Classroom Confidential: TMI and Honorable Mentions
New Feature on your Ailey account! Long into your account online and you can add your picture. Go look and submit a photo of yourself!...Wendy, what are you knitting at The Point Knitting Cafe?…Chris D and Dennis are headed out on a cruise. Enjoy guys!!!!…Eriko W. is in Akron,Oh doing King and I. She'll be in to visit us one day only, March 17th for an audition, then she'll be back this summer…Amber P is now a fully certified and insured vinyasa yoga instructor! Yippeee! She has 3 slots left in her private yoga instruction schedule and would like to offer a 50% discount to any of Kat's students for in-home yoga instruction…Yasmine's play got accepted into The Flea Theater's emerging writer's program…congratz Yaz!!…Our lil Madison has been given the role of the Russian doll in the finale of Sleeping Beauty at her school...good work Madison!…Brandon S. will be going out of town to join the National touring cast of Evita for the next 4 months. He will be in Brooklyn in April. We look forward to seeing you back to Ballet class when you get back in July…Erika R. fell while walking her dog and broke her humerus bone...ouchie!…Thomas V says bring the kleenex and go see a touching movie, "A Walk to Beautiful "…Stacey N accepted a job offer with Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee and will be leaving NYC to head to land of cheeseheads in about a month...good luck out thar!…Noriko O. had an emergency microdiscectomy and hernilaminectomy at Mt. Sinai. She is now on the mend. Take it slow...we miss you!…Adasina S. booked Kat and Arthur's Hawaiian vacation. He can book your travel also…Watch for Kyla U. to film class for her local cable show, and feature Khiara B.. The show is about inspiring young urban kids to get involved in some sort of movement…Taylor, our new web master (one of the legendary three witches) has a three page article in this really awesome new magazine and another in Dancer Mag. Get your copy. Also her parents and grandparents came for her graduation from college and the student showcase performance, and we all thank them greatly for the huge Japanese dinner feast after the show….

Also attending the showcase were dance dignitaries Hertzog and Archis, Alena K, Sonia, Toni's husband, Mike, Mr Talayco, David and numerous fans and celebrities to fill the sold out seats. Jimmy bear a.k.a. Christopher D and Matthew W grabbed their goblets and joined in with lil or no rehearsal, while the handsome Kent L dropped his goblet during the show, oops. Gregory O. danced regally and also brought his video camera to film, and document the performance and also capture highlights of grandma's cleavage. Yasmine had the record shoe changes and straight knees on her pique arabesque, and along with Jeanie K successfully made it thru their first 'big time' dance performance. Imani T by far had the snappiest jetes in the entire Goblet Dance, must be cuz she was accepted into the ABT summer program. Royce, our musical director of the moment, handled the cd's and cueing with skill and professionalism. Vic our Introducing MC was so excited to present our first showcase event for the adults @ the Ailey Extension. The lilac Fairy's (Paula T) costume and bravery surpassed all expectations. The enchanted princess Alice finished her variation with aplomb. The fierce Wolf (Curtis E) terrorized the Lil Red (Yasmine L) to the delight of the entire room. Richard C actually flew during his Bluebird variation. Francois C's princely carriage really made his depiction of the role spectacular. Taylor's balances in the Gamzatti variation where breathtaking. Toni SP really came alive and exuberant in the balances'. Laura G really knows how to hold and command center stage. When the entire cast came running in for the Tarantella everyone sat up in their seats. Kiara B, Philip D, Alison K, Beky P, Nicolina S, and Zack T all had the brightest smiles and the joy of dancing in their hearts. Whatta very successful first showing. Check some pictures out here.

Tony @ Circular Power: Tony trains Kat several times per week, also many of your fellow dancers and classmates can be found in their work-out at Tony's elegant and highly conveinent studios on 7th Ave. info@circularpower.com. Looking for cross training? Get it done at Circular Power!

Professor Dick Andros on ABT. The Great Mr A, a dear friend, ballet teacher and mentor to Kat and many dancers and teachers throughout the world. He has the answers to all those ballet questions we all need tutu know. Kat has a dinner date to celebrate Mr A's 82nd birthday on March 4th. Happy Birthday Mr A!

Quote of the week:(one of my favs-Kat!)
"Do or do not... there is no try."- YODA (Fictional character from George Lucas's Star Wars)

Weekly Tips: Stretching, Nutrition, and Health
*Stretch-o-da-Month: March 2008:
UPP-"Raised Stretched-Out Foot Pose."
Ha! Let's call um 'abdominal strengtheners.' Lie back on the floor, bend the knees, and place the feet on the floor. Soften the abdominal area and let all of the contents fall back toward the spine. Softly pull the whole abdominal area back toward the spine and make the waistline narrow, lift the chest, and spread the diaphragm. Keeping the legs bent, slowly start to lift the feet off the floor. Bring the thighs perpendicular- well not quite—parallel to the floor, then straighten the legs and begin swinging and changing your extended legs through a slightly less than 90-degree arc. If the abdominal area starts to bellow or the lower back arches when lifting or lowering the legs, bend the knees and put the feet back on the floor. Become familiar with intra-abdominal strength and explore how it assists in maintaining proper posture and alignment.

*Nutrition:Wake Up and Smell the Protein
If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is reach for a box of sugary cereal, a flaky pastry, or a gooey doughnut, you may be doing your body more harm than good. Eating savory, protein-rich foods for your first meal instead will give you a morning energy boost that will keep you going all day. Also, build your own energy bar. Look here.

Taylor's Tales
Hi all! Kat has graciously asked me to add my two cents to her newsletter in my new column "Taylor's Tales." Look forward to different dance articles, performance reviews, and funny anecdotes from my journeys in the ballet world. This week's piece is an excerpt from a blog entry I wrote over the summer when Kat taught her weekend classes in the big 5th Floor double-wide studio at Ailey. See the full article here.
-Taylor G. (webmaster)

ROUTINE IN THE EMPTY STUDIO
…After swiping my card and waiting too long for the elevator, staring at crowds of baby ballerinas and teenage hip-hoppers, I finally get upstairs to the studio. At first glimpse, I know all is well. Empty, with the tinted sunlight shed from the see-through blinds, it is rather chilly and quiet. I immediately drop my bag in its usual area near the front.

Though there is nobody in sight, I rush to drag the portable barre from the corner to my spot in the center as if the whole class were clamoring to beat me to my place. It's funny how, as dancers, we become attached to our habitual place at the barre - the place of our internal work, the angle from which we always see ourselves in the mirror, the fixation that remains constant each morning, as welcoming (or unwelcoming) as that first cup of coffee. It is our personal space and our home base that we become so possessive of.

I open my bag, and overflowing with pointe shoes, Tiger Balm, and warm ups, it spills across the floor beneath the cool silver barre. It's the same routine every week: Change into sweatpants. Filter through the pointe shoes and decide which to wear. Replace toe pads in appropriate shoes. Lather the Achilles tendon in anti-inflammatories. Pop an Advil if it's been a bad week. Set out the skirt and soft shoes for the start of class. Then return everything else to the side.

After all is settled I take a deep breath, encouraging myself to begin my necessary stretching, strengthening, and joint-cracking ritual. The percussion of my vertebrae clicking into place is the only sound besides the whizzing air conditioner above. I hardy notice either.

I breathe in the emptiness of the room and close my eyes, savoring the quiet. To be alone in that great space is liberating. In the confines of Manhattan's steel valleys it seems impossible to find just a single square foot of personal space. But here in the studio, I am truly free. I can see the buildings of midtown almost at arms length. The clouds are close enough to tickle with my breath.

If I were warmed up and fully awake I would love to break out into some long lost choreography that simmers inside me, never with an opportunity to surface. But by the time my pre-class routine gets me to my feet to stretch my calves, I hear the beeping of the elevator in the hallway. Other dancers come in and glance around before entering, as if afraid to disturb my silence. I smile at them…and we dance together.

Kat's Weekly Mailbag
Hey Kat! Did you catch this new ad from Nike in Russia? Pretty cool! Now if only corporate AMERICA would acknowledge ballet! S......... Thanks for sharing S!!

Hi there Kat! I did sign up and get my first letter today, ... Great information and presentation! Makes me want to (get my butt in gear and...) come into the city and take your class!..... Thank you so much for all the effort in this wonderful newsletter, I look forward to receiving it in the future and passing it on to my ballet students. Be well,S.

Hi Kat,Thank you for letting me participate in the student showcase. I learned so much about everything - pacing myself, expression, spacing, working with a partner, working with myself. I felt honored to be included. You did an incredible job..... Hope you celebrated well and got some good rest, too. See you in class! Big hug,T.