Meet Reka Gyulai Garcia of Escondido

Today we’d like to introduce you to Reka Gyulai Garcia.

Hi Reka, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Hungary and at the age of 10 I got accepted to the Hungarian Dance University, a boarding school for Ballet. After graduating from the university I moved out to the United States to audition for ballet companies. Since 2006 I traveled and danced with various ballet companies throughout the United States and toured with companies in Russia, South France, Switzerland, and Brazil. I settled down in San Diego and danced for California Ballet Company for 5 years. Currently, I am a dancer with The Rosin Box Project, a contemporary ballet company in San Diego. I am also a ballet teacher at North County Academy of Dance and at Georgias School of Dance. The past couple of years I’ve been venturing off as a choreographer and have choreographed ballets for Pointeworks , Ballet Collective San Diego and California Ballet.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had many challenges along the way, the biggest out of all of them is being away from my family. Being alone in a foreign country and creating a new life was difficult, but I am very glad I followed my dreams.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a professional ballerina, a ballet, instructor, and a ballet choreographer. As a teacher, I specialize in creating a strong foundation for young dancers, as well as fine-tuning movement and artistry. As a ballerina, I am working on my artistry and I am diving deeper into contemporary ballet. In my professional circle I am mostly known for being an ambitious and emotional artist, pursuing choreography to create contemporary ballet. I am very proud and honored to be living in the United States, proud that I was able to accomplish a career as a ballerina, a teacher and pursuing choreography. What sets me apart from others and what I’m known for amongst friends, is that I am a simple person who loves nature, loves God and is very family oriented.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
San Diego is the most amazing place I have ever lived or visited. We have mountains, the ocean, the desert, we have amazing food, beautiful nature. What I dislike is the traffic and that the area is getting more crowded, but I guess they can’t help it, people want to move here because it’s so beautiful.

Image Credits
Joe Molina
Michal Greenboim