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ORU cheerleader extraordinaire
born to perform
By Micah Ortega
 She's
the winner of two gold medals in the 2002 National Dance Champs
Competition, winner of a silver medal on balance beam in the 1999
USA Independent Gymnastics Corporation Nationals and winner of the
Miss Sunburst of Oklahoma 2002 pageant, Miss Southern Belle 2002
pageant and Miss Tulsa Teen 2000.
ORU Cheerleader Kelly Katic was born to perform. You can see it
in her eyes, her smile and her actions! She loves the "energy that
comes from the audience."
At the age of four she was dancing and performing in the aisles
of the grocery store Katic's mother remarked, musingly. As a young
and bright-eyed third-grade girl, encouraged by her mother, Katic
picked up the pompoms for the first time, and they just fit. A year
later, at the age of nine, Katic began her gymnastics training.
People told Katic that if she wanted to compete in the Olympics
she should have started gymnastics training at four, but Katic did
not let this disturb her. She did it for fun, not for the drudge
of it or because she had to, but because she wanted to.
Her gymnastics experience gave her valuable performance tools. Certain
gymnastics competitions consist of one floor routine and three tumbling
passes. She said routines required "flexibility, leaps, turns and
posing." Floor routines were set to music and required an element
of dance. Katic said that when she injured her ankle, she was unable
to do the difficult flips and maneuvers, so she spent much of her
time perfecting her dance moves for the floor routine. "Everyone
told me I should have been a rhythmic gymnast," she said.
In high school, Katic's performance career took on a different but
delightful turn and change in scenery. As a 15-year-old sophomore
in high school still performing as a cheerleader and gymnast, Katic
decided to enter a beauty pageant for the first time. In her first
pageant, she was mortified. Katic laughingly said that as she walked
out on stage embarrassingly holding down her "fufu" dress. She did
not know what the judges expected of her.
Even though she was scared and unsure, the adventurous performer
inside Katic was still alive and well. "I knew I could do this,"
Katic said. For talent that year, she sang Whitney Houston's "I
Will Always Love You." Katic said she learned a lot from competing
in the pageants. "I don't think I was so used to being dressed up
and elegant. I was used to going around barefoot and on tumbling
mats," she said. In the pageants, she gained good stage experience
and learned about "just being a lady."
Stage experience and elegance are not all that Katic gained from
competing in the pageants, for at the end of her sophomore year
she received a two-year scholarship to Oral Roberts University as
Miss Indiana ORU. Prior to receiving this scholarship, Katic knew
nothing about ORU, but most significantly she really knew nothing
about church or God. She grew up in a non-churchgoing family. She
and her brother were not required to attend any type of religious
services in order to keep peace in the family since her father was
Serbian Orthodox and her mother Methodist. She said that after receiving
the scholarship, she began attending religious events because she
knew ORU was a Christian University and she would need to know something
about Christianity. She started attending Bible studies that were
led by the valedictorian of her class.
Ironically Katic was salutatorian that year and she headed up from
the small town of Valparaiso, Ind., with her mother and brother.
She immediately joined the cheerleading squad her freshman year.
She likes cheerleading because it incorporates a variety of activities
such as dancing and tumbling, and she gets a chance to perform.
"It's exciting to be a part of the games and to spread that enthusiasm
to the crowd," Katic said. Now a senior at ORU, Katic is a volunteer
cheerleader because she already has a pageant scholarship and other
financial means that cover her tuition.
Katic chose Drama/Television/ Film as her major, from which she
would glean even more valuable performance skills and techniques.
She said that in this major "you learn a little of everything, not
just acting." She has also learned about scriptwriting, interviewing
and technical aspects of performing. Katic enjoyed working in the
scene shop building sets with power tools. Her classmates called
her "tool-time Kelly."
A year and a half ago, Katic began studying ballet, yet another
aspect of performance. She decided to learn dance for the talent
section in a beauty pageant. "I don't plan to cheer all my life,
but I could see myself dancing for the rest of my life," Katic said.
Due to her cheerleading and gymnastic experience, Katic learned
dance quickly. She is currently involved with her church dance team
and choir at Evangelistic Temple.
Katic has also recently recorded her first vocal recording project,
which is entitled "Kelly." The CD includes songs such as "My Favorite
Things," "'Till There was You," "On my Knees" and "In His Presence."
Katic desires to sing and dance on the stage at dinner theatres
in Branson, Disney World and eventually Broadway, and with her skills
in singing, dancing and acting, Katic is poised and ready for the
stage.
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