Super flexible - Young acrobat wows inner-city community

September 15, 2017
McKayla's talent has long been a source of amusement for persons in Denham Town, Kingston.
Denham Town resident McKayla shows off her acrobatic skills.
McKayla and her mother, Shanique Samuels.
McKayla's talent has long been a source of amusement for persons in Denham Town, Kingston.
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Young McKayla McFarlane of Denham Town, Kingston, can contort her body into positions that would land many persons in hospital if they attempted to try. The super flexible eight-year-old told THE STAR that she was never professionally taught, explaining simply, “me born with it,”.

She said that dancing is her passion, and she hopes to make a career of it, but her mother, Shanique Samuels, explained that she does not have access to such classes in their community.

Nonetheless, Mckayla’s talent has long been a source of amusement for family, friends and neighbours, and she was happy to put on an acrobatic show for THE WEEKEND STAR earlier this week.

Without warming up, she was able to perform a number of stunts with seemingly professional level precision, including several variations of clean splits and bending over backwards and touching the floor with both hand.

Her proud mother, explained that McKayla is a very quiet child but she transforms once the music starts playing.

“Her favourite thing to dance to is reggae songs. She know all the moves to the songs. I would love for her to make a career out of it because she loves it, but we don’t really have those kinds of things around here,” Samuels said.

Samuels added that McKayla has always enjoyed physical activities and is consistently on top in her physical education classes at the St Albans Primary School in Kingston, where she is currently a third-grader.

“From she was in first grade, she always get pure As in physical education. She was the leader for her sports house in grades one and two. She always come first in the races. She very good on those things. She always come first in frog race, bag race and those things,” Samuels said.

She said that little McKayla battles with asthma, and has to do regular check-ups at the hospital but she does not allow her condition to interfere with her passion.

Shanique Samuels may be contacted at 483-5230.

 

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