Hannahlei Cabanilla dancing her way to fame
By David N. Young
Perhaps not since the movie “Dirty Dancing” has a pair of dancing legs attached to a very talented lady so quickly launched a show business career.
For 19-year-old Anaheim Hills native Hannahlei Cabanilla, however, the stars are now the limit after winning the national dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Just a few months since her thrilling win, Hannahlei has been busy. She has appeared on the national talk show,“Live with Kelly and Ryan,” she is on “So You Think You Can Dance”’s national tour and she will have an upcoming role in the Broadway show “Rent.”
“It was all amazing really,” said Hannahlei.
When the tour passed through Orange County, she proudly noted that more than 250 people in the audience at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts were her own friends and family. The OC show was the “best show yet,” she said.
While the spotlights are bright now, her impeccable dance style is the result of her lifelong dedication and hard work.
She began dancing at age 2 and knew immediately it was want she wanted to do. As she got older, Hannahlei began to watch the SYTYCD show on television and she knew, “There was no question, as soon as I turned 18, I was going to audition” for the show, she remembers.
In an article written about Hannahlei after the win, Amy Berokoff, her longtime mentor and teacher, remembers working with Hannahlei from a very early age. “She never really said too much,” said Berokoff, “but she didn’t have to. She was just that good.”
Then, as now, when Hannahlei takes the stage, her dancing does the talking.
Nevertheless, it was a long road to the winner’s circle on the show, Hannehlei remembers. She auditioned for the show, then began surviving the eliminations. Then, when she was named to the Top 10 finalists in the show, “my heart stopped.”
Now, even more determined, she was not only practicing but also working in a separate gym on ballroom dancing with Lacey Schwimmer (Dancing with the Stars). “I trained like crazy,” she said.
She was even more inspired when paired with Cole Mills, the “best partner ever” on the show.
Throughout the competition, Hannahlei continued to impress the public and the judges with her talent.
“My first impression of her was ‘wow’, where did this kid come from?” said Judge Mary Murphy, according to Dance Spirit Magazine, which ran a cover story about Hannahlei following her win.
“She was everything in a dancer I could ever hope for.”
Apparently, Hannahlei was a hit with the public too. She is entertaining several offers while finishing her tour. She is also considering taking a break from her dancing career and finishing her education at the UC Irvine. Hannahlei is a graduate of Canyon Hill School in Anaheim Hills.
With the $250,000 prize money, Hannahlei wants to bring her parents, Rozaida and Tony Cabanilla, to Greece.
Competing on “So You Think You Can Dance” was one of her two main goals so far in life, and she still hopes to fulfill the other one as well, which is dancing with Beyoncé on tour.
“I am very proud of myself and what I have accomplished,” said Hannahlei this past week. Although the fame and recognition was hard at first, “it feels so comfortable now,” she said.
For Berokoff, her longtime teacher, Hannahlei was always destined for the spotlight, dancing on a stage. Hannahlei is now, she said, “where she belongs.”
