Lyla Ward, from Arlington, Virginia, grew up in a neighborhood with no other children, and spent most of her youth giving impassioned lip-syncs of Barbra Streisand to her bedroom mirror and putting on elaborate Ziegfeld inspired shows with her Barbies. Her love for the the dramatic followed her through eight years of ballet and tap dance and four years of designing scenic backdrops and costumes for her high school productions. At UVA, she has thrown herself into the student theater community, as a performer, costume designer, and most recently, choreographer. Lyla also spends a lot of her time reading and writing fiction. Her work often focuses on queer women, family, femininity, and gender performance. She hopes to double major in Drama and the Area Program for Literary Prose. Lyla’s great loves include Clarice Lispector, Audre Lorde, drag, disco, Western wear, and Dolly Parton.