Meet Nathan Kara of “The Empire Strips Back.”

Before he ever stepped onto a stage, Nathan was already performing! He would transform his living room into a dance floor as a preschooler, inspired by watching Michael Jackson music videos on repeat.

Growing up in New Zealand’s sports-driven culture, that sense of community, and having male mentors, helped him push through the bullying that often comes with choosing dance over more traditional paths.

Nathan shared some of his incredible dance journey with The 702 Vegas – from dancing in the living room to the stage at Rio Las Vegas in “The Empire Strips Back.”

Nathan Kara Found His Love For Dance As A Young Child

Nathan found that he loved to dance as a young preschooler while watching Michael Jackson music videos. His parents put him in a local after school dance program at the age of 5, where he took lessons in tap, hip hop, jazz, and contemporary dance with a group of same aged boys.

“Being raised in the sports-dominant culture of New Zealand, having other boys to learn alongside and men teaching us dance helped me persevere through the bullying in the early years,” he told The 702. “Although I also used to play sports as a kid, apparently I would spend half of my time on the soccer field tap-dancing on the wing instead of chasing the ball.”

He said he was fortunate to grow up in a time where hip hop dance was growing in popularity and having a group of friends who also loved to dance and compete at local competitions.

“Watching the older boys in my area compete in these hip hop competitions, displaying these superhuman feats, flipping and breakdancing on stage in front of hundreds of people, I thought that was about the coolest thing you could do,” he shared. “So I formed my own dance crew with my friends during my high school  years and began competing. I loved the confidence it gave me, the purpose I felt when creating movement for stage, the introspection and self-expression it allowed me to tap into, and the connections I fostered within my community that eventually led to friends and connections worldwide.”

The Early Days Of Dancing

It was during his high school years that Nathan realized dance was what he wanted to do for his future career.

“While I was in high school, I stumbled across a video of a B-Boy named Daniel ‘Cloud’ Campos, performing on tour with Madonna in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Around the same time, I read the quote, ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ I had already discovered a love for dance and competing in the local hip hop competitions, and began to dream of performing on bigger stages and making a living doing so,” Nathan shared with The 702.

The thought of being able to travel the world, meet new people, and experience different cultures helped to keep him focused on dancing professionally. He auditioned and worked with various entertainment companies close to home, which led him to experience a variety of opportunities dancing professionally.

“These opportunities also introduced me to the worlds of professional acting and stunt performance,” he said. “But by my mid-20’s I felt I had experienced everything New Zealand had to offer me as a dancer, and set my sights on international stages in order to continue growing as an artist.”

While many memories from the early days of dance stick out for Nathan, he shared one that led him to a valuable lesson.

“I was an extremely shy kid, and even though I loved dance I was always getting in trouble for performing on stage with my head down and eyes aimed at the floor. But, when I was 16 I was offered the opportunity to compete in my first ever solo hip-hop dance competition,” he said. “Long story short, each competitor had to learn a routine from an instructor within an hour and perform it the next day onstage in front of an audience of about 300 people. I stayed up all night practicing that routine, terrified I would forget the moves. The performance day came, and I watched each of the prior competitors do just that. Each dancer would begin their routine, then forget the moves halfway through and stumble under the pressure. Then came my turn, and I felt the eyes of the audience on me. The pressure was immense, but I knew I had put in the work the night before. I managed to remember almost every step, even throwing a backflip midway through the routine, and won the first placed prize.”

The lesson he learned that day was all about hard work and believing in yourself. He said, “Hard work can beat talent if you believe in yourself.”

The Shows Nathan Kara Was In Before ‘The Empire Strips Back’

As a dancer in New Zealand, Nathan performed on TV shows, music videos, commercials, and even landed a role as a featured character in the film, “Born to Dance.”

In his early 20s, he was given the opportunity to backup dance for the “Queen of C-Pop,” Taiwanese pop music superstar, Jolin Tsai. He performed as one of her dancers for nearly three years throughout Asia and at events such as the MTV Asia Music Awards, Golden Melody Awards, and Harpers Bazaar Charity Night.

“My first long-term dance contract was being cast in the Australian Tour of ‘Magic Mike Live’ in 2019. I was hired as one of the featured B-Boys, and the backup tap dancer for the show,” he told The 702. “We were supposed to tour Australia for two years, however, COVID unfortunately cut our tour short by a year, and I was later picked up by Cirque du Soleil to join the ‘The Beatles LOVE’ at Mirage Hotel here in Las Vegas.”

Nathan was part of that show until it closed in 2024, and was also one of the show’s dance coaches during the final six months.

Being Part Of ‘The Empire Strips Back’

Currently, you can find Nathan on the stage at Rio Las Vegas in “The Empire Strips Back.” This show appeals to the diehard “Star Wars” fans and burlesque fans alike. Nathan plays a parody of Han Solo, which he feels is a character that’s “well received with lots of laughs and cheers.”

“Playing a parody of Han Solo is a little bit of pressure, knowing that I need to do the character justice for all the ‘Star Wars’ fans each night, however, the response to the character is usually well received with lots of laughs and cheers,” he said. “Additionally, I get to do a call and response rap on the mic each night, which was a first for me in my career. It threw me way out of my comfort zone for the first few shows, but it is so much fun to do now that I’ve found my rhythm with it.”

Nathan said that his first performance in “The Empire Strips Back” was a little nerve wracking, as it is with pretty  much any first show. He said the difference is “that anxiety didn’t come from a fear of forgetting movements or tripping on stage, rather it was the pressure felt of bringing the character to stage in a way that all the ‘Star Wars’ fans in the house that night could believe and support.”

“And there were a lot of ‘Star Wars’ fans there that opening weekend. Han Solo is such an iconic and beloved character from the film franchise, and I am the first male dancer you’ll see in our show, so the need to win over the crowd feels very real every night,” he shared.

He also said it’s exciting for him to introduce the show’s parody Chewbacca, making them feel like “WWE superstars.”

“Seeing the absolute joy on everyone’s faces when our 6’5 parody Chewbacca walks up next to them, arms extended for a high-five, was unforgettable,” Nathan said. “The most stoic men in the audience were transformed with childlike wonder when our life-sized Chewy appeared in front of them.”

Being A Dancer In Vegas And What Fun Nathan Kara Enjoys When Not On Stage

For Nathan, moving to Las Vegas completely reshaped what he believed was possible for a dancer’s career. Growing up in New Zealand, he assumed performing had an expiration date, expecting to step off the stage by his late twenties and transition into choreography. But in Vegas, he discovered a different reality: dancers thriving well into their 30s and beyond, proving that longevity in the industry isn’t just possible, it’s sustainable with the right balance and care.

Surrounded by seasoned performers, Nathan found inspiration in their experience, discipline, and ability to still find joy in the craft night after night. There’s a level of maturity and perspective in the Vegas dance scene that transformed his outlook, showing him that performing can evolve rather than end.

What struck him most was the stability, something he’d never associated with a dance career. In a city where performers can stay in the same show for years, plan their schedules, and rely on consistent work, Vegas offers a rare sense of normalcy in an otherwise unpredictable industry. For Nathan, it’s not just a place to perform, it’s where passion meets longevity, and where a dancer’s life can finally feel both creative and grounded.

When discussing the toughest part about being a dancer in Vegas, Nathan said, “the late night hours and mid-week weekends.”

“Often our hours of work are between 3 p.m. to 12 a.m., sometimes later if you also work at the clubs on the Strip. So your entire day’s schedule shifts later; usually a 2 a.m. bedtime, a 10 a.m. wake-up,” he said. “And because shows earn their most money through ticket sales on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, our weekends as performers are often Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday depending on which show you’re in.”

“The Empire Strips Back” performs six days a week, so the cast only has Tuesdays off, which can be tough to adjust to.

When he’s not on the stage entertaining, Nathan said he loves to take his dogs to the local dog park with his girlfriend. He also enjoys going to Town Square for some good food, hiking, and visiting Lee Canyon to hit the slopes during the winter months.

Past Lessons And Future Goals

Nathan’s dance journey has been filled with lessons along the way. One that he shared is that all performing artists learn to not take things personal.

“We give 110 percent at every audition we are fortunate enough to be placed in, but when it comes down to it, there are so many factors that go into receiving a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for that job,” he said. “Your skill set, your specific look, your height – these are all factors that can play into casting for a specific role, and although you may be the best suited skill-wise for a job, your look may just not be what they require, or a costume is fitted for a certain body shape and height.”

He added that he recently has a “newfound respect” for how long it takes for women to do their makeup.

“My first time touching makeup was when I joined Cirque du Soleil, where you are taught how to and expected to do your own stage makeup before every show,” he said. “I came back home after my first day learning the makeup steps and expressed to my girlfriend that I would never bother her with however long it takes her to get ready daily because it was no joke.”

As far as what the future holds for Nathan, he feels at some point he may “step back into the world of touring and performing with musical artists,” because he has “more artistic growth” to experience and might at some point want to “switch up the pace of life a little to do so.”

He also sees himself getting back into acting and stunts at some point.

“Then maybe in a few decades, I’ll have these various experiences I can share with the future generation of performers, maybe help other New Zealanders understand where they want to be and how to achieve that,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be able to bring work opportunities back down to New Zealand, to allow the performers there to experience a career through opportunities that many of us before had to leave home behind and live overseas to be a part of.”

For more information about “The Empire Strips Back,” visit the website.