O
Athlete of the Month:
Kylee Hart
ne of the hardest careers
to pave through is the
career of a dancer. A majority of the dancers I’ve met are either working a side job to fuel their passion of dancing or teaching young dancers who aspire to one day be just like them. Not many get hired on as company dancers for a well known dance company. A dream for so many that rarely get a chance for such an opportunity. Kylee Hart, an Edmonton ballerina dancing for Citie Ballet, is the exception.
WD: Tell us a little bit about yourself, what got you to start with ballet?
KH: I started dancing when I was about 6 years old by taking classes the same way most other kids did - my mom put me in. At the age of 12 was when I started taking ballet more seriously.. That was around the age I knew this was something I wanted to pursue. I trained in all dance styles and participated in competitions growing up including ballet, tap, modern, jazz, and musical theatre. Once I graduated, I spent a year training at the Goh Ballet School in Vancouver before receiving a contract with Citie Ballet.
WD: That is quite a journey! Do you have any upcoming performances?
KH: With Citie Ballet, we have 3 main stage performances in each of our 30 week seasons.
WD: Amazing! So how long have you been a part of citiballet?
KH: I'm going into my fourth season with the company.
WD: What an inspiring journey through dance you’ve had so far. What is one of the most challenging things you face when it comes to dance thus far?
KH: This always sounds weird to people who are non-dancers, My feet. I don't have super flexible ankles which certainly isn’t typical for ballet dancers. I have had to work extremely hard to improve them, but you can only do so much before it comes down to the way your bones are structured. I remember I was an an audition once, I was about 13 and I heard them say "she's good but she doesn't have the feet". That was something I had a really hard time dealing with when I was young because it was something that I couldn't just 'work on'.
Now that I'm older and more experienced, I'm more equipped to be able to shake it off. I know that it pushed me to work that much harder to make it to where I am today.
Shout out to Rosalyn Fung of Holistic Body Love here in Edmonton. She's a huge advocate of self-love and taught me a thing or two about confidence!
Photographer: Martine Martell