Naia Neal is a dance educator with over seven years of experience teaching, assisting, and leading programs for young dancers across a wide range of ages and settings, including studio settings, masterclasses, intensive, camps, and school-based programs. Her teaching practice centers on fostering confidence, creativity, and strong technical foundations while meeting students where they are developmentally and artistically.

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Naia currently serves as a Teaching Assistant at The Ailey School, where she works with dancers in the First Steps Program (ages 3–7) and Junior Division (ages 8–9), teaching ballet and foundational creative movement.

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Her teaching journey began at Dancenter where she held the roles of dance instructor, substitute teacher, and teaching assistant at Dancenter. In these roles, she taught beginning and intermediate hip-hop classes and trained students in styles including hip-hop, jazz, modern, and Latin dance.

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Since then, she has taught masterclasses at Dancenter, and intensives and camps at the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center

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Naia has also held roles as a Summer Dance Camp Coordinator where she designed themed curricula for Dancenter's annual Summer Dance Camps. During the program students engaged in daily technique training, creative movement, craft, and concluded with an end of camp performance. She has also held the role of Dance Camp Director at Kruz Kidz as well. 

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In addition, Naia served as a Dance Instructor with STEM From Dance in the Bronx, leading an after-school program that integrated dance, technology, and empowerment. She collaborated with STEM instructors, supported students in creating original work, and adapted instruction to support growth, confidence, and creative problem-solving.

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Across all settings, Naia is committed to inclusive, thoughtful teaching that values curiosity, discipline, and joy in movement.