2014 Beverly Miller Scholarship Recipients Announced
The founders of Costume Gallery, Beverly Miller and her husband Norman, served the dance community for over 50 years. Beverly loved Costume Gallery, was inspired by the wonderful dancers and teachers she met and knew firsthand the personal and social values gained by participating in dance programs. In honor of her memory and dedication to young dancers in the community, Costume Gallery established the Beverly Miller Scholarship Fund to help young people pursue their dance education. Over the years Costume Gallery has received thousands of applications from students with a passion for dance and has heard some amazingly heartfelt stories
Each year in the fall when students are going back to the studio, Costume Gallery begins accepting scholarship applications for the upcoming year. A total of $10,000 in scholarships is awarded to dancers based on their application submissions; eighteen $500 scholarships and a $1,000 scholarship to one lucky dancer. Once the deadline is reached, Costume Gallery employees begin the exciting task of reading each and every story, and feeling the dedication and enthusiasm these young individuals possess. The applications go through three rounds of review before the finalists are agreed upon.
The thrill is heightened with every call we make informing the dance teachers that their students have been chosen. Over the past six years, may of our scholarship winners have gone on to do amazing things, from putting the funds towards continuing their education, studying dance abroad or having the ability to perform the work of famous choreographers, such as Martha Graham. All their hard work and continued improvement in technique to ultimately reach their personal and professional goals is something that Costume Gallery is thrilled to support.
Costume Gallery is proud to announce the 2014 $1000 Beverly Miller Scholarship Fund recipient is Cheyenne Watts, from Studio M Danceworks in Selma, NC. In her application essay, Cheyenne expressed her endless devotion to dance and how she continued to use movement to fight through all of her physical hardships over the past year. Her teacher, Melinda Garcia, describes her as “a true fighter! She is a true testament of a dancer reaching her goals no matter what the obstacles!” In January 2014 Cheyenne was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which she spent most of 2014 fighting. Thru all of her struggles, she never stopped attending dance classes, even if she was not able to participate, she still went to class and watched to make sure she was not missing anything. Cheyenne intends to use her scholarship funds to pay for her dance tuition and attend dance workshops that will continue advancing her as a dancer.
Costume Gallery would like to congratulate Cheyenne and the eighteen 2014 Beverly Miller Scholarship Fund recipients. Their never ending hard work and devotion to their craft is inspiring and we are proud to present them with this honor. For a complete list of all the deserving winners, please Click Here!
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