(New York Times) — Nneka Onuorah began taking tap-dancing lessons when she was 4, and by her teenage years, she was proficient in jazz, contemporary and hip-hop moves. She assumed she was destined to be a professional dancer. Instead, after attending LaGuardia Community College, she wound up in a different corner of the entertainment business, as the music specials coordinator at Black Entertainment Television. Ms. Onuorah, 23, lives in Corona, Queens.

In a name: My father came here from Nigeria, where he was a chief in his village, when he was about 23. My first name means “my mother is prominent.” My mother, Kim Onuorah, used to work as an accountant at the Park Lane Hotel. My parents separated in 1998. From the time I was about 10 until I was 15, I lived with my maternal grandmother in Atlanta. She supported my dreams of becoming a dancer.

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