Associate Choreographer Mia DeWeese ’13 Celebrates Opening of ‘Moulin Rouge’ on Broadway

Mia DiWeese '13

When she was 16, Mia DeWeese ’13 made up her mind that she wanted to move to New York City to dance professionally. Her parents were adamant that she attend college, so the Ohio native researched colleges in the city with reputable dance departments. Though she never toured MMC before enrolling, her instincts told her during the dance audition that it was the place she wanted to be. DeWeese graduated from Marymount Manhattan in 2013 with her BFA in Dance with a minor in Business Management. 

The two years after graduating were a struggle for DeWeese, who had to work four separate side jobs to make ends meet while searching for dance work. “I decided I was going to begin studying for my LSAT,” she says. “Law school had always been an interest of mine and I was discouraged to the point I wanted to stop pursuing a career in the arts.” Fortunately, only a few weeks after DeWeese scheduled her LSAT test, she attended one of choreographer Sonya Tayeh’s dance classes. After the class, Tayeh asked her to be a part of a piece she was choreographing. “It changed the trajectory of my career,” she says.

Throughout the last four years, DeWeese has worked on five incredible shows with Tayeh, including the recently opened Moulin Rouge. Though she never made it to the LSAT test, DeWeese instead has continued pursuing her biggest dreams. “The two years after graduation were a reminder of what Katie Langan ’92, Professor of Dance, used to tell us all the time, ‘trust the process.’ I learned to trust that the universe will deliver exactly what you need at exactly the right time.”

Congratulations, Mia!

 

Published: July 29, 2019