Hey, my name is Raya. I started dancing at the age of 3. My mom enrolled me in ballet for a year and a half. However, I quit ballet because I didn’t enjoy it, but I kept dancing at home, showing my skills to my parents. All my family members kept encouraging me to try dancing in a studio, but I was too shy and wasn’t ready to dance in front of people.

In 2019, my mom took me to a dance studio called Urban Dance. I decided to join because it seemed really nice. From the day I joined, I never once thought about quitting. Joining Urban Dance was the best decision of my life.

After two years of training at Urban Dance, I joined the Elite Team, and we won the Tunisian Championship 2021 in the École category. Two years later, I joined All Stars Junior, where we participated in many shows and competitions, including WOD TN 2023, where we won first place in the Junior category.

The following year, I was selected to join All Stars Fusion, and we won several competitions, most notably Performer Cup Italia in Italy. That same year, my best friend, Salma, and I decided to compete in the Duo category. We won 3rd place in Monastir and, in Italy, we were honored with the Best Duo nomination.

I’m incredibly thankful to our coach because none of this would have been possible without him.

Finally, I joined the Dream Team, and we were invited as guests of honor at the Tunisian National Championship, where we delivered two incredible performances for the grand opening.

Dance transformed me—it erased my shyness and replaced it with confidence, love, and happiness. My dance friends became family, and my dance studio became home. 💕

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