Meet Tonya Kay

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Tonya Kay again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Tonya, thanks for joining us again. Just to level set a bit for folks who may have missed our last interview together, can you briefly introduce yourself?
Living the dream. Arts and Entertainment saved my life. I started in professional dance, performing in NYC concert dance, Las Vegas showrooms, Los Angeles film and tv and touring in STOMP, with Panic at the Disco – even toured with Kenny Rogers (RIP). Who knew what journey career dance would take me on – and it’s been magnificent. Since, I’ve made my living acting across from A-listers and in independents, hosting on Travel Channel and on theatre tours, producing stage extravaganzas like Pinup Pole Show and Xtreme Rhythm Theatre and directing on-camera for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! and my own work including The Ascension of Ava Delaine and High Heels.

Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
Since we last spoke, I directed my latest film, High Heels. High Heels is a bodacious story about mentorship and honoring our female elders set against the colorful backdrop of Vaudeville’s burlesque, drag and cirque arts.

http://highheels.com

They say “create what you know” and this story actually happened to me one night when I was invited to headline a burlesque show in Hollywood, CA. Lo and behold, an elderly showgirl replaced me in my finale solo and I spent the rest of the evening, envious and bewildered as to how a woman who can’t even bend over to fasten her own high heels could be taking the show’s starring solo. Only to find out the old lady was an Old Legend I had been tributing for years. Of course, in the film, I’ve exaggerated the vain, lead dancer’s jealousy and sabotage attempts for dramatic interpretation!

What I love most about telling the story of High Heels from an authentic, life-long perspective in the Vaudeville-styled arts is getting to showcase diverse talents of all genders, races, orientations, skillsets, economic classes – without making the story about those differences. The story focuses on age discrimination, professional elder abuse and what we all have to gain by honoring our female elders and accepting the miracle of mentorship. This is all set amongst a motley crew of divergent artists getting along and creating with no conflict in performance arts. Did I mention arts and entertainment saved my life?

Another related adventure I’ve been on since we last spoke is I’ve become bi-coastal! And by bi-coastal I mean Hollywood and Hollywood North (aka Vancouver, BC). I now legally work, live and create in both locations and am learning that although the two societies *look* very similar from the outside, there are indeed *great* cultural differences – especially in arts and entertainment. One example; Canada views film as an art and … Canada funds the arts. High Heels has been a magnificent window into the world of provincial arts support and I am beyond thrilled to announce that after writing for grants for over year, I was honored with the BC Arts Council and Province of British Columbia’s “Individual Arts Grants: Media Artists Award and supplemental Access Support for artists with disabilities. British Columbia made High Heels possible and established me as a proud Canadian filmmaker. My vision is to return the pride by touring High Heels to prominent worldwide festivals, securing support for and producing High Heels as a feature-length, bringing more diverse dance-based film concepts to viewers and most of all, reminding people in a very polarized society that that we’re all far more alike than we are different. Through filmmaking.

We also want to give folks a chance to get to know you a bit better so we’ve prepared a fun lightning round of questions. Ready?

Favorite Movie: Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!

Favorite Book: Murderbot Diaries

Favorite TV Show: The Get Down

Favorite Band or Artist: Deftones

Sweet or Savory: savory

Mountains or Beach: mountains

Favorite Sport (to watch): dance

Favorite Sport (to play): dance

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): dance, tennis, basketball, softball, volleyball, pickleball.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: dancer, children’s book illustrator, carpenter

French Fries or Onion Rings: vegan-prepared vegan-versions of almost anything Ⓥ

Favorite Childhood movie: The Dark Crystal

Favorite Breakfast Food: green juice

When you look back on your life, what are three things you expect to be proud of?
When I look back on my life someday, I expect to be proud of not having a Plan B and only pursuing Plan A, being diagnosed with breast cancer during the global pandemic and making it through with enough sanity left to tell my story, choosing the vegan lifestyle since I could make the choice and prioritizing love in all my actions. That’s four, I know, but the last two are kind of the same to me.

Website: http://linktr.ee/tonyakay

Instagram: http://instagram.com/purerenegade

Facebook: http://facebook.com/brutallyelegant

Other: http://highheelsmovie.com

Image Credits
All photos by Ray Shum of Tempest Photo