Naya Karmyn Gonzalez began dancing at the age of five in Delaware. Naya trained in classical ballet styles including Balanchine and Vaganova, and Modern technique Horton. She competed for several years at the prestigious worldwide competition Youth America Grand Prix where she earned a top 12 position in the ballet category in 2013. At the age of fifteen, Naya had a reconstruction foot surgery that led to a shift in her dance training from ballet to contemporary. She is a graduate of the Cab Calloway School of the Arts where she majored in contemporary dance for the remainder of her high school career. Naya furthered her training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC, where she is studying and earning a BFA degree in Contemporary Dance.
While at UNCSA, she has been exposed to various dance styles and techniques including; Ballet, West African, Cunningham, Horton, Límon, CounterTechnique, Partnering, and Composition. She has had the opportunity to perform in several repertory pieces and new works including, Robert Battle’s Mass, Rena Butler’s Symphony Of Cracks, Grady Bowman’s Before We Go, Shen Wei’s RE-III, and Merce Cunningham’s Travelogue. After graduation, Naya aspires to have a dance career with a touring company where she can show her love and passion for dance while traveling the world. She also hopes to give back to the dancing community by teaching and guiding those who share her drive while still pursuing a professional career as a dancer and art maker.