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Ronya-Lee of Ronya-Lee and the Light Factory, is a Caribbean-American folk-soul singer-song-writer and dancer-choreographer from Washington, DC. Born of Jamaican immigrants, she spent her formative years moving between school plays, church services and bashment parties. She continued her education, obtaining a Master's of Divinity from Duke University, an MFA in Dance from Maryland University and is pursuing a doctorate in Performance Studies with a research focus on Black feminine embodiment and performance. Ronya-Lee is currently on Dance Faculty at American University and is an Artist in Residence at Dance Place.

Her interdisciplinary work which combines original music, dance, and theater has most recently been shown at Atlas Theater, Dance Place (DC), The Lyric Opera House (Baltimore), Triskelion Arts (NYC), Arkansas Hall Studio Theater (AK), Duke University Chapel (NC), and Wa Na Wari (WA). Recent commissions include University of Virginia (2024), See Site National Endowment of the Arts Residency (2023), Maryland State Arts Council (2021-22), and Aunt Karen’s Farm (2021).

A former member of the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble and of Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange, Ronya-Lee has numerous live theater credits and has appeared in national commercial and print ads. The 2021 recipient of the Pola Nirenska Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, Ronya-Lee has published articles in the Journal of Dance Education, Sojourners Magazine, the UCC Journal of Worship, Music and Ministry, and the textbook, Dance in US Popular Culture.

The original music of Ronya-Lee and the Light Factory is available on all streaming platforms. To learn more about Ronya-Lee’s work, follow her on Instagram: .