Kaitlyn Jenkins is a talented individual who has achieved success as a dancer, singer, and actor. She joined the ABC Family series Bunheads, a new show created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, which premieres in June.
Kaitlyn's mother, Kathleen Hall Jenkins, was a professional ballet dancer who studied at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC and later danced professionally with the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Los Angeles Ballet. Kathleen had an early influence on Kaitlyn's career as a dancer, enrolling her in creative movement classes at age three.
At the age of thirteen, Kaitlyn's mother enrolled her in a local acting class, where she showed strong talent and enthusiasm for acting. She auditioned and was cast as an ensemble member in a children's musical production of "The Wizard of Oz".
Kaitlyn was accepted into the prestigious Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California, and chose to pursue the Music and Theatre conservatory. She continued to pursue her acting career, booking over twenty feature length, short, and student films, as well as commercials and television projects.
Before graduating OCHSA in 2010, she performed the role of the "American Queen" in the school musical "Chess" and received the "M.A.C.Y. Award for Outstanding Special Achievement in a Musical". She also studied and performed as a trainee ballet company member with the Anaheim Ballet, performing leading roles in The Nutcracker and other company repertoire and school performances.
Kaitlyn has received regional top twelve honors in the "Youth America Grand Prix" ballet competition for her Contemporary piece in 2009 and again in 2010 for both the Contemporary and Classical categories. She has also trained with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, the Boston Ballet, Katsbaan, and The Jillana School.
She has danced in several full-length ballets, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty, and has also danced excerpts from Romeo & Juliet and Swan Lake. Now, she stars as Bettina Jordan, one of Michelle's precocious students, in the ABC Family series Bunheads.
In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys working out at the gym, swimming, taking stage combat, and horseback riding. She loves animals and is a pet owner of a cat and two dogs.
