Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mikayla Kapri. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mikayla , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
At a young age I knew I wanted dance to play a major role in my life. I always enjoyed working behind the scenes in creating a dance performance/being part of the design aspect. However, my biggest passion is being a dance teacher. I am able to be a creative while teaching middle schoolers. I wake up everyday and think “gosh I really get to do something I love for work, this is my literal dream job.” I get to go to my school sites and create new pieces that challenges students to push the limits with their movement and support them mentally. I get asked quite a few times by my students if I have another job, because they do not realize that it is possible to make a sustainable career in dance, let alone something that they are deeply passionate about. So when they ask me about having another job or a “regular job,” I think how I would never give up this job to go to a desk job or something in customer service (food industry/retail). Before I became a full time teacher at Fresno Unified School District, I worked at Forever 21 for four years during undergrad, I think back to how demanding that job is mentally in comparison to my current job. Though being a teacher/creative has it’s moments, to be back at Forever 21 or any other “regular job,” would be challenging mentally. My mom told me that “you will never work a day in your life, if you are doing what you love,” I definitely am living that out.
Mikayla , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a professional dancer, choreographer, and a teacher from Fresno, CA. As a Black, Filipino, and Mexican woman, my calling is to create works that are a direct reflection of my own personal experiences. I present my ethnic background as the main guide to help guide my movement. By implementing movement from the African diaspora, the celebration of life within the Chicano community, and the spiritual movement from my Filipino culture, I share the importance of cultural identity with the viewer, while highlighting the internal pathways that each background and their effect on the individual. I strive for my unique flow of movement to resonate with each audience member by offering rich works that are influenced by the constant dialogue of body experiences and the internal avenues of identity.
I have performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for the ACDA (American College Dance Association) National Gala 2017. Along with, B2K during their Millennium Tour, Grizzly Fest, and other shows. Asides from stage work, I have been featured in several music videos with artists that range from Bollywood to Rap. I currently work as a dance teacher for two middle schools within Fresno Unified School District.
My commitment as an educator, dancer, and artist is to uphold a space for bodies to feel safe and honest. As an African American, Mexican, and Filipino woman, I am the representation that I did not have as a young learner, for the next generation of dancers and learners. I graduated from California State University of Fresno with my BA in Theater Arts – Dance in 2017. I just graduated with my MFA in Dance from Saint Mary’s College of California, last year. My ultimate goal is pursue a career at the collegiate level.
I’ve been dancing for 22 years, I am currently 28, and have been teaching for a total of 12 years. I am trained in hip hop, jazz, contemporary, modern, and ballet.
Something that I am most proud of is my thesis performance. I created a 30 minute piece that explored how panic attacks show up within the body and how I used those movements to find relief. It started with a compilation of panic attacks that I was experience, this video was being played on the audience’s personal devices. (They scanned a QR code prior to the show). Then it moved from the video to stage work. Then ended with a video projection on the backdrop of the theater. My thesis topic was about, how can the physical attributes of a panic attack help create movement while on the other hand, how can the choreographic process help relieve a panic attack. I will be coming up on a year since I premiered this piece, I have continued creating work that shed light on mental health issues and how we work on them and how we decide not to work on them. I’ve put this work on Aleňo Dance Project, alongside Alexandra Tiscareno (Founder and Director).
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Something that I had to unlearn was the idea of perfection and I am still working on unlearning. With having a studio and a competitive soccer back, making sure that everything was perfected to a T. It wasn’t until I started grad school I began to unlearn the idea of perfection and that perfection is unattainable. I am understanding that gaining perfection is halting the possible growth that I can have. I know I can always work on something and not be stuck in this competitive mindset of being perfect and being the best. Rather than acknowledging that it is okay with where I am at and that I can learn from other minds.
I recently was having a conversation with a close friend about how I don’t give myself enough credit or grace when I should. That this stems from trying to be the best and moving onto the next thing that I need to perfect. I was expressing how that is hurting my creative process, my mental, and journey in anything I do. Instead of striving for perfection, I want to strive for a deeper understanding of my craft.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I think since I am a women of color I did not have a lot of people that looked like me growing up in creative space, especially dance spaces. My goal is to be that representation for younger creatives. Along with providing a dance education that isn’t hierarchal and doesn’t have a eurocentric ideology. All styles of dance are equally the same, one is not greater than the other. A lot of this mission stems from being a person of color in a ballet world and unable to get my hair to correct way or never had access to my skin tone tights or leotards. Then when I became trained in hip hop, I was placed in a box and people had forgotten that I am classically trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and modern. Hip Hop matched my skin color. I want my students to know that you can come from a rural or underprivileged background and be a prima ballerina while also breaking it down in a cypher circle. Dance is something that connects us with each other, and having this eurocentirc ideology of ballet being that prominent style (above all) is wrong.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mikaylakapri.com/
- Instagram: @mikaylakapri
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikayla-davis-b6387913a/
Image Credits
Dhani Del Toro (for the ones in the field) Aleson and Devin Photography (Graduation pictures)