Andrea Miller
April 27, 1948
At the age of 3, I first began my active lifestyle starting with tap, ballet, and acrobatics. Once in junior high school, now called middle school, cheerleading and volunteering with swim and gymnastic programs at the local YMCA took much of my free time. During my high school years I remained very active in YMCA programs, worked on high school theatrical performances, but also continued with cheerleading while adding synchronized swimming to my list of activities. I completed college in 1970 receiving a BS in Elementary Education. During my years at Miami University in Ohio, I was active in the Miami Marlins, synchronized swimming team; Shakerettes, dance team; and Alpha Chi Omega. In 1974, while teaching in Middletown Ohio City Schools, I completd my Master's in Remedial and
Diagnostic Education, aka, Reading Specialist at Miami.
During the 1970s, while teaching by day, I was a "stage rat" by night. Working mostly on musicals, choreographing and performing, my community's two theatrical groups had full seasons producing such musicals as Oklahoma, Can-Can, and Man of LaMancha. I was also very fortunate to work along side a former Rockette for several summers producing summer shows, Anything Goes, for example, with the local High School. Reflecting on 30 years of teaching challenges, I've often said that the hardest was teaching a High School Senior how to "shuffle ball change"!
Moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1980 brought many changes and being a wife, teacher, and mother of two wonderful sons left little time for song and dance. My husband, Paul, is an artist and musician, and our two sons followed in his path. Our younger son, Mitch, is a concept designer for a video game company in Pasadena, California. Andrew, our older son, lives here in Atlanta and has a band, The Electric Sons, as well as works long distance with his brother as an animator for the same game company.
I retired from teaching in 2005 and finally returned to dancing in 2006. Since then I have focused on Ballroom Dancing and now compete throughout the USA with my professional dance instructor in Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep. I'm very fortunate to have a supportive husband willing to accompany me to these competitions spending hours watching me "zip" around a dance floor!
My other "Active" passions are Pilates and Aqua Aerobics as well as group dance classes and social dancing. In any given day I average two hours of physical activity. I get grumpy if I don't do something physical.
Having recently joined Paris Dancers, I am very grateful to be able to sing and dance, especially tap dance, again! Thank you, Arlene, Cherilynn, and Gary, for this wonderful opportunity and
your dedication to this performance group!