Catherine Joy "CJ" Perry (born March 24, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and dancer. She is best known for her time in WWE under the ring name Lana.
Perry was born on March 24, 1985, in Gainesville, Florida, the eldest of four siblings. She is of Portuguese and Venezuelan descent. She spent several years of her childhood in the Latvian SSR, where her father worked as a Christian missionary. Perry and her family remained in Latvia after it restored its independence in 1991. From an early age, Perry aspired to become a ballet dancer like her mother. She attended the Riga Choreography School (the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera) and began dancing with the Latvian National Ballet at the age of 14.
At the age of 17, Perry returned to the U.S. She initially lived in New York City, where she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. She later enrolled at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, majoring in dance and acting. While attending FSU, she began attending Florida State Seminoles football games with Jenn Sterger and several other students, cheering from the bleachers while dressed as cowgirls. The students, known as the FSU Cowgirls, entered the public consciousness after being acknowledged by commentator Brent Musburger during a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes that aired on ABC in September 2005.

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