Ayla King

Ayla King, a Columbia, South Carolina native, began her ballet training at age three under Mimi Worrel at Carolina Ballet. She went on to study extensively for nine years at Columbia Ballet School with Anita Ashley and guest faculty including Maurice Brandon Curry, Stanislav Issaev, Brooklyn Mack, and Joseph Phillips.

Ayla furthered her training at the Southeastern School of Ballet under Hilary Krieger Toth and Gabor Toth, where she expanded her repertoire in ballet, pointe, character, modern, contemporary, improvisation, and choreography. She also attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities for one year, refining her classical foundation with additional faculty.

After graduating high school in 2020, Ayla joined Fort Wayne Ballet in Indiana as a trainee, training under Karen Gibbons-Brown, Eleonora Pokhitonova Hartung, Tracy Tritz, and Jane Lanier. In 2023, she returned to Columbia as an apprentice with Columbia Classical Ballet under Artistic Director Brooklyn Mack and was promoted to company member the following season under Joseph Phillips. Ayla is currently a company member with Palmetto Ballet Theatre under Artistic Director Brianna Taylor Kelly.

Her performance credits include featured roles in The Nutcracker (Marzipan, Chinese, Ukrainian, Snow, Flowers), Swan Lake (Swan corps, Czardas, Party Guest), La Bayadère (Kingdom of the Shades), Coppélia (Swanhilda’s Friends), as well as contemporary works by Terrence Henderson and original choreography by Hilary Krieger Toth and Gabor Toth. She has also performed in new works by choreographer Simone Cuttino at both Columbia Classical Ballet and Palmetto Ballet Theatre.

Ayla has participated in prestigious summer intensives including the Bolshoi Ballet Academy under Rina Kirshner, Orlando Ballet under Robert Hill, Eglevsky Ballet (scholarship recipient) under Maurice Brandon Curry, and Southeastern School of Ballet, where she worked with renowned artists such as Petra Conti, James Fayette, Eris Nezha, Jennifer Ringer, Sabi Varga, Michaela DePrince, and Brooklyn Mack.

In addition to performing, Ayla has choreographed original contemporary works, including Elements (2017) and Everywhere I Go (2016).