A woman with long dark hair posing with her head tilted back and her hands resting on her thighs in front of a historic brick university building with a large archway, flags, and a clock, on a brick-paved pathway with green grass.

Since she was 14, Kyla has danced with older adults, people with Parkinson’s Disease (PPD), and other neurological disorders. Watch a video of Kyla’s dance class specifically for PPD from 2022.

Education

& Experience

AB in Psychological and Brain Sciences - Cognitive Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis (2023)

  • Engaged in reciprocal intercultural eduation and completed coursework on trauma and political violence and literary and cultural studies. 

  • Learned to manage and mediate interpersonal dynamics in the context of intergenerational trauma

Live Más Scholar (2019-2023)

My Name is Service Award from the Campus Y (2020)

Justin Carr Wants World Peace Scholar (2019)

Research interests: Motor and nonmotor effects of PD; Improvisational dance for PD; aging and neurological/neurodegenerative diseases, Meaning-making; community healing and reparations; transformative justice; intergerational trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); neuroplasticity and exercise; psychopathology and behavioral outcomes; Collective and individual memory; Ancestral Healing; Pedagogy; Somatics – Body-Mind Centering & Alexander Technique

Currently, Kyla is a member of Kode Redd Dance Company in St. Louis, under the direction of Anthony Redd Williams.

She has danced with Consuming Kinetics Dance Company (2023) as well as Lineage Dance Company of Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, CA (2022).

Kyla has now taught at 6 studios in St. Louis, including Hip Hop, choreography, and Modern to youth and adults.