Kalani Hilliker

Background

Kalani Hilliker is a prolific Gen-Z multi-talented performer who started her career as a professional dancer. Hilliker was born on September 23, 2000, in Mesa, Arizona, to Kira Girard and Matthew Hilliker. Hilliker’s mother enrolled her in dance classes when she was two years old. She entered Disney Channel’s dance competition “Make Your Mark Ultimate Dance Off” along with her friends in 2011, and her dance squad won. She consequently earned a role on the channel’s hit T.V. show “Shake It Up” alongside Zendaya and Bella Thorne.

In 2013, she competed in the dance reality competition show “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” hosted by Abby Lee Miller and finished in fourth place. She was consequently invited to join Miller’s show “Dance Moms” and instantly became a national celebrity. That same year, she won the Junior Female Best Dancer category at the Dance Awards national dance competition. After appearing as a guest dancer on the show’s fourth season in 2014, she became a permanent member of the Abby Lee Dance Company competing team in the fifth season in 2015. That same year, she started her YouTube channel, which would become her primary focus in later years.

She danced with the team for two years before she left to form her dance team with several former Abby Lee Dance Company team dancers. She left “Dance Moms” after the finale of the show’s seventh season in 2017. Later that year, she started appearing on the web series “Dirt,” — a show following the life of a fictional motocross rider. The following year, she starred in a coming-of-age rom-com film, “Swiped,” alongside “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” star Noah Centineo.