Dance academy competes in festival

Cornwall — Local students of the American Youth Dance Academy competed at this year’s Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey. More than 300 talented young dancers from all over the United States took part in the prestigious dance competition, the Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey, in front of a live audience and a panel of judges, competing for scholarships to ballet schools, summer programs and colleges. Competition-winning students of the academy will perform live with New York City Ballet soloists in a production of “The Nutcracker” scheduled for Monday, Dec. 20, at The Lycian Center in Sugar Loaf. The Academy’s artistic director and founder is Natasha Bar.