Taye Diggs and MaryLee Miller

Taye Diggs’ high school dance teacher, MaryLee Miller saw in him the qualities so readily apparent in his professional career today. “He was very open to new ideas, willing to try anything, and genuinely interested in doing the best work he possibly could.” Taye clearly has not lost these qualities, for regardless of the medium in which he performs - stage, television, film or music – he always gives a show-stopping performance.

Taye’s Broadway debut was in the Tony award-winning remake of Carousel, after which he made it to the big time as the landlord Benny in the Tony award and Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway smash, Rent. Other stage appearances include Chicago, Wicked, and The Wild Party. He made his film debut in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Other film credits include Go, The Wood, The Best Man, Rent, and The House on Haunted Hill. On television, he has appeared on Will and Grace, The West Wing, Ally McBeal, and Daybreak. Fresh from another stint on stage in Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play, Taye has returned to television to star in Private Practice, a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy.

Born in New Jersey, Taye grew up in Rochester, New York where he attended the School of Performing Arts. He later attended Syracuse University where he earned a B.F.A. in musical theater. Taye clearly remains deeply influenced by the excellent lessons of his Dance teacher MaryLee Miller who introduced him to the amazing choreography of Garth Fagan whose mantra, “Discipline is Freedom,” clearly drives Taye as he flawlessly moves from stage to recording studio to television set to film shoot.

MaryLee Miller has been teaching and choreographing modern dance for twenty-three years in the U.S. and abroad. She has been on the dance faculty at Rochester’s School of the Arts and The Garth Fagan Dance School for twenty-one years and has been an adjunct professor of dance at S.U.N.Y. College at Brockport. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in dance from the State University of New York. Outside of her usual work schedule, she guest teaches at colleges, universities, studios and community programs in the U.S and England. She sits on the board of directors for dre.dance, a New York based contemporary dance company directed by Taye Diggs and Andrew Palermo (both School of the Arts alumni).

As a teacher MaryLee believes in the power of the arts. She believes that the habits of mind learned in the arts develop self-aware, creative, productive, globally thinking individuals who can work with diverse groups of people, problem solve creatively and conduct themselves with discipline and poise, even under stressful conditions. She prefers working in an urban environment because of her strong connection to diverse populations. She feels she has something to offer urban children who often struggle under extreme social and economic conditions. Though she is certified in both Social Studies and Dance, she prefers helping students make sense of their world through the arts.

Ms. Miller believes in rigorous and disciplined training to produce maximum versatility. She believes that dancers need strong technical training, balanced with experience in a broad range of styles and the development of an individual artistic voice through the choreographic process. Her athletic style is based in Fagan technique and is infused with elements of ballet, Dunham, Horton, capoeira, and jazz. Many of Ms. Miller’s students go on to attend rigorous college dance programs, perform with professional companies, work on Broadway and in major motion pictures and television. Many others have gone on to form their own dance companies and choreograph and perform both nationally and internationally.

Artistically, MaryLee focuses on addressing life through the ritual of experience. Playing out the complexities of life through choreographic structures, allows her to face challenges and work out solutions in a place where words are insufficient. Currently, she is most interested in working in multi -media format, incorporating motion-capture and moving image into her work with sound scores both live and recorded. In 2005 she received a SURNDA Foundation Arts Teachers Fellowship to create new work.

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