Kaitlyn Jenkins

Accomplished dancer, singer and now, actor, Kaitlyn Jenkins is one of those lucky individuals who has beat the odds with her incredible triple threat talents and joined ABC Family's new series Bunheads. At the age of thirteen, after listening to Kaitlyn's persistent pleas, her mother enrolled her in a local acting class. Kaitlyn's mother, Kathleen Hall Jenkins, was also a professional ballet dancer who studied at the esteemed Joffrey Ballet School in NYC and later wen on to dance 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 studio where she taught. While Kaitlyn was already showing strong talent as a dancer and had transitioned into a full time classical ballet-training program, she loved her acting classes and showed great enthusiasm and talent for what she was learning. Wanting to expand her acting and vocal abilities, Kaitlyn auditioned and was cast as an ensemble member in a children's musical production of "The Wizard of Oz." As high school approached, Kaitlyn auditioned for the prestigious "Orange County High School of the Arts" in Santa Ana, California, and was accepted into both the Classical Dance and the Music and Theatre conservatories. She chose to pursue the Music and Theatre conservatory, but continued to pursue her acting career, and began auditioning for film, television, and commercial projects. She soon booked her first audition, which was for a Nintendo Wii commercial. Since then, Kaitlyn has booked over twenty feature length, short, and student films as well as commercials and television projects. One of these projects, In Small Places, which was an OCHSA student film, garnered her a "Best Actress" award at the Temecula Film Festival for her role as a silent, young girl. Before graduating OCHSA in 2010, she performed the role of the "American Queen" in the school musical "Chess" where she was presented the "M.A.C.Y. Award for Outstanding Special Achievement in a Musical." During Kaitlyn's time studying acting, she also studied and performed as a trainee ballet company member with the Anaheim Ballet, performing leading roles in The Nutcracker as well as other company repertoire and school performances. She participated in the "Youth America Grand Prix" ballet competition for five consecutive years, receiving regional top twelve honors in 2009 for her Contemporary piece, and again in 2010 for both the Contemporary and Classical categories. Kaitlyn's extensive training also consists of time spent 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 to name a few. Now working on the ABC Family series Bunheads, the new show from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the show premieres in June, and is a coming of age story that centers on the life of a Las Vegas dancer, Michelle, who begins to teach ballet to four little "bunheads" in suburban California. Kaitlyn stars as Bettina Jordan, one of Michelle's precocious students. While Kaitlyn specializes in Ballet and Contemporary dance, she can perform a broad range of styles including HIp Hop, Tap, Jazz, Ballroom, and Club/Freestyle. 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.