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| KAHLIA GREKSA |
It must be nice to come to the attention of a major motion
picture director and then be singled out to be a featured dancer in one of the
most memorable scenes in a blockbuster movie. That’s what happened to Kahlia
Greksa. She was hand picked by Baz Luhrmann to be the lead dancer in “The
Twins” dance segment during the epic party sequence of the movie The Great Gatsby. That role was played
alongside her twin sister and the two managed to stay in character throughout
several costume changes in the midst of a roaring, raucous and
kaleidoscopically vibrant party filled with dancing and fast-moving and
fast-talking guests.
Kahlia started dancing when she was only 3 years old, mainly
because her mother decided that her shyness needed some working on. Perhaps her
mother was right, because the shyness is certainly gone and Kahlia thrives on
dancing whether there’s an audience or not. She has had extensive training in
all styles of dance including ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap and hip-hop. She
credits ballet with giving her strength and with teaching her discipline. She
feels that ballet is the very foundation of dance; once you learn that, you can
do anything.
That is probably as much the truth as it is an understatement
because Kahlia can do any type of dance in the world. She’s a quick study and
she can just watch someone do a routine once and she will be able to copy it.
She’s similar to Meryl Streep in that way, except Ms. Streep does it with
accents – she only needs to hear it once and she’s got it. When Kahlia worked
those long twelve-hour days on The Great
Gatsby she had to learn dance moves from the 1920s. She also had to be
transformed into someone who came from that era. Her hair and makeup and
costumes all helped her get into character which made it easier for her to
assimilate the new/old dances and make them her own.
Kahlia has worked with a number of top directors and
choreographers and she even went to India to work on a movie in Bollywood with
the famous Indian star Amir Khan. She loved that experience just as she loves
every aspect of her very well established dance career. She doesn’t even mind
training and rehearsing anymore. Of course, when you’re dancing at Kahlia’s
level, it’s just part of life, like breathing.
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