Yaya Zhang is an accomplished multidisciplinary artist with twenty years of experience in stage performance, choreography, musical theater and the creation of modern art. In 2014, she established the award winning dance studio Yaya Dance Academy. Classes offered at the studio include ballet, musical theater, folk, modern, jazz, and tap. The studio offers children dance programs and adult dance programs as well as a fitness class program that includes dance fitness, pilates, and yoga. During the few years since the studio opened, her students have participated and won many awards in several national and international dance competitions. At their most recent competition the studio won awards including Judges Choice Award, Most Entertaining, Overall Best Score, secondary line overall No 1, Elite Top First Place, a $100 cash award, Best Video of the Week, and an invitation to the New Year intensive program. In 2014, “New Drum Rhythms," a dance produced at her academy won the “All Star” honor at CCTV Dance World. In 2017, she directed “Love Feast II” in cooperation with Pacific Symphony Orchestra at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and was hailed by media critics including Los Angeles Times. In 2018, Yaya Dance Academy became a founding member of International Music and Dance Festival, and worked together with Claire Trevor School of the Arts of UCI on an east-west cultural exchange project. To popularize musical theater within the community, YDA started musical theater classes in 2018 and invited Broadway directors and actors to come teach students. Open ideals and high quality art education is our continuous mission, and through professional training we provide reputable competition and performance opportunities to broaden the students’ vision and capabilities.