Check Out Hayden Stark’s Story

Hi Hayden, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I began dancing when I was three years old and started competing at both regional and national competitions when I was 5. By 10, I began touring with Minnesota Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. At 15 years old, I moved away from home to attend University of North Carolina School of the Arts, focusing on ballet. After graduating high school in 2012, I moved to Houston and began working for Houston Ballet where I was later promoted to Soloist. during my time working for Houston Ballet, I worked part-time on Mondays teaching at Texas Academy of Dance Arts (TADA). In the Summer of 2021, I decided to retire from dancing professionally and took up my current position as Youth Ballet Conservatory Director at TADA.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been a lot of struggles! But to focus on one – when I graduated, I didn’t have any solid job offers. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get my foot in the door with a professional company and thought I wouldn’t have a career as a dancer. To overcome this, I decided to buckle down, put in a ton of effort in the studio, and thankfully I was able to land a contract.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As Youth Ballet Conservatory Director, I am responsible for a select group of young dancers who are highly focused in ballet. At TADA, these are our group of kids who compete at Youth America Grand Prix. I teach regular classes throughout the week, schedule and run rehearsals, choreograph group and solo pieces, stage our performances of Nutcracker and Spring Showcase, polish classical variations that will compete, and more. Some of my proudest moments are watching our dancers perform and seeing everything they’ve worked so hard on for weeks come together on stage.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
What I learned, personally, was to trust my gut. I had a feeling that being a professional dancer might not be what I wanted to continue pursuing. Quarantine opened my eyes into seeing what was possible outside of being a dancer and helped me discover that teaching was more where my heart was.