09/04/2026
🩰 FADC ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT 🩰
Where Are They Now?
As we celebrate 30 years of Florida Arts & Dance Company, we’re celebrating the dancers who grew up within our walls and the stories that remind us why FADC has always been about so much more than dance.
Today, we’re honored to spotlight one of our beautiful FADC alumni. 💙
Neshiyqah first came to FADC at just seven years old, a young Jamaican girl who had fallen completely in love with ballet.
One of her earliest treasured memories was being chosen to dance a small solo as the White Swan. Then, at only 11 years old, she was given her biggest role yet; Clara in The Nutcracker.
Her family traveled from different cities and countries to see her perform, and her mother even rented a limousine for opening night. But what she remembers most was looking into the audience and realizing just how many people believed in her.
In her words:
“There is something extraordinary about being a child and seeing, in real time, how deeply your village believes in you.”
Seventeen years later, Neshiyqah returned to The Lyric Theatre to dance in Snow in The Nutcracker as an FADC alumna; a beautiful full-circle moment.
The lessons she learned at FADC followed her far beyond the stage. She went on to become captain of the Martin County High School Tigerettes and even auditioned to become a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Today, as a business owner, she still credits dance with teaching her discipline, resilience, composure, accountability and confidence.
But perhaps the most meaningful part of Neshiyqah’s story is what FADC became for her after losing her mother just before beginning high school.
“Their unwavering support taught me one of life’s most profound truths: family is not always defined by blood. Sometimes family is defined by the people who witness your becoming and continue loving you through every version of yourself.”
And Neshiyqah beautifully summed up what FADC meant to her:
“FADC did not simply teach me how to dance.
They helped teach me how to become.”
💙 This is why we do what we do.
For 30 years, FADC has been building strong youth through the power of dance and we couldn’t be prouder of the remarkable people our dancers become.
Once an FADC dancer, always part of the FADC family. 🩰
