SHE’S ALL THAT: Sharron Miller

From Montclair to Broadway and back again, Sharron Miller has had an amazing ride so far, and in some ways, it’s just beginning.  

Read on to find out how SMAPA continues to grow and change, as does Miller’s personal life in town as a business owner and as a single mom. 

IN HER WORDS . . . 

MOVED TO MONTCLAIR:  I first moved to Montclair in 1951, when I was six years old.  I went to Nishuane, Hillside, and graduated from Montclair High School in 1963, then left and vowed never to return.  When I was 42, my then-husband and I adopted a bi-racial baby girl and realized we didn’t want to raise her in the city.  I’m African American, my husband was Jewish, our daughter is bi-racial Brazilian and Black – so other than New York, where else could we live?  It had to be Montclair, so I moved back. 

KIDS: My daughter is 23 now.  She went to Over the Rainbow for pre-school, then attended private schools, and ultimately graduated from Montclair High School in 2006. She’s living with me now in Upper Montclair and looking for a job.  She has wonderful corporate skills. 

PETS: We have two cats named Little Focker and Diablo, and we had a dog named Norway until recently.

KIDS’ ACTIVITIES:  My daughter loved the SMAPA Prime Time Sumer Arts Camp when she was younger, and now takes pilates, salsa, West African here – things that I don’t teach!  She decided not to dance at age nine, and has really excelled in visual arts.   She’s now going back to school for business, I think in part as a result of seeing me try to understand the business side of running SMAPA, she sees the value of that type of education.  

WHAT GIVES: Relationships.  I’ve been single for so long. I would love to be able to have more companionship.  Going to a concert, that kind of male relationship – not that I necessarily want to get married again, but it would be nice to have that companionship with someone who understands and appreciates a successful woman.  I don’t know many people my age -- I’m not typical for 66, and I need someone to understand that too. 

EXERCISE ROUTINE: I teach nine classes a week, one of which is floor barre – it’s kind of a yoga-based stretching -- twice a week that I just love.  I teach from 10 years old and up. 

FAVORITE MTC ACTIVITY:  Eating and Shopping. 

FAVORITE RESTAURANT: Aozora and Toast.  And I love walking to the Stock Pot for soup. And Leone’s feeds me during the day -- in the winter I love their soups.

FAVORITE MTC STORE: Dem Two Hands.  Owner Marion Lake has clothed me and bejeweled me and supported me for a long time.  I consider her a dear friend. 

DINNER:  I love to cook.  I cook on Sunday when I’m off. I’m a weekend-cooking person – I love Italian cooking, and I love all that Southern cooking – real fried chicken, potato salad, things like that. 

FAVORITE RESTAURANT FOR DELIVERY: I like Chinese food and we order from Hunan House, where the A&P is.  And Mexicali Rose. 

HISTORY OF SMAPA: I went to Juillard and my goal was to dance and be in New York – I was in seven Broadway shows, toured Europe, Africa and the U.S., and was then a successful New York dancer, also doing commercials, voice overs, etc.  When we moved back here, I had no inclination of starting a business. 

My daughter was at Over the Rainbow for pre-school, and Lorraine Confair, director then and now, knew I was a dancer, and suggested I teach a class to the kids.  The program became viable, and as the kids grew up and started to go to kindergarten, their parents wanted them to continue my classes.  So I started teaching at the YWCA in 1992, where the family Y is now.  Ultimately it was successful, I met Rose Cali, and eventually I ended up in the Madison Building on Bloomfield Ave with my own program.  There’s a lot more to it than that, but it’s long and complicated.  Ultimately, I started my own 501(C)3 with the help of Rose.  SMAPA (Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts) was incorporated on December 10, 1996.  I was always determined that it be a nonprofit.  I wanted to serve the community and be affordable, but also wanted the quality.  In February 2006, we moved into our current space on South Park Street, and now we’ve been here for 6 years.  

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Managing the growth of SMAPA with the economic challenges of our times.  We try to keep our prices affordable, but prices on everything keep escalating.  My deepest concern has always been to keep this place diverse.  Being African American, being poor, it was very hard for my mother to give me the training I needed to qualify on that professional level.  The same problems exist today with the haves and the have nots.  The haves can provide for their kids what they need to qualify later in life.  I really want to be an equal playing field. To keep that level playing field, while knowing full well, that as a business, you have to charge for what you do – that’s my biggest challenge. 

OUTREACH: We’ve made a concerted effort for fundraising, and we have a scholarship program with hundreds of children on tuition assistance here.  The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has also allowed us to go into 10 elementary schools in East Orange and we teach dance with Math or PE or social studies.  We also go to Quitman Street School in Newark and have programs there. Many children who are kinesthetic learners learn through dance – when they gallop around the red circle they learn red.  They learn what a circle is.  Many children get to first grade and they don’t know those things. 

We also have our Performance Workshop Ensemble dancers who are on a professional track and need performance experience. So, in return for full scholarships, they give back to the community with arts and education performances. 

Everything we do at SMAPA is so much more rewarding and fulfilling than being in shows and traveling all over the world.  I just had no idea it would be that way.

BIGGEST HELPER: Rose Cali.  To create an arts education organization that supports thousands of people was not in my frame of vision, but it is now, thanks to Rose.   I’ve known Rose for 19 years. Throughout this journey, I would have been deterred if it weren’t for Rose. She is now President of our Board of Directors, and we just honored her with a gala Sunday, June 11.  I come from an arts background.  I am not rich and was not raised rich.  To be admired and respected by somebody like Rose is just astounding to me.  To have had someone from day one who supports the vision, and is able and willing to put her money where her mouth is, has been a buoying force, and has enabled me to be where I am today.  Rose was the first person who understood my passion about wanting to educate through the arts. 

SMAPA SUMMER: PRIME TIME SUMMER ARTS camps offer art, music, dance, and drama for boys and girls, preschool through age 14. Preschoolers go to our studio for 9 individual weeks; people can sign up for one week, two, all nine, any combination – and each week is a theme – under the sea, stuff like that.   The older camp for 6-14 year olds is at the Bradford School and also has swimming. That camp is two three week sessions, each session culminating in a fully-staged production. Everyone learns to work cooperatively and creatively together!    

Our regular classes that are offered during the year are also offered in the summer at the studio.

 BOYS:  One of my goals is to eliminate the stigma of boys dancing.  There is incredible athleticism in dance.  We have a free ballet program on Saturdays for boys 7-15 years old, no experience required.   And there’s a strong possibility that the high school football team will be dancing with SMAPA. 

WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT MONTCLAIR: I love the fact that Montclair, despite its challenges, tries to be diverse, and tries to be accepting of all cultures.  It’s a liberal community that embraces the difference.  I’ve lived in other places that are not tolerant of difference.  We see the difference in our culture, religions, colors, and we embrace it.

www.smapa.org for classes, camp, and everything smapa