When Cal High junior Kairi De Vera was only three years old, her mom signed her up for beginner tap dance and ballet classes just to dress her in a little tutu and see her perform on a stage.
Now De Vera is an international tap dance champion.
“[I love] being able to make sounds with my feet and like the endless possibilities of steps,” De Vera said. “[Tap dancing] is just a lot of fun and I enjoy performing on a stage.”
De Vera placed in the top seven at the International Dance Organization (I.D.O.) World Tap Dance Championships Sept. 25-29 in Riesa, Germany.
De Vera, who faced dancers from 20 different countries, reached the finals for the junior division with two tap dance performances.
One performance earned her fourth place with a dance to the song “Hey Pachuco!” by Royal Crown Revue. It was a group formation dance, consisting of 16 dancers who were mostly from the I.D.O. West Coast American tap dance team based in San Diego.
The other performance, which placed seventh, was a trio dance to the song “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé, and it featured dancers from her dance studio, Triple Threat Performing Arts (T.T.P.A.) in Livermore.
De Vera said hearing the judges announce the team’s dance for “Hey Pachuco!” place fourth was really exciting.
“It was just, like, crazy to see your flag up,” De Vera said. “[The competition] was a lot of fun actually. It was a super great experience, especially for my dancing career.”
Aubrey Dryden, De Vera’s dance teammate from I.D.O West Coast American said, “It was so fun to see [De Vera] on stage and even more fun to share it with her. We gave each other pep talks before we went on stage each time.”
De Vera and the dancers stayed in the arena for 12 hours each day of the competition preparing for their performances.
“We would practice literally nonstop,” De Vera said. “It felt like every second we were practicing or doing something.”
Unlike the normal in-person audition process, De Vera was invited to join her team after her tap dance mentor, Tamie Slader, sent a video of De Vera’s solo choreography performance to the I.D.O. West Coast American tap dance company to be approved to compete in the championship. From there, the company contacted Slader and asked for De Vera to join their group performance.
“I didn’t believe [I was competing in internationals] until I was in Germany,” De Vera said. “It literally felt unreal, it still doesn’t feel real to me.”
After De Vera accepted the offer, she had to learn the dances over Face time or video with little time to practice with the team because the team was in San Diego. The long distance between De Vera and the team became a problem.
“If I were to do this again, I just like, hope that there was a team here that I could practice with and be with in the process of it,” De Vera said.
By the time De Vera had to learn the dance, the whole dance was already choreographed, so she had to learn the entire choreography quickly.
In addition to learning the dances, De Vera had to manage her schoolwork and other dance projects she was working on.
“I felt super stressed out trying to learn the dance through video,” De Vera said.
She learned the dances every night in her studio and even in her room without tap shoes.
“We spent so much time on the dances,” Dryden said. “Everyone was super stressed about how the competition would go because most people hadn’t been before.”
De Vera’s mother, Mina De Vera, said the travel expenses to practice in San Diego was an issue. But despite this challenge and having to learn the dances, De Vera was able to overcome it thanks to her mom and Slader.
Mina De Vera said she supports her daughter by providing for her financially, giving her sufficient foods that provide the vitamins and protein her body needs, purchasing everything she needs to improve her skills at home, and transporting her to conventions.
“Bringing her to conventions is the most important [way of support],” Mina De Vera said. “I think [the conventions] molded her to be a better dancer.”
De Vera said Slader focuses on uplifting and encouraging her to keep dancing.
“I just kind of took her underneath my wing and trained her,” Slader said. “I’ve been teaching Kairi for eight to nine years now, since she was a little girl.”
De Vera began to dance competitively at age seven, and as time passed she bloomed into the dancer she is today.
“She transformed on the stage,” Mina De Vera said. “The determination and passion, and I think, more self-discipline [was] seen in her as a dancer.”
Slader said that when she saw De Vera dance for the first time, she saw something special in her.
“Her success is because she’s an extremely hard worker,” Slader said.
Added Toneka Webb, Cal’s varsity song coach who has had De Vera on her team the past three years, “She is a gifted performer, and I don’t say that lightly.”
When De Vera’s friends, family and mentors learned she was performing in the I.D.O. World Tap Dance Championships, they became so proud of her.
“Kairi’s like my daughter and I’m just proud of every single thing that she does,” explained Slader.
De Vera’s varsity song teammates were proud as well.
“She really deserves to go,” Kalea Thompson said.
Krystal Miks, who has been on varsity song with De Vera for three years, said watching De Vera improve and get invited to an international championship is so cool to see.
“I think it’s like a one in a lifetime opportunity for her that she took advantage of,” Miks said.
De Vera’s advice to dancers and other performers is simple.
“Stay persistent and stay determined,” De Vera said. “Practice makes progress. It’s all like, practice and pushing yourself to your fullest capability.”
