Student Spotlight: Abi McKinney Aiming For Performance Career After She Earns Dance Science Degree
Abi McKinney knew at age 7 that she wanted to be a professional dancer. Now, as a senior Dance Science student in the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, she’s another step closer to making that dream a reality.
McKinney, a Richmond, Virginia native, traveled around the country to take part in dance competitions in her youth. The freedom of the art form is what drew her in, the feeling of being able to let go and embrace the moment.
“Dance has provided this sort of outlet for me — both emotionally and physically,” she said. “I have always had a hard time communicating my emotions and feelings. Dance has helped me through not only being physical and active and feeling good in my skin, but also feeling mentally healthy and doing something that I have dedicated my whole life to. It’s freeing.”
Choosing to pursue dance full-time came with its challenges, she said. One of the hardest aspects of the artform is trying to maintain a balance in your everyday life, she said.
“You are pushed to your limit, both physically and mentally,” McKinney said. “But once you achieve those things, that is obviously the best reward because you believed in yourself, and your community around you believed in you.”
McKinney has been trained in classic styles including ballet, tap and jazz, and she also enjoys hip-hop, contemporary and jazz-funk.
She has performed in the Student Choreography Showcase, the annual “Perpetual Motion” concert and at the recent Regional High School Dance Festival.
On April 19 and 20, she will debut her choreographed piece titled “Fractures” in the Student Choreography Showcase at the Physical Education Activity Program Building. She will also work the light board backstage during the event. On May 4, McKinney will perform in “A Journey of Hope” in the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities courtyard.
Upon graduation in December, she aims to join a modern dance company with the goal of performing regularly. “Oregon has been calling my name, so I might be moving there,” she said.
Her motivation is driven by the feeling she gets when she is onstage, she said. The work that goes into a performance turns the routine into muscle memory, she said, and that is when she feels most in her element.
“Once you step onstage and the lights actually hit you, you can’t even see the audience, but you can feel their energy and their presence,” McKinney said. “It overtakes me every time.
“All those small corrections that you practice in rehearsal just don’t matter anymore. Because at that point, there is nothing you can do but just perform what your body has been practicing all this time. It is so surreal to be able to just shut your brain off and do what you know you’re good at. Then you receive that recognition from the audience when you finish and the lights come up. And you come back to your consciousness and think, ‘Wow, I just did that.’”
