Education + Experience

Nailah began artistic gymnastics as a young child and remained dedicated to it until her medical retirement from the sport at age 14, following 5+ years of national-level competitions and countless medals on balance beam and uneven bars. Despite the demands of her sport, Nailah also found the time to train as a classical singer and actor with the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, appearing as a featured performer in albums and shows across the country, including The Four Tenors, Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Christmas Pops; Back in the Day; Canadian Specials), and Canadian Opera Company (Carmen; Madame Butterfly; La Bohème), as well as touring with the company across North America and to Europe.

Nailah has honed her skills internationally since beginning her formal dance training while attending Etobicoke School for the Arts. Between summers at The Ailey School and the completion of her Honours BFA in Dance from York University, Nailah’s formal movement vocabulary has been highly influenced by Theatre Jazz, contemporary floor and partner work, Graham Technique, Precision Jazz, Dunham Technique, contemporary ballet, Limón Technique, and Horton Technique.

Immediately following her graduation from YorkU, Nailah moved to New York City to pursue a performance career where she had the honour of training and performing with companies and choreographers including VIM VIGOR, Ailey II, Helen Simoneau, Ronald K Brown/EVIDENCE, Ross Daniels, Jennifer Muller, and Buglisi Dance Theater while studying as an Ailey School Scholarship Student.

Since returning to Toronto, Nailah has rediscovered her acrobatic roots, making the career transition from dance to circus. She began training with contortion, hand-balancing, and acrobatics with Alixa Slobodyan (Alixa Flexibility), Serchmaa Byamba (Circus Center), Samantha Halas (Frostbite Circus) and Maleke Duncan-Reid, before adding Lyra (Keely Whitelaw and Leeann Ball), pole (Elspeth Cudmore), and now Cyr Wheel (Christa Wilson and Francis Caron) to her ever-growing repertoire. In 2022, she achieved first place in the Championship division at Pole Sport Organization's Canada East competition and, since then, has had the opportunity to work as a featured artist for many notable circus companies including Cirque Revolution, Hercinia Arts Collective, and Les 7 Doigts de la Main.