Chicago is the next stop for 18-year-old Hayley Mitchell as she packs her bags and takes her passion for dance to the next level at Columbia College this fall. With 16 years of experience under her feet, the art of dance has continually played a significant role in the Hot Springs senior's life.
"It's something where if I have any issues going on in life and I'm stressed out, I'll just go and dance," she said. "It'll clear my mind, and it's something I really enjoy. It really helps me get through things and relaxes me. It helps me open up -- especially if I'm performing in front of a crowd that hasn't really been exposed to dance as much.
"There are different ways you can portray stories through dance. When we're doing something that's pretty meaningful -- in school, we'll do student choreography -- and we'll try to interpret a poem or a piece of artwork through our dance. It's really cool to try to portray that to an audience that hasn't been exposed to something like that."
Even before enrolling dance classes at the age of three, Mitchell credits her grandmother as the source that kick-started her love as she tagged along to her clogging group.
"I started when I was about 2 years old, dancing with my grandma," she said. "She used to clog. She got me into that so I started clogging and then as I got older, I was just more interested in different styles of dance. From there, I did jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, modern."
Mitchell started "pointe" at 9 years old, a technique where dancers stand on the tips of their toes in soft ballet shoes. Attending dance studios around town from a young age, she joined the Children's Dance Theater Company at 11 years old and participated in multiple productions. Soon enough, Mitchell reached a turning point as dance became prestigious and time-consuming activity.
"'Cinderella,' 'Peter Pan,' '(The) Nutcracker' -- multiple times -- 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,'" she said. "We worked with professional dancers that come from all over the U.S. ... They would teach master classes and we could see how they would perform. It would introduce us to a higher level of dance outside of just our studio."
After becoming a member of the Hot Springs Dance Troupe in eighth grade, she took a break for a few years because of her commitment to the Children's Dance Theater Company. Since rejoining and throughout her time with the troupe, Mitchell has engaged in multiple opportunities that have furthered her education, admitting she relishes all the knowledge gained during that time.
Amy Bramlett Turner "has taken us to multiple places outside of our school to go take class," she said. "That's given us different teaching styles, different styles of dance. The Arkansas Dance Festival every year, which Miss Bramlett takes us to, is a get together of a lot of dance programs in Arkansas and they have dance instructors for every school. That just opens up our mind, so we're not used to one instructor the entire time we have dance."
The senior has participated in multiple extracurricular activities in addition to dance including band, cross-country and soccer. She says balancing all aspects of her life has been a challenge as she continues to pursue her path.
Mitchell is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate diploma program courses, "which are the most prestigious classes at my school, so it's really difficult," she said. "I have a job on top of that and I'm student council president. I'm part of the national honor society (and) the dance national honor society, which I'm vice president of as well. Balancing everything has been an obstacle.
"I'm also part of International Baccalaureate (IB) dance, which is a class where we have to write papers about dance. We have to create our own choreography, we have to do a performance, and we have to analyze choreography. I've had to write 4,000-word papers while I have rehearsals or (performed in) shows until 10 o'clock, but I've made it work."
Mitchell has been able to taste the professional world since February last year when she started her residency at Maxwell Blade's Theatre of Magic. With shows six nights a week in March, Mitchell has had to juggle her job on top of schoolwork and her dance troupe.
"When you get on stage, doing the magic tricks and everything, if you mess up something up you just have to go with it," she said. "You have to know what to do at specific times, how to react to certain things. If something goes wrong, you can't be like, 'Oh, this is wrong. I have to fix it.' You just have to improv and go with it. I've choreographed the opener for him. I had to be in charge of choreographing me and my partner. There's another girl that I dance wit so we do the opener and it goes into another trick. I had to learn how to take dancing and move it so it flows into a magic trick. It's something I'd never done before."
Earning acceptances at multiple universities, the soon-to-be graduate explained the reasoning behind her choice of Columbia College.
"The difference between those schools is that Columbia really had a variety of dance," she said. "They teach that ballet is the root of everything, as well as West African, and that's just something I've never learned. I've been told my whole life that ballet is the root of every style of dance so just seeing that perspective is really different for me. ... They offer jazz, tap, all of the different styles. ... I really wanted something that would give me a variety of dance and enhance all of my abilities in each style rather than focusing on one particular style."
With plenty of support, Mitchell continues to appreciate those who have stood behind her and encourage her as she reaches new heights.
"Everyone in my life that has seen how much passion I have for dance -- they've pushed me and helped me get where I am and where I want to be with it," she said. "They inspire me because without them, I wouldn't be where I am. I wouldn't have gone as far as I have with dance. ... My mom has definitely pushed me. There was a time in my life where I thought 'I don't know if I can handle IB and all my dancing. I don't know if I can do it.' But she pushed me and I'm glad she did because it's prepared for me what I need to do. She knows my passion for dance and she's done everything she can to always keep me in my dance classes and give me everything I could possibly need to follow my dream."
As the time to leave for the Windy City edges closer, Mitchell hopes she has left a mark on the Hot Springs dance community as she embarks on a new chapter.
"I've made lifelong friends here," she said. Dance "has been a part of my life for so long. For as long as I can remember, I've always had pictures and dreams of dancing in the big city. I feel like it's always been my dream. I don't think there's ever been a moment where I knew that's what I wanted to do. It's just something I've always wanted to do. It's starting to become more real because I'm about to do it as a career. It's something I've really put my full commitment into. Even when it gets difficult and I'm tired and sore ... but I'm happy I do it."
Go Magazine on 04/15/2020