Diana Miller has danced for practically her entire lifetime. She has dedicated herself to her family, her faith, and her love of dance. She has combined her passions to create Glorify Dance, a free faith-based day camp for youth interested in learning dance and other activities such as cooking and crafts. I recently had the chance to chat with Diana about Glorify Dance and what attendees can expect this summer.

Can you please tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Diana Miller. I’m the founder of Glorify Dance. I am a wife and soon to be mother of 7! I’ve been dancing for over 25 years. I danced competitively throughout my career and began teaching in 2011. I decided to follow Jesus Christ at a young age and I have dedicated my adult life to serving him with the gifts he gave me.

What is Glorify Dance? Can you tell us the history behind it and why you do it?

Glorify Dance is a non-profit Dance ministry. We provide free dancing opportunities to girls in our community, many of whom would otherwise not have the opportunity to ever dance. I began Glorify Dance in 2018. It began small and has continually grown year after year. We average 70-100 girls every year for camp. When I began Glorify I wanted to bring girls in by offering free dance lessons and a chance to perform for their loved ones. My intention has never been to train perfect dancers that will go on to have dancing careers.  My goal has always been to teach these girls all about the love Jesus has for them and how they can use dance as a form of worship. 

What are you doing this year with Glorify Dance? 

We have super exciting news with Glorify that hasn’t been shared anywhere else yet! We hope to begin offering weekly classes for dancers that attended camp, beginning in September! The weekly classes will be completely free and by invitation only. Glorify will provide all costumes and cover any costs associated with participating. We want to provide year-round dancing opportunities to girls that truly have a desire to learn more about Jesus and learn more about worshiping Him through dance. These girls will have the chance to perform at multiple community events and events in surrounding areas. 

This will only be made possible if we have community support. We have year-round fundraisers and we are constantly trying to raise money to cover all of Glorify’s costs. Camp is always a huge undertaking and requires a good bit of funding. The weekly classes will only increase the amount of money we will need to fundraise. We are selling official Glorify merchandise and as always a general donation can be made. To purchase our official merchandise, or if you’d like to make a general donation, please visit GlorifyDance.com or find one of the Glorify Leaders. All donations are tax deductible, we are a registered 501(c)(3).

What is your favorite thing about what you do?

My absolute favorite thing about Glorify is our recital day. The girls have worked so hard all week, the volunteers have worked so hard all year, and it all pulls together for a couple of hours of worship and fellowship. Many of the girls will make the decision to follow Jesus and will get baptized after the performance which is the whole reason we do camp! Recital day is a complete rush of energy, it’s a great day for all audience members and dancers!

When is the camp being held this year, and where? 

Camp this year is June 17-28th and will be held at Seneca Trail Christian Academy, Ronceverte, WV. Camp breaks up into two weeks. The first week is June 17-21. This week is only for teen girls. Teen-Week is from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm daily. During teen week we provide the teens with a free T-shirt they wear for recital, all the supplies needed for camp, and we give them free lunches and snacks daily. 

Classes include: cooking, crafts, bible, an optional self-defense class, makeup and manners, and of course dance! All the teens have such a blast every year and have continually come back year after year. It truly is a special week. 

The second week is for girls ages 4-12. We lovingly call this week Demi-Week. Demi in ballet means “small.” So our young dancers are called our Demi-Dancers! Demi-Week this year is June 24-27th from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm with a free optional self-defense class from 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm. All self-defense classes are provided by NOVA Jujitsu! Demi-Week dancers are provided with a free T-shirt they will wear for recital, all supplies needed for camp, and finally free snacks are provided daily. Demi-Week is such a special week for all the dancers. They look forward to it year after year! 

Lastly, Recital Day! Recital this year is June 28th at 6:30 pm at Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg, WV! All dancers from Teen-Week and Demi-Week come together for a dress rehearsal and pizza party at Carnegie from 11:00 am – 2:30 pm. We celebrate the ending of camp with a huge pizza party that has a ton of snacks, and drinks and have a full run through of our show. The dancers then come back later that evening to perform for their family and friends! There are no tickets sold to watch our recital, it is completely free on a first come first serve basis.

When is the registration deadline and where can people go to register?

The last day to register for camp is May 30th at 11:30pm. You can go online to register for camp at GlorifyDance.com Just click our summer camp registration 2024 tab and follow the instructions. If you need any help with registration, our registration leader Ashley would be more than glad to assist you!

What is one thing you’d like for readers to know about Glorify Dance?

Glorify Dance is a non-profit dance ministry. We do not charge the girls to participate and we cover all the costs associated with camp. All of our volunteers donate their time to Glorify because we believe in this ministry and want to see every dancer flourish! To make camp possible, we need your help. There are two ways you can help today. If you feel led, we’d appreciate your financial support. Another way you can help is with your time, by volunteering. Glorify is always looking for highly motivated volunteers to join our team. To make a financial donation or to volunteer, please visit our website today! 

Anything else you’d like to share about Glorify Dance?

I would like to thank my leadership team for all the work they have poured into making Glorify happen this year. This would’ve never have been possible without your support and dedication to Glorify. Glorify is where it is today because of all the past and present volunteers. I thank each and every one of you! To learn more about our ministry please visit us at glorifydance.com and follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on all of our upcoming events!