Name: Kayla McClellan
Hometown: Lakeland, Florida
Year: Junior
Age: 20
Major: Dance
Minor: Anthropology
Relationship Status: Single
Her Campus (HC): First things first, are you the realest?
Kayla McClellan (KM): Well absolutely, I’m the realest.
HC: What’s cooler than being cool?
KM: Ice f*cking cold.
HC: Your love for dance is pretty real and abundantly cool. What started your interest in dance?
KM: I started dancing when I was four. But I did a bunch of other activities as well, lots of school clubs and musical theatre. I tried everything, but I didn’t get serious about making dance my career until like 7th grade. So before that it was pretty recreational.
HC: Do you have any big performances lined up for this semester?
KM: There’s a performance coming up on November 6 and 7. One piece is a restaging of Alex Ketley’s project called “Poem.” Alex Ketley is the artistic director at The Foundry Dance Company in San Francisco. He cast a handful of dancers, including me, from the FSU School of Dance to rehearse for the restaging in November. The rest of the pieces in the performance are choreographed by our faculty.
HC: What could we find you doing when you’re outside of FSU’s School of Dance?
KM: I honestly just enjoy getting out in the sunlight whenever I have the chance. I love this place called Indian Rocks Mound. But if I do go out at night, it’s usually at house parties rather than clubs. I like to spend as much time with my friends outside of dance as possible. Having some work-life balance is important.
HC: I’ve met a few people that think dancing isn’t a sport. How do you feel about that?
KM: I personally see it as athleticism and not necessarily the definition of what a sport would be. Depending on what field of dance you’re in, it’s not quite a competition like in a typical sports atmosphere. But we’re really as athletic as any sports team. What’s interesting in dance is that you have to be able to work at all capacities. Usually in sports you have to focus on one thing, like using your arm to throw a ball or using your legs to run. Dancers have to be able to articulate strength and endurance in all parts of our bodies at once. Jumping, running, slow motion, fast motion – you have to adapt to what each choreographer wants. It’s crazy stuff. On top of all that we have to look good while we’re doing it.
HC: What are your dream plans after graduation?
KM: My ideal situation would be to join a company as soon as possible; one that travels internationally but isn’t focused on the proscenium stage [a large theatre]. I’m not interested in that kind of work. I want to be with a company that’s more focused on audience involvement, interdisciplinary arts and philanthropy work that ties into different communities. I’m not interested in dance that’s hierarchical and forgets the dancer is a person.
HC: Tell me a few things that inspire you. Places, people, music, anything that comes to mind!
KM: Honestly, just existing is incredible. I’m going to sound like such a hippie but I just want to remember that I’m a person. In the dance world we put so much value on somebody as a “dancer” and not as a human being. I’m just somebody exploring what the human body can do. But I really get inspiration from everything – the good, the bad and the times I’m most vulnerable. Everything I do outside the School of Dance influences what I do as dancer. It’s a holistic approach to the art form.
HC: Which early 2000s music video would you rather have danced in? “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé or “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync?
KM: Definitely “Bye Bye Bye.” I’ve had that memorized since I was a little kid. I had it on Darrin’s Dance Grooves DVD. He taught you all the moves and you could dance along at the end.