Miranda Keating
Miranda Keating is proud to serve Monona Dance Academy as a ballet and tap instructor! Hailing from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and growing up in a home with an appreciation for theatre and song, she quickly fell in love with performing, often devising musical bits, dance routines, and productions for her family members around the house day and night. She began her career as an avid actress when she was eight years old. She has now been involved with over 45 theatrical productions through schools, civic theaters, amusement parks, and professional theaters. Through these productions and private dance lessons, she became proficient with ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, modern, and musical theatre dance. Additionally, she participated in gymnastics starting at nine years old and was a part of the varsity Sun Prairie High School gymnastics team.
Throughout her high school career, Miranda was an intern at the Sun Prairie Civic Theatre (SPCT). This unique experience taught her how to be a leader behind the scenes of theatre and gave her the joy of teaching young people about the exhilaration and lessons theatre brings.
In 2020, Miranda graduated from North Central College in Naperville, IL with B.A.s in Musical Theatre and Theatre, minors in Dance and Music, and a concentration in Leadership. After graduating, she joined the team at Your Performing Arts Center in Yorkville, IL, teaching private piano lessons, voice lessons, dance classes, and theatre classes.
Most recently, she continued teaching theatre and music virtually from Houston as she earned an M.A. in Theatre Studies from the University of Houston. Her graduate training included pedagogical technique, theatre history, dramaturgy, scholarly writing, and style and technique in theatre and music performance. Her master’s thesis focused on new feminist absurdist theatre. Moving forward, she plans to pursue a PhD in interdisciplinary theatre studies in order to earn a teaching position at a university.
Miranda finds that dance allows her to create a world through movement and song that lets students step into others’ shoes. She additionally views dance as a therapeutic way of taking dancers and audience members away from anything that might be ailing them. Therefore, she finds so much joy in meeting passionate, young artists and helping them reap these benefits of the art form. The most rewarding part of her work is watching her students grow as dancers and human beings, a process that fills her with hope and inspiration. She eagerly looks forward to the days when she teaches with Monona Dance Academy!
Outside of Monona Dance Academy, Miranda helps direct and choreograph at the Sun Prairie Civic Theatre and is the Theatre Master and Production Manager at Your Performing Arts Center.