Kara Genevieve Cooper, of Severna Park, Maryland, is in her first season as a compnay member at The Washington Ballet and previously was an apprentice for two seasons and a member of the Studio Company for two seasons. Ms. Cooper has performed with ARKA Ballet and studied at The Kirov Academy of Ballet under full scholarship and The Washington School of Ballet on scholarship, where she was a member of the Young Dancers. Ms. Cooper has also trained with Dawei Zhang for many years and attended American Ballet Theatre's summer program in New York in the summer of 2005. Her awards and recognitions include the silver medal at the 2000 Youth America Grand Prix National competition in New York.