| Born and raised in Harlem, Joan Miller began dance training in a local
troop of the Girl Scouts, performing folk and ballet work. While a
Brooklyn College physical education major, she continued to study dance at
the Jose Limon studio with Ruth Currier and Betty Jones. In the late
1950s, Miller continued to study with Limon, and went on to study
choreography and work with Doris Humphrey, Louis Horst, and Pauline Koner.
Miller completed a master's degree at Teachers College, Columbia
University (1960), and earned a professional diploma in dance from
Juilliard (1962). From 1960 to 1967 Miller performed with Ruth Currier and
was featured in Currier's "The Antagonists." Miller also began
teaching at the Hunter College Bronx campus (later Lehman College) in
1963. Also in 1963 and in 1964 Miller danced with the Merry-Go-Rounders, a
group that performed for children. From 1965 to 1968 she worked with James
Waring, Remy Charlip, and Yvonne Rainer, members of the experimental
Judson Church group. Between 1968 and 1970 she performed with both Rod
Rodgers in African traditional dance and Rudy Perez, an exponent of
avant-garde dancing.
In 1970, Miller founded her own troupe, the Dance Players, which became
a forum for her socio-political ideas and satires. Her company enjoyed
resident status at Lehman College from 1970 until 1980, from which time
they stayed on unofficially and also performed in New York, New Jersey,
and Connecticut. The Dance Players' repertory consists primarily of
Miller's creations, such as the 1970 solo, "Pass Fe White", and the
group work, "Manhattan Thoroughfare 1980". Her company also performs
works by Rael Lamb, Eleo Pomare, and her former student Abdel Salaam,
director of the Forces of Nature Dance Company.
-- Julinda Lewis-Ferguson
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