Katching Up with World Champ Kaylee on the Queen Mary

By C. MacDonald

Kaylee Finnegan, California's first Scottish Highland Dancing World Champion, recently showed her passion at the Queen Mary's ScotsFestival and International Highland Games XXI (queenmary.com). On board the ship built by Scots, 15-year-old Kaylee performed her magic to the delight of the crowd and fellow dancers. We asked her about her precision athleticism, which helped her become world champ of the juvenile division last year in Dunoon, Scotland. She showed how the Highland Fling requires 192 consecutive jumps on the balls of her feet. "It's like sprinting a mile in up to 10 pounds of wool kilt, with your hands in the air and a smile on your face," said the energetic Laguna Niguel 10th grader, who seems wise far beyond her years.

"To get to the top requires a mental game of mind over matter. You have to believe in yourself and not focus on anything else. Then do the best you can. Everything happens for a reason and I feel my faith also has helped me get to where I am."

The veteran, who started dancing at 3 with her Scotland-born mother, Phyllis, works on some aspect of her performance every day and with her teacher twice a week. She practices in her home garage, which has been made into a stage. Kaylee will be competing for another World Championship in Scotland this August. She loves the competition, the challenge of constant improvement, precision timing and carrying on a centuries-old tradition. And she enjoys her dancer friends like Clementyne Vega, 16, and Katherine Arthur, 15, with her same fantastic teacher, Linda Armstrong.

No matter how tired she may be, Kaylee comes to life when dancing. She's transformed into a sensational, spirited spectacle of splendor, who captures the attention of all around her. The respectful, resourceful, determined, gleeful, intelligent, friendly young lady, said some competitive dancers are in their 80s and she hopes to be one of them. She has all the qualities to continue being a world champ for years to come. What a fantastic ambassador for Scottish Highland Dancing, bringing enjoyment to all who see her as well as herself. When she jumps for joy, so do we. Continued success and happy trails, Kaylee. The best is yet to come!

Advertisement