Nya Cunningham is an up-and-coming dancer from Washington, DC. She has been dancing since the age of three and plans to be a professional dance with a long-term goal of becoming an artistic director of a major company or a choreographer. She is a rising high school senior and currently trains at Baltimore School for the Arts where she has had the opportunity to perform works by Amy Hall Garner, Trey McIntyre, Darious Barnes, and  Yeoijn Cho to name a few. Nya has also had the opportunity to perform in productions with Debbie Allen, American Ballet Theater, Washington Ballet, Collage Dance Collective, and Atlanta Ballet. During the summers, Nya has trained with companies like Joffrey Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Complexions Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, and Deeply Rooted. Nya has also had the opportunity to perform in the Queen Latifah Collective Short “Ballet After Dark” and the independently released short “United We Heal” In her spare time she likes write poetry and give back to the youth in her community by helping raise funds and awareness for Sickle Cell, Cancer, and Anti-Bulling Campaigns. She also spends time introducing kids to ballet and encouraging them to follow their dreams no matter where you come from. She knows first-hand the difficulties of trying to accomplish your dreams coming from the inner city and fighting to be a part of a dance world where she will be a minority. She wants to be an inspiration to others and show them that with hard work, determination, and faith you can accomplish anything.