Deneen Zezell Graham Kerns (born 1964) is a dance teacher and pageant contestant from North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. In 1983 she became the first African-American to win the Miss North Carolina

Miss North Carolina

The Miss North Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Burlington,...

 beauty pageant; she remains the only African-American to have won the Miss North Carolina pageant.

Personal Life

Graham was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina

North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 4,116 at the 2000 census and is now 4,245 as of the 2010 census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, which continues to have a major presence in...

 to Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Graham. In 1986, she graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts

North Carolina School of the Arts

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...

 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts

Bachelor of Fine Arts

In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...

 degree in dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

. She has traveled to the Mediterranean, Far East, and Alaska with the Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 Entertainment Tours, and toured the U.S. with the first national tour of the musical "Heartstrings". She has also appeared in "theatre of the stars" productions of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Loos...

", "South Pacific

South Pacific (musical)

South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...

", "Hello, Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! (musical)

Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....

", "The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...

", and "The Will Rogers Follies". As a performer with the Miss Georgia

Miss Georgia

The Miss Georgia competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss America pageant. Georgia has once won the Miss America crown.- Winners :- External links :*...

 pageant from 1988-1994, Deneen served as co-choreographer and chief choreographer. She was also a member of the Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...

 Dance Team (Cheerleaders) during the 1994 season; she served as the assistant to the dance team's choreographer. She is a member of the Dance Masters of America. Many of her students at Carol Walker Dance Academy have received the highest awards in regional and national competitions, and the academy's dance team are currently (as of 2008) National Dance Champions.

Theater and Acting

• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• South Pacific
• Hello Dolly
• Music Man
• Will Rogers Follies

Pageants

• Miss Georgia
  Miss Georgia
  The Miss Georgia competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss America pageant. Georgia has once won the Miss America crown.- Winners :- External links :*...
  
   pageant performer
• Miss North Carolina
  Miss North Carolina
  The Miss North Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Burlington,...
  
  1983
• Participant in Ms. America 1984 pageant

Dance

• Fine Arts degree
• Broadway shows
• Choreographers of performances on Broadway and Miss Georgia Organization pageants
• Atlanta Hawks Dance Team
• Artistic Director of Dancers Company One
• Member of Dance Masters of America
• Choreographed many productions on Broadway and television
• Appeared and choreographed, as lead dancer, in hundreds of movies

External Links

• http://www.gregkerns.com/deneen/ (website)