The “comp kid” image has come a long way. Once viewed as over-the-top performers who prioritize tricks and trophies, competition dancers now fill the ranks of top colleges, conservatories, and companies around the globe. Competition studios are training dancers who aren’t just ready to win—they’re ready to work professionally. And the dance world is now making space for them to thrive.

Kamille Upshaw is no stranger to getting through eight shows a week. The Hamilton alum, who currently performs in Mean Girls, knows what her body needs to perform at its best: vegetables, protein, healthy carbs, but also greasy pizza and treats that please her sweet tooth. We checked in with her for Dance Magazine‘s “What […]

She had a varied, flourishing career that included dancing for Lar Lubovitch, touring with the Bad Boys of Dance, and performing at Radio City Musical Hall and in Broadway shows. But Kamille Upshaw really wanted to make Mean Girls happen. Not because she’d known Reginas or Plastics in high school—at Baltimore School for the Arts, […]