, come here, like I'm moving you up. I think she like talked to my mom about it And then my mom was like, yeah, sure, you can move her up. And then just like the next day I was in like a different studio and she was like, you're going to be in here from now on. And I was like, okay.

Well, so it sounds like you're very adaptable. That's one of the big qualities, right? Someone who could just keep going and with change. That's a big change.

Yeah. I mean, I guess.

Yeah.

So when you got the Hope Award, that's for ballet, right?

Yeah, that was for— well, yeah, ballet and contemporary.

And which part do you like the best, ballet or contemporary?

Oh, that's hard. I guess like the way I feel doing contemporary I like best, but like ballet, the look of it, I don't know, like just like the presentation of it's really, really enjoyable.

Mm-hmm. And did you ever choreograph your own contemporary pieces, or—

um, well, my teacher Kelly Burke, she would choreograph, but I would like, as I got older, it'd be like, what do you want to do here? And I'd like incorporate some of my choreography, I guess, in there. Yeah.

And was that through— do you guys have privates there at, um, Westchester Dance Academy?

Yes.

Yeah. Okay, so that's like a big thing, right? A lot of people take private lessons now. So that's on top of studio time?

Yeah.

So like, wow, I don't know how you, um, have time for it. That's amazing.

School early sometimes, or like my dad would just like pick me up straight from school and like drive me to dance. So I think—

so now after the HOPE Award, I mean, how did you feel getting such a prestigious award?

I was I was super surprised, but I was— then like, I think my like love for ballet started growing even stronger because just the way I felt on stage doing like, I think it was Kitri, I'm not really, I'm not really sure, but I think I did Kitri. Um, yeah, just like the feeling I had on that stage was really nice, so I was like, oh, maybe I'll like do this again sometime. So my first finals I did, I did Esmeralda, and then they all start to blend in together. I know, they really do, just like the years, like I can't, but um So yeah, I did Esmeralda, which was— I think that's like my favorite variation. And I also did a contemporary ballet piece, so like Arabian Waltz. That was my first like solo moment, which was like— it was cute. I liked it.

So for people who don't know about ballet, when you do a variation, do you just work on the same thing for like a year? How long do you keep a piece?

On it. I work on the variations for— I mean, I don't start like in September, but if like YGP, I think YGP like fell in like February, so I'd start like, like November, December. So it'd be like, it'd be a good amount of training.

So is it something that you would pick or your teacher would pick for you?

I would be able to pick, but if she thought like another one would suit me better, she would tell me, but she trusted my judgment. So Oh, wow.

So had you seen the ballets or have you just seen other people perform?

I would look at Miko Fogerty.

Oh, Miko. Yes, she was in first position.

Yeah. So I just—

and now she's a microbiologist.

I know. Crazy. Yeah, I don't believe that. That's insane.

So she was kind of the person that— she was the go-to person for you to look up on YouTube.

Yeah. I was like, well, If she can do it, then maybe I can do it. Maybe it was the Asian connection.

Oh yeah, she's Japanese, right? Is she half Japanese, right? Or is she fully Japanese? I think she's half.

Yeah, maybe half.

I think she's half Japanese. And by the way, your mom was telling me you have a very interesting background. You're—

Yes, I'm a quarter Chinese, half Japanese, and a quarter Cuban. Wow.

Okay, well, that all adds up to 1. I was counting. Do you ever listen to How I Built This?

No. What is that?

It's an amazing podcast. I'm going to send you a link to it after, but, um, it's about people who make it big as an entrepreneur. And it's this, this woman they were interviewing, she grew up in Japan and she's half Japanese, and she said her parents used to tell her, you're not half Japanese and half American, you're you're double. So like, you're, you're not a half of anything. You're double. You're extra.

Right.

So you're triple. You've got 3. Yeah, that's interesting. So who's Cuban and Japanese?

My mom is full-on Japanese, and then my dad's half Chinese, half Cuban. So, wow.

Okay. So do you guys eat all different kinds of foods in your family, or?

We do. It's I love, I love the food that my mom makes and my dad.

Which culture do you think influences you the most?

Um, oh, I don't know. Well, I don't know. I just like saying I'm Cuban because I like— so like my friends when they come over, I like teach my dad in Spanish, like fluent, like, like good Spanish. And then he like, he's really good at Spanish, so like, uh-huh. They get so surprised. I'm like an Asian speaking like fluent Spanish. So it's really cool.

Do you speak Japanese as well?

I speak a little bit, but I'm not the best at it. My brother's really good.

So, but you could pick it up then, right? If you wanted to.

Yeah, I could like understand a little bit.

What about Chinese?

Mandarin? Oh, no, no, I don't know any Chinese.

So your dad grew up with more of the Cuban side?

Yeah. He knows how to say food. He knows how to say like all the food stuff. But that's about it.

I love it. I love that you have so many different cultures in your family. So going back to Miko Fogarty, so you watched her, you're like, hey, I want to do those pieces. And you get this Hope Award, which is an amazing honor. And after that, where do you go from there? What did you think? Like, do I want to do more ballet or—

Yeah, that's what like, so like that was just my question for like the past like 10 years.

Oh, uh-huh. Yeah, because Westchester Dance Academy is not a ballet school, right? It's more—

so, um, Kelly, she trained with ABT and, um, SAB. So she had, she had like both, but she also went to a competition studio with Suzy Taylor, who's a part of NYCDA. Foundation. So yeah, so she is faculty there. So Kelly had both contemporary and ballet, so that's what I wanted too. So she made a school that had both like great ballet training but also like some contemporary and jazz and just really good, um, like versatile dancers.

What did you do in the summers, by the way?

Summers, uh, when I was like itty-bitty, like maybe 9, I went to the ABT Young Dancers Intensive, and then I went to the Rock School for the summer. I went to Ellison for about like 3 summers.

Well, that's pretty intense ballet training.

Yes, very.

Uh-huh.

But most of the time I, I was at like nationals for like NYCDA and the Dance Awards.

Okay.

And they have those big classes and then they have competitions and stuff.

Yeah, it's like it's a broader broader competition with like, more like international people.

So you got to meet a lot of people in the dance world, it sounds like.

Yes, a lot.

And then did you compete every year in YAGP?

Um, not every year, but I did compete. I've been to finals maybe 4 times. Wow.

So what were the other competitions you did? Just YAGP or?

Um, YGP, I did like all the Break the Floor, um, conventions and, um, NYCDA and Onstage. This is like the sister, the sister competition of NYCDA. What else? I've done a lot.

That just sounds like so big to me, I can't even navigate it. I was trying to look at the schedule. It looks wild. It looks like a huge convention.

It really is.

And so let's get to the juicy part. How did you get on to World Dance— World of Dance?

I went to the New Orleans audition because I couldn't make it to the New York audition because it was too late. So they were like, "Hi, would you be able to go to this location?" And I was like, "I mean, yeah, sure." So I went. Well, like, I didn't really hear back from them, so like, I figured I didn't really like make it. Then the next year, I like, I was like, you know, why not? Like, I'll try out again. And during my audition, I did a contemporary pointe solo. And then I did a, like, contemporary jazz solo, like, on bare feet. I took off the pointe shoes for my contemporary jazz. And then they asked me if I could put my pointe shoes on for the contemporary jazz.

Oh my gosh.

I never practiced it like on pointe shoes, so I was kind of panicking, but I was like, you know what, like, sure, I'll do it. Like, why not? So I did that and I had to do like an 8-count.

So like on the spot?

Yeah, you just— uh-huh. Yeah. So, um, so you didn't even get to run through it or— no.

Wow.

Yeah.

So that was the second time you auditioned for World of Dance. So tell us about, um, the audition. Tell us about the first one. How did you feel? What was it like?

Do you remember your emotions and like what happens when you get there?

Is it like a huge line of people?

No, I think when you first get there, you have like an assigned time to audition because first you have to go through this whole process of online auditioning. So you send in a video of yourself dancing and then they choose from there who goes to the live audition. So fortunately, I was able to go to the live auditions and yeah, so I was super nervous. I mean, it's not like you have a team with you. It's kind of just like you dancing by yourself, so it's so scary.

And is it like in a, in a ballroom, like in a hotel or something? How does that go?

It just depended on the location, I guess. The New York one was in Brooklyn. It was just like in this like warehouse kind of thing. Uh-huh. Same, same with, um, the other location. So yeah.

And then who's judging you? Is it— it's not JLo, right?

No, no, no, no. Like, it's just some producers for the show for like NBC.

And so how long do you dance for, for these people?

A minute and a half dance. I did too. I did two pieces.

So both times you got to make it to the live audition?

Yeah.

And then the second time they asked you to do this, like, do your jazz piece en pointe?

Yes.

Just impromptu. And you're like, why not?

Yeah, I was just like, I'm here, like, I'll do it.

And then, and then did they tell you right then and there, or—

No, no, no, no, no. So you, after, after you dance, you go into another room and you have like a mock interview, kind of. They just like want to get to know you.

Oh, so they want to know that you can speak on camera?

Yeah, yeah, they just like want to get to know you better and just get a feel for your like personality and energy, I guess.

Did you prepare for that at all, or like, did you just go in cold?

I just, I just went in kind of— I was super nervous, but me and the camera guy had a lot in common, so his name was Andy. Okay.

Yeah, you like sound so bubbly and like just natural, whatever you're doing. So it sounds like you didn't really prepare or, or do anything systematic. I mean, I just went in there and you were like yourself.

My mom, my mom would be like asking me like little questions here and there, which was helpful, but I mean, you can't really like prepare for that kind of stuff because you never know what they're going to ask.

And are you somebody who speaks up in class generally? Are you an outspoken person?

I'm usually more like the shy kind of girl, I guess.

So you told me that you had some struggles even now with like performance. How do you deal with that? Like, and what do you mean by that? Is it before you go on stage? Is it like, you know, some negative thoughts that come through when you're training?

What do you—

what do you struggle with the most?

Um, I think just like confidence-wise, um, like especially like in, in like convention class where you're like compete— like not competing, but like competition dancer, like fighting for the front kind of. I do want it, like I do, I'm like hungry for it, and I like really want to learn from like these great teachers, but I feel like You know, just having the space to dance is more important than like being in the front.

Oh, wow. Okay. So these, these convention kind of classes, it's so crowded. You kind of have to fight for your space or people are trying to get up front. Yeah, I've seen pictures. Yeah, they're very crowded. Like sometimes there's like 100 people, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

That's interesting. But as far as like, as far as like being on stage for competitions or this whole world of dance, I mean, had you ever been on TV before?

Never ever.

That's insane.

I did, I did the Ellen Show with Dancerpalooza, which is like part of like the Break the Floor Productions, but that was like with a group. But I've never like been on TV like by myself.

But you did, you do YAGP where you were alone on stage?

Yes.

Uh-huh.

And then now you get to World of Dance and basically you are like the two combined.

It's like Ellen Show and YGP combined, right? Right.

And plus millions of people watching, right? But you didn't really like think about that, right?

I mean, I did. I was really nervous. Like, oh my gosh, you have no idea. Like, my heart rate would go like up to like, oh my gosh, like I couldn't breathe sometimes. It was so like scary, but I had my teacher Kelly and all my support back at home. Like, I had my other teachers like Grace Buckley, Chris Hale, Derek, and just like all of my teachers supporting me and all my friends at my studio supporting me too, which is really awesome.

When you're talking about like you couldn't catch your breath and your heart is like beating out of your chest, when is that happening? Is that right before you go on? Is it the the whole time.

You know how the dancers like run out into like the— onto the stage?

Uh-huh.

So you'd like have to wait like at the, at the mouth of the bridge and like just kind of like wait there. Uh-huh. And just like anticipate until I guess it's like, next up it's— and then we go on. But it's, uh, it's so scary. But when you have people like cheering you on and stuff, like it's like a really nice energy, like The audience, the audience at World of Dance was like, I think, the best audience like I could ever ask for. Like, it was just— I think most of the dancers on the show can agree with me too. Just like a really great atmosphere they gave to us. Yeah, like they were just super, super supportive.

So take us onto that bridge, whatever you're talking about, the mouth of the bridge where you're standing on the side. So you're standing there You know, you have to go on in a few minutes and you're just waiting and, and you've done this before at YAGP, but this is different because you're dancing in front of— well, I know J.Lo. Who else was there?

Derek Hough and Ne-Yo.

Right.

I saw it too. I mean, you were amazing. Spectacular.

Yeah.

So you're standing there on that bridge and what's going through your mind? Can you take us there with you?

I just I— okay, yeah, so I was basically just like thinking about my piece and I do a little prayer and then I just run on.

So when you say you're thinking about your piece, are you running it in your head?

Yeah, I'm just like going over the music and just like remembering all the corrections that my choreographers like Kelly and Grace gave, and they were super helpful along the way. So, uh-huh. Yeah.

And when— are you marking it, or are you just thinking mentally through it?

No, I'd be marking it, or I'd just like be shaking out my nerves too and just taking deep breaths.

Okay. All right. So that sounds like a method. And then you do a little prayer. Which prayer do you do?

Like, please let me do well and everyone else. And then I'm like, amen, let's go.

Okay, so thank you for sharing that. I mean, that's so interesting to know, like, what is going through your mind when you're standing there about to go on for something like that. I have studied and I teach, um, the science of resilience and like trying to perform at your best and managing your mind. And it sounds like you're doing all those things very naturally. Like, did anybody ever lead you to, um, do these little routines and rituals when you're on the side about to go on stage, or did you just figure that out yourself?

I mean, I think I figured it out by myself, I guess, but like a lot of like my goal setting and stuff, like so many of my teachers have helped me with. Um, I can give you some names. Okay, let me give you some names. Um, let's see, uh, Jolene Thierry, who's like a part of the New York City Dance Alliance. He's helped me tremendously, and so has like Kelly Burke, Grace Buckley, Chris Hale, Derek, Stacy Tookie, Francisco Gela. Oh my God, just so many people I'm like so grateful for.

Wow.

Yeah, it's like that, that whole story, like it takes a village, and it sounds like you had a village of supporters.

I really did. I really did. And I'm so grateful for that.

I mean, obviously you inspire them too, you know, you seem to have so many natural, um, resilience skills that you just seem to do naturally, you know, like being grateful for people who helped you along the way. I mean, that's one of the exercises that they've actually studied.

Yeah.

So they'll give it as an exercise to increase happiness, you know? So they've studied that, like how often do you write like a gratitude letter or thank somebody for something they've done for you. Have you ever heard of that?

Yeah. My, my teacher Chris Hale would have us journal, which was really helpful.

And like, wow, that's so interesting. So your dance teacher had you journal?

Yeah, he'd, he'd say, like, get your notebooks and we'd just, like, journal about, like, how we could grow as dancers and as, like, artists. Wow.

So you had, like, a very well-rounded mentorship. That's amazing. That's really cool, actually. I'm so surprised to hear that. And, and it's amazing that they would do that at a dance school. So they're taking care of your whole, like, mind and body.

Yes, definitely.

And now let's talk about how you deal with the schedule.

Oh my.

So how do you deal with your mind? Like, you know, so many people out there, me included sometimes. I mean, we, you know, will hit the snooze button or like, we're procrastinating. And it sounds like you almost have no room to procrastinate.

I mean, yeah, I think just like the busy dance schedule, like, even though like sometimes it's really tough and you just don't want to do it, but it really helps you like in your future. I think just having that like time management and just, yeah, just like that determination just to like get things done, but like at the highest quality, it's really important. And like, for me, like right now with this quarantine thing, it's just awful because like, mm-hmm, I feel like I'm not dancing as much even though I'm like trying to. But just like the feeling of like not accomplishing something, you're just like not like really like, like you set a goal for yourself and it like doesn't really like happen instantly, which I know like it doesn't happen instantly, but just like daily goals and like, I want to do this today and you don't get it done. It just kind of like, it's tough. Like, I don't like the feeling of me like not being active every day or like not like working hard every day. Like, I just don't like that feeling. So I don't know, I guess that's just like some weird thing I have in me.

So you like to go, go, go physically?

Yeah. I mean, sometimes I'm like, okay, let me like take a break. Like, maybe today we'll just like watch a movie. But like, It's weird. Like, I just, I don't know, I like, like, especially like with conventions and stuff, like just having that, like just from class to class and like sweating, like I love sweating and like, just working hard. It's, it's a good feeling to have.

So would you call yourself like a fidgety, antsy person if you don't, you can't move?

I think so, honestly.

Uh-huh.

I mean, I think all my friends can agree that like 24/7, I'm like, dancing in some way, like at school.

Wow. Okay, so you dance at school too?

Yeah, sometimes when I'm bored.

You've chosen to go to regular school throughout the day where most— a lot of dancers at this age, like 15, 16, they decide to move away and either go to a school where it's just dance or they have a, you know, combination or they do online school. So how, how did you decide that and how are you keeping that up?

I'm so glad I stayed at school, honestly. I think as a person, it's helped me so much. Just like, I feel like in this situation right now, like the dancers that like didn't really get that like full schooling, like environment, it's hard for them. Now, like what if a company like has to fire some people and then they have to go find jobs? And I think for me, education is so important.

You mean like Plan B, like having an education?

Yes, having an education is super important.

But what kept you from going to an online school where you'd probably have much less physical time that you have to spend at school?

I love the social interaction of it. Like right now with this whole distance learning, remote learning, I really don't enjoy it because I don't get to see my friends. I don't get to talk to like other people and like get their ideas and like just like play off of that. But yeah, so I think it's kind of hard, but I mean, I guess this is what homeschooling life is like.

So it sounds like you're a very social person.

I mean, okay, in like in a sense I am, but like if I choose to talk, it's like important. You know, I don't like talk to talk. I just kind of like, I don't know, I'm not the most talkative person at school.

Okay. On TV you came off so outgoing.

Okay, that's good. Yeah.

You didn't feel like that inside though?

I'm just— I never like feel like I'm like super outgoing. Like Ayden, he's a really good friend of mine. He's super outgoing. He was on the show. Yeah, he was super talented, but super outgoing. And just like super brave to just like puts himself out there. And I try to do that, like I try to like put myself out there in a sense, but it's hard. It's hard.

I mean, I would say that making that video for Teen Vogue was pretty much putting yourself out there.

No, definitely.

That took a lot of courage, I think. Do you, do you think of that as courageous?

I mean, I guess I was just like, in my mind I was like, wow, it's Vogue, like let me just go go for it. Like, you know, Anna Wintour is gonna see this. No, I'm kidding.

I was— maybe she will, for sure. So, um, you love the social aspect, so you stayed in school even though it meant that you'd have to have like this more grueling schedule. And so when did you start commuting to the city? Last year?

This This is my first year commuting.

Oh my gosh. So you chose junior year when you're having like the biggest workload.

And sometimes I'm like, wow, what a mistake. But then I'm like, you know what?

Like, I'm getting such great—

I feel like I'm getting such great training. So I'm like, I'm happy with it.

Did you ever like cry?

Oh, multiple times.

Oh, okay.

Like doing ACT homework. Oh, bawling.

Like bawling.

And how do you get yourself out of that?

Food. Like, I don't know, I just like, I'm like, you know what, let me just have like, I don't know, like maybe just a little bit of ice cream right now just to make me a little bit happier and get my mood up.

It sounds like you know how to like talk to yourself.

Yeah, I talk to myself a lot.

Do you?

That's funny. Yeah. So you like get yourself out of a rut, you motivate yourself. What are the words that you say to yourself when you're just like, oh my gosh, I can't take the train again, it's freezing outside, I don't want to I want to just go to bed. What are you saying to yourself?

I usually just like say like, don't worry, Kayla, like in a couple hours you'll be home. Okay, you'll see your friends. Or like, I usually listen to like some like happy music to get your mood up, I guess.

What's your favorite happy music?

Oh my gosh, well, I listen to like a lot of rap, but like, who's your favorite rapper? Uh, either like Drake or Lil Mosey. Like, oh, Ruel.

Uh-huh.

Like Australian singer. He's amazing. He's like my age, which is like super cool.

Yeah.

Do you ever dance to that stuff?

I mean, I— yeah, like in my room, sure. Or like—

but like contemporary, maybe you could do something.

Maybe I can. I don't know. Maybe I'll try it during this like coronacation thing.

Oh, coronacation. I haven't heard that.

Yeah, that's what That's what me and my friends have been calling it.

Is that like a TikTok thing?

Maybe. I don't really know. TikTok's so addicting though.

I have zero followers, but I put up two videos.

Oh my gosh.

How is this corona thing? I mean, it's obviously keeping you in. You're no longer able to go to class. So what's your workout routine? What are you doing to keep that up?

Yeah, so I wake up. I try to wake up like the same time I wake up for school or like when school starts. So I don't wake up at like 12. Like, I, I can't do that. So yeah, I usually wake up at around like 7:30, 7:15. Um, and then I go downstairs, I do my homework, I snack a little here and there. I'm trying to eat as healthy as possible, as possible, but it's hard.

So what's your healthy— what's your idea of healthy as possible?

Like salads and like grapes or like fruit. I don't know. I've been eating a lot of oranges.

Yes, those are great for lung function too.

So yeah, yeah, so I've been eating a lot of those, but I don't know.

So you're not eating pepperoni pizza every night?

No, I wish, but no.

Was your mom like, why, why are you eating pepperoni pizza on that?

I know my mom was like so scared that my teacher was gonna get mad, but she was like, I thought it was hilarious. And I was like, thank God.

But that, that's not how you eat all the time, right?

I mean, I, I watch what I eat, but I'm not super like tedious about it. So I just like eat normal, I guess. Yeah.

You eat your vegetables and fruit on top of the ice cream and the pizza. You don't have a studio and you don't have like a Marley dance floor. How are you getting your work and workouts?

Well, I've just been doing bars. I've been doing like cardio, like jumping jacks, all these, like, oh, I've been doing so many planks. It's kind of insane.

Have you added any other kinds of workouts in, for example, like running outside or cardio?

I should run outside, but the thing, I just have, like, I don't know why I'm really bad at running. I don't know why.

How can you be bad at running?

I'm just so clumsy. Like, I'll probably trip on something.

No, don't do that. But do you feel like you get a lot of aerobic training? You get very short bursts of high aerobics, but then you don't have like the long, like, aerobic training, right? Like, um, do you think that would help?

I think it would. Maybe I should. Yeah, no, I think I should go for a run.

Yeah.

Maybe you can figure out some ways to cross-train at this point. Do you ever get injured?

Like, knock on wood, I haven't gotten injured this year, like, at all. So—

but you have had injuries, right? Like any other dancer.

Yeah.

And how do you deal with those injuries in those times? How do you come back and how do you condition for that?

Hard.

But I usually just like stretch a lot. Like, I think that's the most important thing. It's like when you don't stretch, then your muscles just get so tight and then it's so hard to like come back from that. So just like definitely stretching and like just keeping strong. Um, if it's like, like sometimes I have like hip injuries, so then like I can't really do as like high of a leg or like just— I think resting is so important for muscles. So yeah.

And do you do cross-training? In general?

Do I cross-train?

Yeah, in general. So you don't lift weights or anything, right?

I don't, but I do a lot of like— I try to do some push-ups. I don't have like the strongest upper body, but I mean, I can, I can do push-ups, I guess.

So you're sticking to a routine, and you know, some kids like get school done so much faster at home. Is that you?

No, I— oh my gosh, it's so difficult. Like, my school's giving out like a amount of homework, so I've just been trying to get it done as fast as I can, but it's, it's tough. It's hard.

Do you feel stressed from all of this going on? Obviously. I mean, I know it's an obvious question.

Uh-huh.

What's your biggest worry about this, um, pandemic?

That like it won't end and I'm gonna be home. Like, I'm like, I love my family, like it's great, but like, you know, like sometimes like you need to get out with you like your friends and like other people.

How do you process all of this and stay upbeat?

I think I just like rely on my family to keep me upbeat. My brother and my sister really help me and like sometimes my mom and dad, but you know.

So you're close with your siblings?

Yeah, yeah, I definitely am. It's—

they're, they're great.

I love my family.

You're the middle child, right?

I am. I am.

And how does that work out?

Honestly, okay, there's like stereo— not stereotypes, but like sayings that like the middle child child gets like the least amount of attention, but like I think it's opposite for me. I have too much attention.

You got the most attention.

I know, and I'm not like— I'm not a huge fan of it, I'm not gonna lie. I'm like, concentrate on the other ones, please.

Like, sometimes it could be a little overwhelming.

It can, but I mean, I'm super grateful that like my parents like support what I want, so like it's, it's cool, but You know, and so let's talk about that.

What do you want? So you are— I heard that you're more serious about getting classical ballet training now. Is that true?

Yeah, especially just like this time. I think like this was my opportunity to like just get more ballet training and I just want to see like what ballet school is like. Like I've never been to like an actual ballet school for like a whole year and like not having contemporary as much. It's super, it's really different, but I'm enjoying it.

I mean, as all ballet dancers, you're just very regimented and hardworking and you're self-motivated and you can deal with a lot of, you know, pain, like emotional and physical, right? Like dancers.

Yeah.

When you see yourself in the future after all this, knock on wood, the pandemic is over, What do you want to see for yourself at the other side of it?

Hopefully like a professional dancer in a company getting paid to dance. Yeah, just like living with no regrets and, you know, just living the life, you know.

You want to go on to a professional company. That's your dream?

Yes.

Like ballet or like contemporary ballet, but I'm open. Open to anything right now.

If there wasn't dance, what would it be? Because I meet a lot of prodigies like you who are so talented at such a young age and they achieve so much. My question to them is, what else do you think you would have done? And my theory is that you guys would be great at almost anything you choose to do.

I wouldn't be a history teacher. I'm not gonna be honest with you. I'm not.

That's not my best subject.

Okay, not history, but what about something else? Almost all of this, what you've done and accomplished, has to do with a lot of hard work.

I don't know. My guidance teacher asked me the same question. I was like, uh, I don't know. Like, if I were to go to college, not for dance, I don't know. I think like psychology is a really cool thing. I'm taking AP Psychology right now. And I think it's super interesting.

What do you like about it?

Just like the reasons why we do things is really cool.

Uh-huh.

Just like how we like kind of trick ourselves, like, like how we— like there's this thing called like hindsight bias where like if you hear like a scientist saying like scientist research says that and then blah blah blah, like you like instantly believe that even though it's totally— it could be like totally false. Like, your brain just kind of like tricks itself and says like, oh, it's from a scientist, so of course it's right. Like, I'm not surprised by this like finding. Yeah, so we do like a lot of those in psych, which is like really awesome, but it's a super hard class.

So, so like, it's kind of like the halo effect they talk about. Did you ever hear that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

If a doctor is wearing a white coat and a stethoscope, then they tell you to exercise and quit smoking you're much more likely to believe or change your behavior with that versus somebody who just like tells— like your sister or your mom telling you to do it, right?

Yeah.

I think that's like so interesting.

And how do you apply the psychology to your life?

Self-imaging is like really important, um, in psychology and like child development. So when you're a baby, like you don't want like your parent to be doing all the work for you. So like, to like pick up a spoon and stuff, you want your kid to like have the confidence to like pick, say like, I can do this by myself. Um, which I think is like really cool because like, I don't know, I feel like in my community like a lot of the kids like sometimes like reliant on their, um, parents.

Generation of kids, a lot of the parents are doing a lot of things for them sometimes.

Yeah, like emailing the teacher and like my school right now is promoting like self-advocacy and like wanting us to speak up for ourselves, which is like, yeah. So it's cool.

So are you doing that for yourself now? I mean, you're very independent. You go to the city by yourself every day.

Yeah, I do a lot of my own stuff, but sometimes I need help from my parents, which is fine. They're super helpful.

If you could improve anything in your life in the upcoming year, what would you work on?

Definitely my confidence and like my decision making, making a decision and like being happy with it and just like trying to pick the right one. Yeah, I think like that's what I'd love to accomplish this year.

Are you referring to like all the opportunities you're being given recently? Yeah. So tell us about those. What are you choosing? Are you choosing where to go in the summer and stuff?

Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm like having the most trouble like deciding.

Is it the locations and the different types of programs?

Yeah, definitely. I don't want one decision to like affect a whole different other things, you know?

And you, you just love everything. It's like you love all the dance programs.

Exactly. I love everything, so it's so hard to grasp it all, but I think any, any choice I make is a good one, and I'm just super grateful I actually have those opportunities waiting for me.

So, so again, thank you so much.

No, thank you. I had—

for being here with me. And Kayla, you're an amazing person. You're a beautiful dancer. You're so wise, so cool to talk to, and I think you're pretty outgoing.

Oh, thank you.

I'm gonna label you as social and outgoing. Yes. I don't like to label people, but I think you're, you know, you're so genuine. You just have this warmth about you, and you know, it's gonna take you places.

Oh, thank you so much.

Are people like recognizing you from the show?

This lady from like the subway, I think, like, she just like came up to me one day. She was like, my daughter watches you, like, can I get a picture? I was like, of course. I love that. So yeah, I love knowing that like I've inspired people. Like, it gives me chills. I, I absolutely adore it.

So do you. You are inspiring.

Oh, thank you.

I want to send you like really big virtual hugs.

Oh, me too. I hope all your family's safe and stuff.

You too, stay safe. And I can't wait to see you in person again.

Yes, definitely.

And, uh, we're gonna, you know, you and I can work on some of those decision-making things.

Oh my gosh, yes please.

Absolutely. Absolutely, we're gonna do that.

I had a really fun time.

Thank you so much for listening and strengthening those neuronal resilience connections in your brain. I know it's a mouthful. That's my inner science geek just telling you that you're changing your brain and boosting your resilience just by listening, reflecting, and learning. Email me at info@mindbodyspace.com if you have questions you'd like answered on the podcast, or if you do you have guests that you'd like to suggest? Most importantly, please share this podcast with your friends, family, and anyone who could use an immune boost and resilience right now. Go to mindbodyspace.com and sign up to get your free PDF on 3 Steps to Focus. Until next time, this is Dr. Juna wishing you and your loved ones wellness.