One Nutley dancer is certainly making a name for herself at a very young age.
Naomi Wei, a 12th-grader at Nutley High School, has been selected as a 2026 YoungArts award winner in Dance: Modern/Contemporary. Wei joins hundreds of the nation’s most accomplished young visual, literary and performing artists from 39 states and the District of Columbia, YoungArts said.
Bestowed annually since 1981, the YoungArts Award is the only award in the nation that recognizes exceptional young talent across artistic disciplines and affirms their pursuit of a professional life in the arts. Recipients become part of a lifelong community of peers and mentors, with access to critical resources that help sustain their creative practices throughout their careers.
Wei, 17, has been training in dance at Studio L Hoboken since she was 3. She has also trained with the American Ballet Theatre and recently spent a summer as a trainee at Juilliard in New York City.
“If we give young people the validation to pursue artistic careers, then the arts in the United States will continue to thrive,” YoungArts President & CEO Clive Chang said. “The YoungArts Awards not only affirm their interests and talents, but give them the support networks and resources that allow them to envision a long-term path and sustain it. We are thrilled to recognize the extraordinary creativity, imagination, and talent of this year’s award winners and to champion them for the rest of their lifetimes.”
Winners, all age 15-18 or in grades 10-12, are selected through a highly competitive application reviewed by panels of esteemed artists in a rigorous adjudication process. All winners have demonstrated exceptional technique, a strong sense of artistry, and an extraordinary commitment to developing their craft. Winners were selected from a record number of nearly 13,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines: classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.