Where History Meets the Dance Floor: A Family Legacy Lives On Through Bend's Born-Again Dance Studio
After the loss of her brother, Liv Mills found her way back to dance in the same historic building where three generations of her family earned a living. Today, she's filling those same walls with music and movement through Studio 61st.
Story by Tommy Corey
Photography by Tommy Corey
In 1916, The Box Factory in Bend, Oregon, was unrecognizably industrial compared to the bustling promenade it is today. Now home to bars, wineries, a tattoo parlor, a barbershop and the outdoor gear and apparel reseller The Gear Fix, the century-old facility once produced wooden shipping crates for soap, cereal, produce–most notably canned peaches–and even World War I ammunition.
The scale of World War I casualties in the late 1910s created severe labor shortages across the country, prompting the to hire a primarily female workforce. Nicknamed the “Berthas of the Box Factory,” these women became essential to the factory’s continued operation; keeping supply chains moving and operating the heavy machinery.
More than a century later, the tradition of women shaping The Box Factory continues through Liv Mills, owner of Studio 61st, a dance and pole performance studio inside the historic building.
Before becoming Studio 61st, the studio operated as Seksé Fit for nearly eight years under the ownership of Christina "Biggs" Kekke and Kimberly "Roach" Yannariello. Mills officially purchased the business on April 1 before rebranding it. A longtime instructor at Seksé, Mills' connection to The Box Factory extends much further than employment.
Mills' family has called Bend home since the 1940s. Her grandfather, Bob Mills, worked at the mill along the Deschutes River before later joining The Box Factory in the 1980s, where he worked alongside Mills' father, Steve, and her two uncles while it still operated as a production facility. Although her grandmother, Francis, now 97, never worked at The Box Factory, her brother was close friends with its owner. Today, Mills is carrying her family's decades-long connection to the historic building into a new era through Studio 61st.
Mills, 30, is a third-generation Bendite and a 2014 graduate of Mountain View High School. She began dancing in second grade while attending Lava Ridge Elementary School.
The name Studio 61st pays tribute to both Mills' family roots in Bend and the road where she grew up—61st Street, just off the Gift Road exit between Bend and Redmond.
When she purchased the studio, Mills initially planned to name it All Citizens Studios—a name that paid tribute to both the inclusive culture Seksé was known for and Model Citizens, the professional dance collective she founded in 2022. As she considered the studio's next chapter, however, she felt a new name would better reflect her vision of expanding the variety of classes and creating space for every style of movement. Renaming the studio, she says, was about making it clear that every dancer—and every form of movement—had a place there.
"Because the name Seksé sounds like the word 'sexy,' people often associated it with one style of dance. With the name change, I want to offer more types of dancing—every type of dancing. I want people to feel like they're able to teach what they want to teach without having to fall under the umbrella of a name,” she says.
Growing up, Mills trained at The Vibe where she studied tap, jazz and her favorite style, hip-hop. It was her high school dance coach, Audra-Marie Whitney, however, who transformed that passion into a profession.
Mills credits Whitney's belief in her to a pivotal moment when she was 16 and kicked off the dance team for attending a high school party. Despite the disappointment, Whitney named her dance captain her senior year. Looking back, Mills says Whitney was "the only person I felt disciplined me," a kind of tough love that shaped her journey as a dancer. To this day, the two still meet for the occasional glass of wine.
"With the name change, I want to offer more types of dancing—every type of dancing. I want people to feel like they're able to teach what they want to teach without having to fall under the umbrella of a name”
Looking back, Mills realizes her 15-year dance career has been shaped as much by the people who believed in her as by her own determination. Her oldest brother, David, introduced both Liv and Kyle to the music that would shape their creativity, while her second oldest brother, Kyle, became her biggest champion, encouraging her to pursue a future in dance.
Nearly three years older, Kyle was Mills' best friend, roommate and biggest cheerleader. Although their similar personalities often led to arguments, he was also the person who encouraged her to chase her dreams. As challenges at home made college feel increasingly difficult, Kyle urged her to stay focused on school and continue building the future she wanted.
During her first semester in college, just two weeks before his 25th birthday, Kyle died unexpectedly.
“I was not doing great. My brother was my best friend. We lived together. I don't remember three months of my life, just because I was in bed constantly,” she says.
At the time of his passing, Mills was still teaching dance to children. After taking just two weeks off, she returned to work, where she was embraced by the “sweet little 8-12 year olds”, who wrapped their teacher, Ms. Liv, in tiny hugs and condolences.
Although she loved teaching local youth, in the wake of her brother’s death, Mills yearned for an outlet more aligned with her artistry as a dancer. She was thrilled to learn of an adult dance studio opening in The Box Factory. Seksé–now Studio 61st–was exactly the creative space she had been searching for. To Mills, it felt meant to be.
In April 2019, curious about Bend’s newest–and only–adult dance and pole fitness studio, Mills wandered into Seksé not knowing what to expect. Sitting at the front desk was one of the owners, who mentioned they were looking to hire more dance instructors.
“I’m a dance instructor and I’ve been doing this for years. I can probably help you out,” Mills replied.
Still navigating the grief of losing Kyle, the studio became more than a job–it became a place where she could find herself again through dance. Over the next seven years, she taught classes and choreographed performances at Seksé until the winter of 2025, when the owners approached her about buying the studio.
Owning the studio had never been part of Mills' plan, but once the opportunity presented itself, she couldn't imagine letting it pass. Financially, however, it felt impossible. That changed when her close friend, Anna Brost, offered to become her business partner.
The two met working as dance instructors for Seské and have been friends since 2021, their bond deepened while hiking Peru’s 26-mile Inca Trail. Brost told Mills that if money was the only thing standing in her way, they’d figure it out together.
Today, as co-owner and lead dance instructor, Mills strives to pass that same encouragement on to everyone who walks through Studio 61st's doors. Through music, movement and community, she hopes each student leaves feeling a little more confident than when they arrived.
"Sometimes I'm like, 'Oh, what if they don't like this?' And then the process that moves through my head is, 'You're doing this for you, Olivia–you're doing this for Kyle too,” she says.’ “What he had done for you to show you music, maybe you can do that for other people as well.”
In losing Kyle, Mills learned that movement could become a language for grief, anxiety, or simply the weight of everyday life. That kind of expression, she believes, begins long before the music starts. The hardest part of dance, she says, isn’t learning choreography, it’s having the courage to walk through the front door.
“Dancing is one of the most vulnerable things you can do because you're expressing yourself in your entire body. I think dancing is one of the most human things anyone can do. It’s a universal language.”
“I think dancing is one of the most human things anyone can do. It’s a universal language.”
Those sentiments shape every decision—and eight count—she makes at Studio 61st.
Mills has expanded the studio to welcome dancers of every experience level, from first-time students to lifetime performers like herself, whether they are looking to refine their craft or simply move their bodies. The schedule spans hip-hop, pole classes to dance cardio and pole fitness classes, with students ranging from early 20s to late 60s. For Mills, Studio 61st isn’t about creating perfect dancers. It's about creating a place where people find confidence through movement.
As Mills balances the demands of owning Studio 61st and cultivating a new diverse community of dancers, she finds that grief and joy aren’t opposites–sometimes, they share the same stage.
Throughout our conversation, Mills lit up when discussing two things: dance, and her brother, Kyle. “What do you think he’d say, seeing that you bought the studio?” I ask.
She looks away for a moment, blinking back tears. “Well, now I’m gonna cry.”
Instead of imagining what Kyle would say, she imagines what he would do–he’d help.
"I think all he would ever want to do is help, and I could use it, honestly, if I had him here," she says, pausing to gather herself. Though he's been gone for years, Mills says her brother still finds his way into the studio—not through words or actions, but through the dances she creates.
There is an unexpected symmetry to Mills' story. In searching for a way to navigate her grief, she unknowingly returned to a place that had been part of her family's life for generations. Although The Box Factory no longer produces wooden crates, for Mills it continues to build something just as lasting: a connection to her family's past and to Kyle.
A century ago, The Box Factory reverberated with the hum of machinery and the clatter of conveyors. Today, those same floors carry a family's love, loss and legacy forward through every leap, turn and step.
"If I want to choreograph something that really makes me move, like, from my soul, I will find that through Kyle."
Liv with her brother, Kyle
Liv would like to thank her family, friends and the original founders of Seksé for giving her this opportunity.
To book a class or learn more, visit Studio 61st.
