Coming out of the pandemic, Kai Perkins auditioned for a spot in the summer intensive at the School of American Ballet. She had an ulterior motive. She hoped to impress the instructors so much that they’d offer her a spot in SAB’s four-year pre-professional program.
Her mom, Katie Perkins, got the call.
“When she got the offer, they call the parents first,” Perkins related. “I knew straightaway that she was going. That was pretty easy.”
Easy?
The School of American Ballet lies in the heart of Manhattan and students live in dorms on residence hall floors in Lincoln Center.
“I was actually very excited for her,” Perkins said. “It’s what she wanted. I think as a parent, when your kid’s happy, you’re happy. When they’re achieving their goals, you’re happy for them. So it was actually easier than I thought, from a mother’s side.”
The School for American Ballet is the incubator for New York City Ballet. Each enrollee aspires to get an apprenticeship with the company when they graduate. It’s virtually impossible to get into New York City Ballet any other way.
But this opportunity meant that Perkins would have to watch her daughter’s high school and pre-professional career from a distance — 1,250 miles away to be exact.
“She only comes home really about eight weeks a year,” said Perkins. “It’s kind of like college. The longest period of time is the month of August. So if not, it’s just kind of intermittent weeks. Of course, I go up for performances or different things they have at the school.”
Of course, they text and enjoy Facetime.
Perkins says sacrificing personal time with her daughter is a price she’s gladly paid to give Kai a shot at a career as a principal dancer, possibly at New York City Ballet.
“When you get to this point, it has to be them,” said Perkins. “It has to be something that they want, and it has to be self-led. It’s kind of like when you’re going to college, it’s about you. It’s not really as much about mom, I would say.”
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Katie Perkins owns and operates TATE Salon on Gladiolus Drive. She never danced. Her parents, both teachers, made her take piano. “That went nowhere,” Perkins chuckled.
Her closest connection to the arts is as a hairdresser.
“Some would say that’s the arts.”
So it seemed unlikely she’d have a daughter who’s an emerging ballet star.
When Kai was 5, Perkins was looking for something for her daughter to do. They’d sampled gymnastics and dance camps. Kai preferred the latter and was going to dance lessons one day a week. On Saturdays. Strictly for recreation.
“The head of the board [of Gulfshore Ballet] at the time was a client of mine in the salon, and she was basically like you should send her to Gulfshore,” Perkins recalled. “I didn’t really know if long term I felt like that was where I wanted to see my daughter, to be honest with you. I felt that Gulfshore was serious. Their marketing and branding were that they were trying to produce career dancers, but in the United States artists and dancers don’t normally make livable wages."
However, the discipline associated with ballet appealed to her, so Perkins decided to have Kai give Gulfshore Ballet a try.
“I started her there one day a week,” Perkins continued. “She liked it. What she liked most were the performances."
She loved the performances. The lessons and rehearsals, not so much.
“I hear parents say often, ‘Well, they’re not having fun and if they’re not having fun, then why am I giving effort to drive and pay, and so they kind of like drop out of it. When I hear that, I think to myself, if I pick up the guitar, I’m not Lynyrd Skynyrd, right? Whenever you’re learning something in a fundamental way, until you’ve mastered the technique, which takes time, they say 10 years, I knew there would be times when she would want to not do it anymore or say she wanted to quit. And she did [say that]. But every time we would get to a performance, then she loved it and wanted to continue.”
While quitting was always on the table, Perkins wanted Kai to stick it out, at least until she was a little older.
“I thought to myself when she gets to be 10 or 12, at that point, now it’s a three-day commitment,” Perkins explained. “Now it’s more intense. At that point in time, if she’s still feeling like she doesn’t have the love and passion for it, then I would say alright, let’s find something else. Until then, I kind of wanted to push her through that time where it’s not fun when you’re learning the foundation.”
By the time she was entering her teens, Kai was beginning to progress beyond the barre and was doing the turns and steps the older girls were doing.
“And at that point I could see a change in her. Suddenly, she’s like, ‘I love this. This is what I want to be doing.’ So, I’m glad I kind of encouraged her to stick with it. As a mom, you kind of look at your kid and you kind of know what’s best for them. Through any journey in life, there’s ups and downs with that process. She had it too.”
It was around that time that Kai began floating the idea of attending the School of American Ballet.
The School of American Ballet enjoys a global reputation. It is the official school of New York City Ballet. The school actually pre-dates New York City Ballet. SAB was established 95 years ago; New York City Ballet was established 20 years after that, or 75 years ago.
SAB was founded by George Balanchine and teaches his method and style of ballet. In fact, insiders sometimes refer to SAB as the House of Balanchine. It’s really tough to get in.
But Perkins concluded that she was a little too young for a step as monumental as living full time 1,250 miles away. Even more, Perkins was concerned about the academics. At SAB, schooling is virtual. Kai was still in middle school.
“I didn’t feel academically the timing was right for her to go into that being independent with her studies. Also, living away from home younger, for me and our family, I felt like high school was probably the earliest that I would consider allowing her to leave."
Perkins also realized that the first year of high school was also the latest that SAB would probably take Kai into their pre-professional program.
“They do take students earlier, but they don’t necessarily take them later because they want to train them in the Balanchine method [that they employ at SAB]. So there’s kind of that perfect timing ‘cause they need them for so many years to kind of get that aesthetic.”
While Perkins had concerns about her daughter’s ability to get a proper education virtually, she had few qualms about sending her to a big city like New York to live.
“One of the biggest things that’s nice about School of American Ballet is that they have a full residence hall,” Perkins said. “They have a full residence program, full executive staff, residence hall, very professional. Obviously, being from Florida, you’re worried about your daughter in a big city. There’s no commuting. They actually live in the building. There’s residence hall floors and there’s studio floors. So everything’s in one building, which is very nice. You know, doorman and all that. So actually, it wasn’t too scary.”
As Kai completed eighth grade, the stars aligned, and the School of American Ballet invited her to audition for their summer camp. She did, and got in, and about three weeks into the camp, Perkins got the call telling her that SAB wanted to extend an offer to have her join them full time in the fall.
“It’s like your four years of high school,” Perkins explained. “There are five levels in their intermediate-advanced program. It goes B1, B2, C1, C2 and D. So she got in C1even though academically in age, she probably was a B2.”
In addition to roughly a month in August, Kai gets to come home at Thanksgiving, Christmas and for spring break. While SAB gives students summers off, most enroll in camps at other ballet companies and schools. Last year, Kai did the Miami City Ballet summer camp.
“Yeah, it’s not tons, but I think in this day and age, it’s a different era. We have Facetime. We text. We have … I almost feel like there’s better connection [during those times when she does come home]. The reality is when your kids are living at home, if they’re doing ballet at home or they’re in school and you’re working, you’re only seeing them in the car or here and there, so I think those are the same times that we set aside to be on the phone and catch up throughout the day. I kind of feel like that’s gone really well. It doesn’t feel as distant.”
Kai has been at SAB for going on three years.
“She’s doing fantastic,” noted her former Gulfshore Ballet instructor, Iliana Lopez. “They really love her, and I hope they consider her for the professional company, New York City Ballet, because she has the talent and the potential to make it.”
That will be decided next year. That’s when she’ll either get an apprenticeship with the company at New York City Ballet or wind up someplace else.
“Almost everyone at School of American Ballet wants to get an apprenticeship. But not everyone gets one. There’s only maybe 10 openings a year,” Perkins explained. “So they have somebody who helps set up auditions with other ballet companies. They have a whole audition process where the directors of other companies come to SAB, watch class, do interviews and make offers. So [SAB does] try to set you up with a job with another company or some go to college [if you don’t get an invite from New York City Ballet]. And, of course, some girls decide to maybe major in dance in college or even do something else.”
In the meantime, Perkins continues to provide Kai with both support and encouragement.
Fortunately, Kai’s tuition is covered.
“SAB says they receive over $2 million a year from donors,” said Perkins. “Kai is a named donor recipient for her tuition, so they do financial aid and tuition help not just based on merit, but financial need. They take it all into consideration. They don’t want to take children just because they can afford it. They want to take the best dancers who should be there. So they’re definitely very supportive all the way around.”
But there’s still clothing, dance outfits, make-up and other toiletries, travel home and back and room and board.
“It's a big financial commitment.”
Perkins also provides parental guidance and encouragement.
“My support, I think in a good way, it’s a bit detached,” Perkins said. “I think that the best thing I can do as a mother is obviously help guide her in different ways, but obviously letting her spread her wings. So being supportive behind the scenes is kind of where I think you’re at with SAB, which I think is a good thing.”
Reflecting back on her daughter’s mental and emotional make-up, Perkins marvels at three traits in particular.
“As a child, Kai was very independent. I keep using the word ‘self-motivated,’ but she is. She doesn’t really care what’s happening around her, what anyone else is doing. She’s very much on her own track. What I like about ballet is the discipline. It’s mental and physical. It’s wrongs and rights. It’ not like street dancing, where there’s a lot of personal flair. With ballet, as much as there’s genres of ballet, there’s still black and white. I felt that would work for her, and I also felt that she needed to have something that she was fixated on. As much as when you first meet her she doesn’t seem this way, she’s very focused for her age. She always has been.”
Kai is also quietly unflappable.
“She loves performing,” said Perkins. “I never get nervous for her. I don’t. She has a confidence about her when she’s performing, so I don’t get nervous. I think, like, she’s got it. She’s been like that since she was little. Like I got it. She doesn’t give off any energy of feeling nervous. So I think that’s helpful for me. If anything, I watch her and I’m proud of her. I’m just super proud of her that she’s doing what she wants to do. She's that confident. She’s found that. Yeah, I guess I’m just super proud of her.”
She does have one foible.
“I think patience is her Achilles heel,” said Perkins, laughing. “I think that’s common in people who are self-motivated. They don’t always enjoy the journey. They’re ready for the destination and I think it’s a great characteristic that you can see those goals and manifest where you want to be and you’re not just lingering through life. She’s definitely that individual. The journey has definitely been a lot of me as a mom encouraging her to stick to it, and mentally processing the feelings of burnout or maybe changing up, like do you want to do competition or try kind of different things to keep it fresh.”
Perkins is also teaching Kai to keep her options open, to always have a Plan B, or even a Plan C.
“Her goal in life is to get into New York City Ballet or at least establish a career in ballet,” Perkins noted. “In life, I always think you keep your options open, right? You always make sure you have good grades. You never know where life leads you. We all know that not only in ballet, but in athletics in general, your body kind of dictates … And also, it’s subjective what an artistic director is going to want in any company. So like anything, you’ll have it as long as it will have you. And that’s what I’ve always said. Do ballet as long as it will have you. Is that a lifetime? No. We all knew that Tom Brady at 45 was geriatric on the football field. So always keep options open. But yes, her goal is to be with a company as she gets out of high school.”
For people who are curious about Kai’s School of American Ballet experience, Perkins suggests three films.
The first is “City.Ballet.” It is a 12-part web series on YouTube that takes viewers into the graceful but competitive world of ballet revealing what it takes to dance in the New York City Ballet. Produced by Sarah Jessica Parker’s Pretty Matches Production and AOL, this documentary series includes interviews with over 30 dancers in all ranks in New York City Ballet. The series is tagged as a docudrama because, as Sarah Jessica Parker explains, “With these dancers, there is innate drama in their lives. There’s an enormous amount of stress. It’s very similar to being a Yankee. Like Derek Jeter, their goal is to not get injured and advance their careers.” Included in the web series are three corps de ballet members, four apprentices, four soloists and 16 principal dancers, as well as ballet master in chief Peter Martins. Not only do the segments cover the ranks of the company, but they also focus on some of the difficulties behind the scenes with injuries and relationships. Overwhelmingly, the dancers speak to the joy as well as the pressure of dancing and sculpting the musicality and art of their bodies onstage.
The second is “On Pointe,” a six-part docuseries that captures a season in the School of American Ballet. Featuring unprecedented access to the famous ballet institution, the series follows the lives of the students ages 8 to 18 pursuing their dreams to become ballet dancers. While older students from all over the country rigorously train for professional careers, younger students from New York City are put through their paces as they rehearse and perform in New York City Ballet's holiday classic "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" onstage at Lincoln Center.
“One girl lived in Tampa,” Perkins noted. “The [filmmakers] follow her from living in Tampa, getting an offer, going to SAB and then getting an offer.”
Although fictional, the third is the 2000 film “Center Stage,” a teen drama directed by Nicholas Hytner about a group of young ballet dancers from various backgrounds who enroll at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. The film explores the issues and difficulties in the world of professional dance, and how each individual copes with the stresses. It also served as the film debut for actresses Zoe Saldaña and Amanda Schull.
“So there are actually multiple shows that cover this process,” Perkins said.
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To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.