Former ballerina Eva Kahn keeps a busy schedule. When taking a break from writing her undergraduate thesis discussing causality and absurdity in quantum theory, the math and humanities senior trains for her second Country Dance World Championships hosted by the United Country Western Dance Council.

“There’s a certain exactness to ballet that applies very well to math and philosophy,” Kahn said. “There’s a lot of overlap in striving for perfection.”

The annual event, which will be held in Arizona next January, will mark Kahn’s final country dance competition as a UT student. The world championship gives highly advanced dancers the chance to perform while also taking workshops and learning from professionals in the country dance world — an opportunity Kahn said helped her grow tremendously after attending for the first time last January. 

“I improved more in that one week than in the months that I’d been doing country dance beforehand,” Kahn said.

To qualify for the competition, she and dance partner Mitchell Schonhoeft will participate in a series of regional country dance competitions.  

“(Kahn) and Mitchell have been preparing since this time last year for worlds,” said Jake Greene, six-time UCDWC Worlds competitor and coach. “What’s important for them is to start solidifying choreography, getting repetitions and getting experience on the floor.”

Before heading to UT, Kahn trained at classical dance studios in New York, including the School of American Ballet. After graduating, she accepted an offer from Ballet Austin. 

Kahn spent over a year as a trainee and marketing researcher at Ballet Austin before COVID-19 limited live performance opportunities, which Kahn said offered the perfect time for her to transition away from ballet. 

“I realized even though I loved (ballet), I didn’t want it to be my primary focus,” Kahn said. “I finally had the opportunity to do it all day every day and realized that took the fun out of it.”

After taking a few introductory courses at the University, Kahn eventually decided to enroll full time to earn a certificate in core texts and ideas — a swift change of pace from her previous focus on dance. 

Erik Dempsey, assistant director of the Thomas Jefferson Center’s program for core texts and ideas, said when working with Kahn, he immediately found her passion for dance trickling into her leadership and studies within the program. 

“Taking yourself seriously and letting your ideas develop comes from cultivating an art form like dance,” Dempsey said. “Having beautiful dance and beautiful art as a part of our program is important for an aesthetic education, so you can appreciate what’s worth paying attention to when it’s presented to you.”

While no longer performing ballet, Kahn still finds opportunities to dance in both UT and local Austin spaces. As a member of Texas Ballroom, the former ballerina enrolled in her first country dance competition and won first place. Kahn continues to participate in collegiate ballroom competitions and recently taught a swing dance class with local Austin company Uptown Dance.

“She’s a really quick study,” said Greene, an instructor at Uptown Dance. “Eva is a problem solver and an all-around pleasant person to interact with.”

Now, Kahn said she focuses on honing her skills for upcoming competitions, including UCWDC Worlds. Regional preliminary competitions will begin next month, but Kahn said her steps to prepare have already begun, studying every aspect of dance to give her the best chance at worlds.

“I want to find methods for approaching problems and look for ways to get stimulated and challenged all the time,” Kahn said. “I want my mind to expand as much as possible.”