Kayla Sylte: A Sneak Peak into the Life of an Emerging Dance Artist. By Savannah Gillespie

Kayla is a Canadian born artist who began dancing at the age of three. After graduating high school Kayla decided to further her dance education by attending SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. While at school there she has learned a great deal about herself as a dance artist. In addition to dance she has developed an interest in stage production and choreography. Currently, Kayla is in the final year of her degree at SFU and is looking forward to the next chapter of her artistic journey.

Q: Who are you and what do you do?

A: I am Kayla Sylte. I am mainly a dance artist and performer. I enjoy hobbies like photography and traveling. I find I can take inspiration from those things and put them in my work and my dancing. I enjoying mixing my dance life with leisure and my personal life to create the unique artist I am.

Q: Name something you love and why?

A: I love to dance and create conversations with movement. Whether it is between my body and mind, or my audience and myself. I enjoy getting in touch with my soul and expressing it with dance. Besides dancing, I love my family and friends. They are the reason I do what I love and I am blessed by the overwhelming support they provide for me.

Q: Why art?

A: For me, art is a form of communication just like writing or speaking. Personally, I find it’s easy to express my thoughts, feelings, and ideas through art and with my body through movement. Art allows me to be curious in my body and to explore what feels natural to me or maybe even unnatural.

Q: Professionally, what’s your goal?

A: I want to be able to teach dance to aspiring children and young adults. I enjoy watching young children as they develop and progress as dancers and artists just as I did. To share my knowledge and passion for dance to others is a dream of mine that I hope to accomplish one day.

Q: What do you dislike about the art world?

A: The one thing I dislike about the art world is how discouraging it can be. Many artists that pursue the arts get criticized for it being an inferior life style or less successful career. I find that it can be very challenging or intimidating for young artists to come into the art world. 

Q: What do you like about your work?

A: I like how my work has changed throughout the years, especially after coming to SFU. I find that my body has developed and I’ve grown into a certain style of choreography and movement that is very different from four years ago. I like that my work shows who I am and how I have developed as a dancer.