Nyashia Linen was born with spina bifida but that didn’t stop her from enjoying life.
Despite having no feeling below her hips, she danced in The Nutcracker ballet from her wheelchair this year in Utica, N.Y.
“When I go out there, I walk with my party family, and we spin around, and we throw snowballs at each other,” Linen said to NBC affiliate, WKTV news.
Incorporating a wheelchair for the first time into the performance didn’t go without a hitch.
READ MORE: ‘Can’t’ doesn’t exist for incredible boy who suffers from spinal cord injury.
Choreographing the dance did present some challenges according to Melissa Larish, artistic director for the Mohawk Valley Ballet.
“How can we use her body and all of our bodies to tell the story, and it’s totally possible,” Larish told WKTV news. “It was a unique challenge as I looked at the choreography that we had, and how can I make this work, but it really worked out really well and I’m so pleased that she was willing to try.”
Linen’s mother Latoya Hamell is overjoyed to see her daughter try new things.
“She said her biggest challenge is not being able to move her legs, so she can’t really move like the rest of the girls, but it’s been wonderful to sit here and watch her out there doing what she can,” Hamell told WKTV news.
Smiling ear-to-ear, Linen shined in her performance of the famous Nutcracker ballet.
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