At the age of six, senior Kira Caldwell knew what she wanted to be.

Famous.

That was part of Caldwell’s introduction, and the fact about herself she shared to a panel of judges and fellow participants while auditioning to be on her first competitive — and current — dance team at Studio One Dance Academy.

And despite the fact that she started performing with her studio 12 years ago, dance has been a component of her life for much longer. By her mother’s suggestion, Caldwell began taking classes around two or three years old. They began by focusing on tap before expanding into more styles like hip hop and jazz when she was in elementary. 

“I was a very bold child when I was little,” she said. “I think my parents could just see that I was in love with dancing and performing.”

Caldwell’s longtime passion for the sport has motivated her to pursue it at the next level at Santa Clara University. 

With this, she is one of the last seniors of the 2025 school year to be featured for The Falconer’s Next Level Seniors, a series highlighting student athletes who have committed to playing their sport at the collegiate level.

Caldwell attended her first competition at six. In it, she performed two routines — one in the tap category and one for jazz.

“I’m definitely a really competitive person,” she said. “I found myself being pretty successful, and so I feel like that has motivated me to keep working harder.”

Whether it’s teaching dance or practicing it, Caldwell spends about four to five days out of the week dedicated to the sport but has had to be more cognizant about time management as the end of her high school career approached.

Over the years, she has found that her movement quality has improved the most.

“What’s been a game-changer for me is that I’ve gotten the chance to work with an outside choreographer and get her feedback,” Caldwell said. “She’s definitely pushed me above my limits.”

Not only does Caldwell participate as a member on the competitive team at the Studio One Dance Academy, but she teaches classes for certain age groups for the third year in a row, typically working with little kids and adolescents.

“I’ve been really happy with just being able to develop connections with students and give them my advice,” she said.

Primarily, Caldwell teaches hip hop as suggested by her teacher; however, she also enjoys teaching tap and occasionally also does jazz.

“I definitely try to be that teacher who’s excited and trying to motivate them,” she said. “I really, really, really want my students to be confident in freestyle, improv, and dancing how their bodies want to dance, and I find that it’s really hard for them to do that in front of other people with a fear of being judged, so I definitely want to establish a classroom where I can just encourage them to be themselves.”

Caldwell expressed that one difficulty she faces is balancing how she’s seen because of teaching and being on a team simultaneously.

While she wants to be regarded as a teacher within the classroom environment that necessitates it, she also said that sometimes her coworkers don’t view her as one.

On top of that, Caldwell balances being a student athlete, something she said can be a struggle due to the time both school and dance require, especially with the demand of AP and honors classes. 

Because of this, she has had to “step up” her time management.

Most Wednesdays, she stays late after school to get homework done in the library before leaving for practice.

The difficulty of time management increases, however, as she travels to local competitions in places like Washington and California or even to national competitions further out.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot of school — like outside of school activities — with people I could be hanging out with,” Caldwell said. “I feel like I haven’t gotten the chance to bond with a lot of people from my class because dance takes up so much time.”

It goes the same way when she prioritizes her academics.

“I do feel guilty when I have to miss dance for schoolwork,” she said. “But in the end, I just have to do what’s best for me.”

Caldwell didn’t plan on continuing dance after high school at first, but following other collegiate dance teams — like University of Oregon’s Duck Dancers — encouraged her to do exactly that. After deciding that she was going to Santa Clara University, she applied online with a video audition.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I really feel myself wanting to make this team,’” she said. “When I made it, I was relieved. Like, I can still keep dancing.”

Before applying to Santa Clara, she was looking at colleges like University of Oregon, Loyola Marymount University, University of San Francisco, and Chapman University, considering places that she thought either had good film programs or were close to Los Angeles because of her interest in potentially studying film.

“I feel like my love for performance has developed into this love for learning how things are created and screen acting,” she said.

Caldwell’s decision to visit Santa Clara University and the area in general was influenced by the fact that the daughters of some of her mom’s friends had attended.

Shortly afterward, she fell in love with the campus.

After making the team, Caldwell noted that a key difference between dancing for college versus high school teams is the amount of competitions. A large portion of dancing on the Santa Clara team will mainly be for games like basketball, with less of an emphasis on the competitive aspect.

With the transition to college, Caldwell may not teach dance anymore, which she feels sad about due to her love for choreography, especially coming up with “routines and teach[ing] them to other people,” she said. “I feel like a lot of it just comes from how I’m feeling in the moment. Sometimes I’ll pull moves from dance conventions I’ve been to or videos off of Instagram.”

But, Caldwell still has a chance to travel.

In the summer, she is going to Las Vegas, Nevada alongside one of the girls on the dance team for a convention to learn from professionals in the field. Upon returning, they will teach the rest of the team the skills and understanding they gained.

Though she has always had the motivation to dance, her level of confidence has grown over time. 

“I feel like now, compared to how I was a couple years ago, I’m definitely a more confident person,” Caldwell said. “I’m less afraid to say something if I notice something’s wrong.”