Apprentice
Kaia Annika Tack was born and raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. She received her early training locally at the North Shore School of Dance. At age 13, Ms. Tack began training at the School of Ballet Chicago under Patricia Blair and Daniel Duell, on the Marsha and Philip Dowd scholarship. A year later, she joined the Ballet Chicago Studio Company. There, she performed in several works by George Balanchine, including Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Allegro Brilliante, and Valse Fantaisie. Ms. Tack also attended summer courses on scholarship at the School of American Ballet in 2004 and 2005.
In 2005, Ms. Tack moved to California to train at the San Francisco Ballet School, on a full merit scholarship. In San Francisco, Ms. Tack trained under Gloria Govrin and Parrish Maynard and was featured in Mr. Maynard’s choreographic debut piece, Secret Places. She also performed in The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker with San Francisco Ballet.
In 2007 Ms. Tack joined American Ballet Theatre II under the direction of Wes Chapman. During her time at ABTII, Ms. Tack was named a Chisholm Foundation Scholar for 2008 and 2009 and was featured in numerous ballets, including the principal role in Raymonda Act III Excerpts, Flower Festival at Genzano, Jerome Robbins' Interplay, and George Balanchine's Allegro Brilliante. Ms. Tack was also featured in new works choreographed for ABT II such as Aszure Barton's Barbara, Lauri Stallings' Slokas, and Jodi Gates' A Taste of Sweet Velvet.
Ms. Tack joins Pennsylvania Ballet as an Apprentice for the 2009-2010 Season.