Jayla Thacker is a ballet dancer from Baltimore, Maryland. She received her early training at Baltimore Ballet, Baltimore School for the Arts, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, where she performed in The Nutcracker alongside the professional company. She also studied through the virtual program at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School in 2020.

Jayla graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in 2025 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Ballet and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship. During her time at UNCSA, some of her most notable performance experiences included First Impulse by Claudia Scheirer; performing the role of the Princess of Unreal Beauty in Firebird, staged by original cast member Donald Williams for Dance Theatre of Harlem; the Enchanted Garden Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, staged by Dan Guin; and Shostakovich Suites by Dean Endalyn T. Outlaw.

Since joining Confluence Ballet Company as a company member in 2025, Jayla has continued to grow as both a performer and choreographer. She debuted the principal role of Natalia in The Jazz Nutcracker, and in the following season, made her choreographic debut with the company. Alongside Grace E. Wellmon, she co-created Nut Devours the Sun, a fifteen-minute ballet set to an original score by Josh Malavé. The work premiered on April 9, 2026, as part of IMAGES, a multidisciplinary collaboration between Confluence Ballet Company and Confluence Music Ensemble.

In addition to performing and choreographing, Jayla is certified in ABT’s National Training Curriculum levels Pre-Primary through Level 3. She is now a faculty member of Hill Dance Academy Theatre here in Pittsburgh!