Wilson devotes life to dance
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Ed Flores, University of Arizona School of Dance
Wilson is waiting for papers to arrive that will allow her to live in Los Angeles to pursue her passion of dancing.
L.A. is just one stop in what has been an incredible and dazzling career since leaving the halls of Strathmore High School in 2009.
Wilson started dancing by the time she turned three and stuck with it to the point where she shuttled back and forth to Calgary, to dance at the Airborne Dance Studio and with the International School of Ballet.
“It was a frustrating process for her once she started training with me. She had some basic training, but we had to correct all of her fundamentals and that got frustrating at times,” said Cyndi Scott, who taught Wilson at Airbrone Dance Studio. “It took a lot of discipline from her to work on those things. After a couple season, it became quite evident that the potential and talent was there. She has always had a positive attitude and worked hard, I’m not surprised at all to see how far she has made it.”
“I loved the costumes and pretty little things when I was a kid. As I got older, I loved the athleticism and artistry of it,” said Wilson. “I spent a lot of time training in Calgary, working on everything from tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre to hip hop. Learning all those types of dance really helped build a foundation and opened more doors in my career.”
Practicing hours on end is one thing, but Wilson was also starring in some of the biggest ballet shows in the city.
With the School of Ballet, she took the lead role of the Sugar Plum Fair in The Nutcracker and was Waltz Soloist in Les Sylphides.
Wilson needed one year after high school to finish up her ballet exams in Calgary, while doing other things such as continuing to develop her craft as an artist and appearing on three episodes of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Die-hard fans of the show will remember her being one of the youngest contestants at the age of 18.
She was beginning to get used to the life of auditioning at this point. After making a run at a nationally-watched program, Wilson took aim at one of the top-ranked dance programs in the United States.
The University of Arizona (U of A) sees more than 450 applicants each year for its highly regarded School of Dance. In 2010, Wilson found out she was one of the 35 talented dancers that would become a Wildcat.
It only took her four years to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance with a minor in business.
While on campus in Tucson, Ariz., it became a daily occurrence to arrive at the Ina Gittings Studios at 9 a.m. to dance all day, before retiring to her dorm at 8 p.m.
While at the U of A, Wilson starred in shows such as Rubies, Megalopolis, Evolution of Dream and Panorama. Once her four years were up, Wilson graduated on the Dean’s List and received the Summa Cum Laude honour for graduating with a 4.0 GPA.
Heading out into the real world, Wilson was quickly offered a position with the Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. She spent three years in Utah, performing as a soloist that toured across the United States and into Europe.
“The European audiences were amazing, and it was a dream come true to be able to tour the world and get paid doing something I loved,” said Wilson. “I was really able to grow as a dancer and as an artist in my time with that company.”
When her time was up with Odyssey, Wilson accepted an offer from Tokyo Disney to perform as Ariel in the King Triton’s Concert, an adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
“I watched the movie as a kid and always loved Disney movies. But when I took that job, I had to watch the movie extensively to get the character’s gestures down,” said Wilson. “I had to move like Ariel did, because when little kids came to see the show, they thought I was her, so I had to move my body the same way she moved in the movie.”
“I went to Japan to see her perform in her show this summer and it was amazing. It was a great show and it’s always great to see some of my former students performing around the world,” said Scott, who first began working with Wilson when she was 11.
As if learning the movements of one of her favourite characters growing up wasn’t hard enough, Wilson performed each night in a harness, soaring above the stage and the crowd.
“That was a really great experience,” said Wilson. “It was something completely different from what I was used to, but it really helped me develop as a dancer and it is now just one more thing I can put on my resumé moving forward.”
All the outstanding work she has put into her career has paid off to the point where she just inked a deal with Go 2 Talent Agency in L.A., where she will continue to pursue her dancing dreams. There is no certainty yet which direction she will head with the new company, but she is very excited to work commercially. Some of the areas she might pop up in are the backgrounds of movies, perform as a backup dancer for some of the hottest names like Beyoncé or Bruno Mars, or maybe even attain her dream role of dancing in Cirque Du Soleil.
“I’m not too sure what my next show or performance will be and that’s an exciting feeling,” said Wilson. “I’ll be in New York City and L.A. doing auditions for the next little bit and those are two great hubs for dance. I’ll go out, work my hardest and be open to whatever comes my way.”