Kai is a dancer/choreographer from Queens, New York. Kai is a graduate of Fiorello H. Laguardia high school, where he also received ballet and modern dance training. Kai has performed with AbstraKT Beings in the following shows: Sybarite, Broadway Dance Center’s Aim Invitational, Sirens After Dark, and the Pulse on Tour. Dancing is his passion but he also choreographs and aims to be a future choreographer/creative director in the industry. Dance Mogul Magazine is geared to watch Kai grow and achieve his dreams and report on it to inspire the next generation. Follow us as we uplift the next generation to empower the next.

Dance Mogul: Who were some of your dance inspirations growing up?
Kaiven Michael: As a young teen, I didn’t really know any dancers/choreographers and I also never paid attention to anyone in the industry. I was always very focused on my training at the studio and the dance crew I was in, but I can say that I had two dance inspirations growing up. One was Chris Brown! Because I wasn’t really raised in a family where music played a big part in our lives, I never knew any music no matter what era. I didn’t have Michael Jackson playing at family cookouts and other family events. I found music very late in my life, at around 11 or 12 and that’s when I used to watch Chris Brown’s music videos and always tried to imitate his movement! Another one of my dance inspirations as a young teen was Danny Tidwell from So you think you can dance! My dance teacher was very close to him and told me to watch him on the show and I was beyond impressed with the way he moved, from his strength, his flow and of course the 600 turns he used to do and you know that will impress anyone at that age!!!!

Dance Mogul: Were your parents supportive of you?
Kaiven Michael: Yes both of my parents were very supportive. As much as they stressed getting good grades in school, they supported my dancing and put a lot of their time, money and effort to watch me perform and keep me in the studio. I tried many things as a kid from piano to basketball, soccer, tennis and to be honest I kind of sucked at everything I did!!!!! My dad made me try ballet with my sister and as much as I didn’t like it, my first dance teacher Jay Barrett, pushed me to continue and I think from there my parents always supported me because of how happy I was doing something I loved and was good at for the first time!

Dance Mogul: I know a lot of dancers that graduated from Fiorello H.Laguardia high school is that a good school to go to enhance your craft?
Kaiven Michael: Yes it is an amazing opportunity and a great platform to start from whether or not you are into concert or commercial dance! Five ballet and modern classes a week and have about 3 different teachers a week gives you a lot of opportunities to learn. I think a teacher teaching you the technique and how to utilize your technique is one of the most important things and LaGuardia offers just that. They also have different survey classes from anatomy to career management and for future choreographers, a choreography semester.  A lot of the things I learned from LaGuardia, I still use today. As long as you have the focus and good work ethic, LaGuardia would be an amazing school to enhance your craft.

Dance Mogul: Who have you had the opportunity to train under?
Kaiven Michael: To name a few: Wade Robson, TOKYO , Brian Green, Kyle Preiser & Theresa Stone, Tyce Diorio, Dee Caspery , Kelly Peter  and many more! Whether I trained with them, set a piece with them, or assisted them, they have all pushed me, inspired me, and gave me the knowledge to continue to dance, choreograph and progress!!

Dance Mogul: What are some of your favorite performance opportunities?
Kaiven Michael: One of my favorite performances I ever did was when I was touring in Odyssey Dance Theatre! The final location of the tour was a place called Tuachan and it was in the canyons, pretty much in the middle of nowhere! The stage was like a football field, the audience had to be 50 rows up or at least 60 feet high and it was the biggest stage I’ve ever seen! Fog Machines, trap doors, hidden caves in the rocks, and to top it all off it there was zip-line across the whole audience! To go from theaters in New York City to a place like this is truly a blessing!!!!

Dance Mogul: What will it take for you to reach your industry goals as far as being a choreographer?
Kaiven Michael: As far as a goal, I actually haven’t set a specific one yet. I’m open to a lot like choreographing for an artist, starting my own company, creative directing,etc. I think what it takes is me promoting my choreography and having that trust between people to hire me or dance for me. It’ll take a lot of networking but for the most part, I think its trust. My choreography can be stunning but if no dancers want to be apart of it and allow the vision to truly come to life, then anybody thinking of hiring me will never get an idea of what my work is truly like. it’s also frustrating because other dancers compare your work to those currently choreographing in the industry, and saying ” oh I don’t want to work for them” simply because it’s not anything similar to the hottest choreography out there, rather than taking the time to understand it and take it in from an organic place, but I can understand if you just don’t like it from the bottom of your heart! I’m cool with that haha! Besides trust and networking, studying other things outside of dance can help me become more successful. Lighting, Cinematography, Staging and Directing are all things that can help a ton so studying and learning from an expert in any of those fields, along with my knowledge of movement, can allow me to achieve my goals as a choreographer

Dance Mogul: What advice would you have for up and coming dancers?
Kaiven Michael: Whatever field of dance you are in, whatever style you favor, Always keep your mind open to learning more. Continue to train and if you find something you’re not good at, practice and do your best to master it so you can have more options, more knowledge and give your body newer ways to explore no matter what style! Train more in technique! Horton, Breaking, Popping, Waacking, Gaga, House, Graham, Dancehall are just a few techniques of many to help you understand your body. Choreography classes are great and help you pick up choreography for auditions but observing my generation now, we get so stuck in choreography that we forget about the technique and foundation behind the movement. Don’t focus so much on the “trends”, stay focused on your journey as a dancer and what you have to work on to be better! Improv and freestyle weekly so you can balance out your discipline as a dancer and your artistry through your individuality. My final piece of advice is love what you do and never give in to anyone or anything!

Dance Mogul: Is there anyone you would like to thank for helping you with your journey?
Kaiven Michael: I would like to thank Jay Barrett and Natalie Mossa for being my first teachers introducing me to dance and give me an amazing foundation/platform! Kyle Presier and Theresa Stone for the opportunities, the knowledge to further myself in the industry, and cleaning up my dancing by a lot! My mother and father for always supporting and working extremely hard just to pay for my training! And all the teachers at Broadway Dance Center and Peridance Capezio Center for sharing your expertise in dance and allowing me to grow in your classes!