DANCER HIGHLIGHT: Mikayla Gyfteas

Photo: Mikayla Gyfteas in Beauty and the Beast | By Beau Pearson

“I started dancing when I was three years old after I saw my first nutcracker, and I pointed to Clara and said I want to be her,” said Ballet West II Artist Mikayla Gyfteas. “I realized I wanted to be a professional when I was offered to compete my first Youth America Grand Prix regionals. After the first time I won my YAGP regionals at 11, and then again at 14, I realized this is what I want to make a career out of and that this is what I love doing.”

Those dreams became reality as she is now being promoted as a Corps Artist with Ballet West for the 2024-25 season. Looking back at her journey to get here, Gyfteas said, “I’ve learned that there’s always going to be a challenge at every stage and every moment leading up to now there were always hard moments. Making it here is all I ever dreamed for, and it all feels worth it.

“Every hard moment and challenge are what made me the dancer I am today,” she continues. “Pushing through injuries, or sickness, competition, and the high stress of just having to always be on your A-game pushed me to learn how to be diligent, determined, and that nothing comes easy, but in the end, it’s worth it.”

When she moved to Salt Lake from Anchorage, Alask at age 15 to join the Ballet West Professional Training Division, she never would have believed it if someone had told her she would make it into the main company four years later. “It was my only goal and everything I did was to make it,” said Gyfteas. “I am absolutely thrilled for next season and can’t wait to continue here.”