Professional dancer set to run workshop for Bulldog dance squad

SEWARD, Neb. – Accomplished do-it-all professional Misty Miller will offer her expertise to the Concordia dance team when she arrives on campus on Thursday, July 25. Miller will orchestrate a workshop from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. inside Walz Arena that day. The session, open only to dance team members, will provide coach Daneen Kovar Theye’s squad the opportunity to hone its technique while learning from the talented Miller.

“Not only does Misty have dance team experience from being a former UNL Scarlet, she has been working professionally as a dancer, model, actress, choreographer, teacher and voiceover artist,” Kovar Theye said. “Anytime you can work with someone that has the experience and background that Misty does, it creates energy and excitement.”

Miller, who graduated from the University of Nebraska where she crossed paths with Kovar Theye, carries impressive credentials. She has appeared in an episode of “Two and a Half Men,” performed live with stars such as Beyonce and Kanye West and grooved in Kristin Chenoweth’s music video “I Want Somebody.” In addition, she has been featured in TV commercials and movies and has worked directly with Britney Spears as a choreographer.

The New Orleans, La., native’s agreement to come to Concordia has already generated a significant buzz within the dance program. Kovar Theye expects a large portion of her team to make it back to campus for the workshop. She says that the team is eager to work with Miller.

“The dancers were very excited when I mentioned the possibility of bringing her to campus,” Kovar Theye said. “I sent out her bio and immediately started getting responses from dance team members wanting to participate.”

The workshop with Miller will mark the beginning of the 2013-14 season, which signals a new era for dance and cheer for GPAC schools. The conference is set to hold the inaugural GPAC Cheer and Dance Invitational on Feb. 8, 2014, at Midland University in Fremont, Neb. The addition of an official GPAC competition means Kovar Theye will be pushing her teams even harder this season.

“Having the GPAC competition is very exciting,” Kovar Theye said. “We’ll be working much harder this year on technique and having solid routines. Practice schedules will be different than what they have been in the past and it will allow us to spend more time working together as a team.”

With more and more NAIA schools entering the field of competitive cheer and dance, the NAIA appears headed toward sponsoring a cheer and dance national championship event in the near future.

In addition to conducting the two-hour session at Concordia, Miller will also hold a master class from 1–2 p.m. at the dance studio in Seward on July 25.