Community Involvement

Ty Hyderally is a proud member of the board of directors of Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt arts education organization for dancers and performers of all ages.

Situated in Montclair, New Jersey, Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts (SMAPA) is a dance training center that was founded in 1996 on the belief that dance as a healthy means of expression has the power to change lives. As a member of the board, Ty Hyderally firmly believes in SMAPA’s mission of using a holistic approach to help students of all ages reach their potential by encouraging creativity, discipline and strong sense of self.

After training at The Juilliard School with the founder and director of the Garden State Ballet, the late Fred Danieli, Sharron went on to become a soloist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a veteran of seven Broadway shows. She has also appeared on television and film in addition to numerous commercials on both tv and radio. As a performer, she boasts membership in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). Ms. Miller’s goal is to use the valuable training she received in the arts to enrich the lives of young people.

Her work at SMAPA encompasses not only training hundreds of students annually, but it also extends to arts enrichment programs throughout the community. Her partnership with the Quitman Street Community School in Newark, for example, includes a year-long dance residency for K-5 students. She also offers dance residencies to first through fifth grade students at ten elementary schools in East Orange in addition to her Prime Time Summer Arts Program for children ages 6-14 and an abbreviated version for younger children.

Because attending a performing arts academy is often beyond the reach of many people in the community, SMAPA offers a number of scholarships for students unable to pay the fees. Through the generosity of donors and other charitable foundations, Sharron Miller follows through on her dream of a nurturing environment for young people that they would not otherwise have been able to afford.

The strength of SMAPA’s curriculum is the broad variety of programs and dances classes available for students from age two all the way up to seniors. Children choose from among ballet, modern, tap, theater dance, point, modern jazz and hip hop. As a result, they learn body awareness through different disciplines and styles. Furthermore, SMAPA’s educational mission continues well into adulthood with their senior exercise program, which is a year-round fitness program specifically designed for seniors.

When Sharron started her program in the 1990s, she envisioned a place that offered inclusive developmental training in dance and performance arts for people of all ages. More than two decades later, her namesake academy thrives on the belief that creating a healthy relationship between mind and body in a child’s early years is crucial to their self-esteem and well-being. By using their bodies as a means of self-expression, they are better equipped to deal with their emotions than children who lack similar training. Sharron and her accomplished staff take great pride in giving children tools to be more confident, more self-reliant, and better prepared to achieve whatever goals they set for themselves.