May Featured Dancer
Our May Featured Dancer is Mya S.
Mya is a wonderful student who brings her unique humor and energy to class everyday! She has been dedicated to dance from the time she started with us when she was 7, nearly 10 years ago. I love the way she always welcomes new students into our school and has such a polite, inviting character that makes everyone feel at home. Mya is one of our assistant teachers and will make a wonderful teacher herself one day. Mya moved away from Oregon for a number of years and moved back almost two years ago. It has been a real blessing to have her back along with her whole family. As a junior we are excited to see what she does in the future!
Mya’s Interview:
1. Pirouette or Arabesque? Pirouette
2. Favorite Sweet Treat? Anything chocolate
3. Favorite Ballet Performance? Sleeping Beauty by APA in 2015 - I had the part of Winter Fairy, which is the first time I ever had my own part not shared with others.
4. How long have you been in Ballet? 11 years
5. Favorite Ballet quote? “You can dream big and it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from.” Misty Copeland
6. Favorite Part you have had in an APA performance? Snow Queen in the Nutcracker 2021
7. Early Bird or Night Owl? Night Owl
8. Favorite Disney Character? Belle from Beauty and the Beast
9. Favorite Color? Blue and Yellow
10. Tell us one fun/interesting fact about yourself?
I started ballet soon after I came to live with a new foster family as a 6 year old. My foster mom took me to the ballet class and for the first time I felt like a princess - it was magical. I would later become adopted. As I started to find security and unconditional love in my new family, part of the consistency and strength I found was through ballet as well… not just the dancing where I could work hard and express emotion, but also through the friendships and instructors that cared about me. My family and my ballet family have provided me with a foundation of safety, support, encouragement, and love and I am forever grateful.
Teen Mental Health Awareness Video by Mya S.
“I made this video for my final project in Health. There are many teens that suffer silently with mental health issues and don’t realize they are not alone. I made this video to hopefully encourage others to seek out support and help if they relate to some of these things. I immediately used dance because that is such a part of my own life and you can really express emotion through it. Mr. Keith and the musical theater dance class came through and helped me with some of the concept and choreography as well as dancing in the video with me. I got an ‘A’ on the project, but more importantly I received a lot of great feedback that it really touched people and helped some too”. ~Mya S.