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Audrey Ehlers - “Dancer Turns Childhood Dream into Reality” [Katrinka Stayton
Dancer turns childhood dream into reality by J1 Reporter Audrey Ehlers
Many kids have grand aspirations when they are asked what they want to be when they are older. Astronaut, soccer player, singer, and ballerina are all a typical response. Often, these dreams form into more realistic careers that are easier to pursue. But for Katrinka Stayton, her childhood aspiration became a reality. Ever since sixth grade, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in dance. Now, as a dance instructor and choreographer at Heartland Conservatory of Dance in Omaha, she did exactly that. Katrinka Stayton grew up in Omaha and trained at Ballet Omaha up until she was 18. Although she did not major in dance in college, she did not let it prevent her from pursuing it. She obtained her first career at Central Dance Theatre and it still holds a special place in her heart. Through that career, she met some amazing people from different states and even some dancers from New York City Ballet. The hardest aspect at the beginning of her job was being short and considered “fat”. “One director literally said to me, ‘I would hire you but you need to lose 15 pounds,’ I was 115 pounds at the time,” Stayton said. Despite this, Stayton has still managed to successfully continue her dance career. Her husband Taylor Stayton has similarly obtained a unique career as an opera singer. She said that through his career, hers has been allowed to grow. He travels nine months out of the year, and if Stayton is not working, then she is traveling with him. She has been to at least eight countries and this is where she attains some of her biggest inspirations for her work. She said that each place has their own thing with a different culture and unique aspects, which inspires her and helps her grow as an artist. Besides traveling, she likes to cook, garden, and work out, but pursuing other hobbies is difficult because “dance really encompasses my whole life.” On an everyday basis, Stayton teaches from 3 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. at Heartland Conservatory of Dance. She teaches around 20 dance classes a week, and during the day will pick up some gigs working as a pilates instructor. The majority of her day before teaching is spent preparing for classes by creating choreography and class plans, registering
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for competitions, and organizing shows. She calls it, “a lot of behind the scenes stuff that no one really thinks about or realizes how it gets done.” Her favorite aspect of teaching is the kids, specifically being able to watch them grow as dancers and as humans. When asked what her favorite style of dance is, she said it’s not necessarily what, but who: “I love a motivated class, no matter what style it is - it’s hard to teach kids who aren’t motivated.” More specifically, she loves to teach 8 to 12 year olds because they’re really hard working, dedicated, want to get better, want to be there, and that’s where she sees the most progress. Being a teacher, she has a lot of people to please. Notably parents, who are sometimes a struggle. “Parents want their kids in front, but some simply aren’t ready - it doesn’t matter and doesn’t define the dancer,” Stayton said. Another difficult aspect of being a teacher is being someone that kids look up to daily. Stayton said, “There’s a lot of self doubt - it’s hard to know if I’m doing the right thing and making the right decisions. I just need to trust my gut and be honest with my intentions and treat everybody like they’re willing and deserving to be something great.” Stayton’s mindset of teaching everybody as if they can do something great is what makes her an inspirational teacher who her students gladly look up to. She sees the potential in every single student and makes them feel like they are worth something and capable of anything if they put the work forward. This mindset that she reflects upon her students is the same mindset that she used to get her career where it is today. Stayton’s love for dance is what continuously pushes her to keep going. She doesn’t have one specific person or influence, rather her emotions at the time are her biggest inspiration. Her current feelings motivate an abundance of her choreography: “I don’t have to focus on anything else - just the present moment.” The most discouraging thing to her is wanting to make her career bigger. “It’s hard seeing people who aren’t as talented or look different than you that get jobs. It’s about who you know and there’s always regrets of having done something differently,” Stayton said. She wishes she had stayed in New York City longer or had gotten a mentor to have helped guide her. Overall, Nebraska is not the ideal state to pursue a dance career because there is only so far one can go with it. If she were to strengthen her career, she would want to move to Europe because arts are highly appreciated there because they are funded by the government. A creator has complete control over their art because there are no private institutions or donors controlling it with expectations of how it should look. Besides this large dream, her day-to-day goal is to simply keep working. Stayton said, “With dance, it’s about the longevity. One by one people fall out - it’s not a career for the faint of heart. I want to keep pushing, learning and innovating.”
Katrinka Stayton dancing on the roof of the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
