Acrobatics is a type of dance, typically a fusion of jazz and contemporary, combined with the athleticism of controlled acrobatic movement. Keileen Nguyen, also referred to as Kei Ngyuen, is an exceptional dancer who has trained at the Vancouver Academy of Dance from the age of 5. She attended the Vancouver Academy of Dance’s Half-Day Program where she studied multidisciplinary circus arts and dance styles.

In April 2019, Nguyen entered as an acrobatic solo act in the Quantum Acrobatics Challenge at the age of 17. She performs to Loren Allred’s ‘Never Enough’, featuring in the American musical, The Greatest Showman.

She walks onto the stage elegantly, with her toes poised and kneels on the floor. When the song begins, she starts her sequence. Starting with a handstand, with immaculate control, she then sways her legs to the music and then proceeds mostly on foot, including spins, cartwheels, and flips.

Throughout her whole performance, Nguyen is precise and graceful in her movement and takes her time to dance to the music. As the song is filled with emotion and tells a story, any performance must portray this, and Nguyen does exactly that. From her facial expressions to her hand gestures to her body language, Nguyen depicts the raw emotions that Allred’s song details.

The choreography for Nguyen’s sequence is Tyler Ayres. Ayres is an internationally renowned choreographer from Australia. He specialises in acrobatics, aerial arts, tumbling, hand-to-hand and hand balancing.

From the age of 9, Ayres has worked in the entertainment industry and moved to Canada in 2013. Since then, he has directed the Aerial and Acrobatics Program at the Vancouver Academy of Dance, become the Founding Director of Tyler Ayres Dance and Aerial (TADA), and has taught several performers, like Nguyen. Through his training curriculum, Ayres has taught athletes, dancers, acrobats and aerialists alike and encouraged them to develop their skills.

Nguyen has learnt a lot from her time at the Vancouver Academy of Dance and has been mentored by several incredible choreographers and teachers. After her years of pursuing her talent at the Vancouver Academy of Dance, in 2019, Nguyen was accepted into the Circus School of Quebec where she continued her post-secondary training.

If you want to see more from Nguyen you can subscribe to her YouTube channel to see more brilliant videos of her in action!