Keston Meyer is a dancer with Ballet Ariel in south Denver. He performs in three shows this weekend on April 27th & 28th in Swan Lake Act III & Mother Goose Fairy Tales at the Lakewood Cultural Center. We caught up with Keston in between dancing, rehearsing and teaching to ask him our top 6 burning questions.
How did you start dancing? I started dancing at 15, after I watched a rehearsal from a local school in my home town. There was a paper posted on the window looking for guys with ‘no experience needed.’ I took my first class and the fire was started. I kept it burning ever since that first class when I was a teenager, and I’ve never looked back. The best thing I’ve found in performing is that on any given day, I could be a prince, a pirate or an evil wizard. To be able to portray that to an audience through dancing, is my favorite aspect of performing.
What do you think has been the key to your success as a professional dancer? I worked as hard as I could. I took every class possible and dove headfirst into dancing.
What does a day in the life of Mr. Keston look like on a performance day? A performance day or theater day starts with packing and preparing everything I will need from the moment I leave the house. Then I will typically start with taking a 90 minute class, followed by 5-6 hours of rehearsals and then straight to the show.
What is one of your all-time favorite dance steps- something that makes you feel like you can fly or conquer the world? A really lofty grand jeté. When you time it just right, you feel like you stop time and float in the air.
What are you looking forward to most as you retire from professional dance? To start a family.
What advice can you offer our young dancers? Work hard. Give your dancing everything you have when you’re in class or on stage, and you will never walk away dissatisfied. And… point your feet!