Cynthia Kiehnau began dancing in San Francisco with the SF Conservatory of Dance.  At 21 years old, she moved to New York City, trained with Marjorie Mussman, Benjamin Harkarvy, Egal Perry, and Maggie Black, and danced with Windemere Ballet Company for four years in the corps and as a soloist. She then moved to Virginia and danced with the National Ballet of Maryland for four years, performing in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, and other contemporary ballets.  While she raised her family, she completed her Cecchetti teacher certification to the advanced level and began her career as an educator.  Cynthia formed Crossroad Dance Project to perform in schools and toured with her troupe for ten years throughout Virginia.  They performed as many as 60 performances in a year with the mission to bring art and education to elementary school children. CDP had the opportunity to work with the Daryl Green Foundation to offer underprivileged students an opportunity to perform in The Nutcracker, which earned CDP “The Taste of the Town” from the Washington Post.  For professional reasons, Cynthia left CDP and formed Virginia Civic Ballet, a professional dance conservatory in Fauquier County. VCB became the sole dance company and conservatory with professional dancers in Warrenton.  Cynthia has since moved to Chicago and serves as the Assistant Director and Ballet Mistress of Ardent Dance Company.