Adriana Miller

Adriana Miller was one of the early institutional pioneers of Middle Eastern dance education in the United States. After moving to Washington, D.C. in the early 1960s, she became active in local Middle Eastern nightlife and eventually established her own dance school. Her studio, opened in 1972, became one of the first fully licensed and formally organised Middle Eastern dance schools of its kind in the country. At its peak, the school reportedly served hundreds of students each week and trained professional performers. Miller was also an important mentor to Ibrahim Farrah before he became one of America's most influential Oriental dance teachers. Her troupe appeared at respected institutions including the Kennedy Center and Smithsonian, giving Middle Eastern dance a degree of public and institutional visibility unusual for the period.