Beverley Miller 1939 – 2010

>> by Susan Keen
Beverley Miller, long serving teacher at Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS), died February 21st, 2010 at the age of seventy-one after a courageous battle with cancer. Miller studied dance from an early age in Edmonton with Laine Mets. She taught ballet in her late teens and early twenties and her passion also included drama and theatre. Miller obtained a B.A. in Drama from the University of Alberta and a Master’s degree in Theatre Arts from the Pasadena Playhouse in California in the 1960s. Throughout this period she performed extensively in Alberta, California and Toronto. In 1966, Miller’s career path shifted to teaching when she joined the staff of NBS in Toronto. For the next forty-two years she taught Theatre Arts, Creative Drama, Theatre Orientation and History of Ballet. She also taught for a number of years at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and briefly at George Brown College. She inspired the artistic development of generations of students with her contagious energy, passion, kindness and overall zest for life. “I would not be where I am today were it not for Bev Miller,” say NBS graduate David Nixon, currently artistic director of Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds, UK, and a recent recipient of the Order of the British Empire. Miller is survived by her husband Dr. Richard (Rick) Miller and two sons. A tribute to Miller is planned for Sunday April 25th, 2:30pm at NBS.