Classroom Confidential: TMI and Honorable Mentions
October 2009 is Birthday month for the following dancers/classmates: Sabrina Podbielska - 1st, Giovanni Alas - 1st, Vince Dinh - 2nd, Nancy Condon Zander - 2nd, Donna Irina Decker - 2nd, Keith Arsenault - 2nd, Sharon Hershfield- Hockstein - 5th ,Kendall Paige Wiedow - 5th , Kimberlee M - 6th , Laura Gaona - 6th, Jenna Hendry - 8th, Senait Kassahun - 8th, Brian Patrick Murphy - 8th, Robyn Reid - 9th, Donna Cromer - 9th, Meredith Long - 10th, Brandon Cournay - 10th, Wendi Bergamini- 10th, Tiffany Sudol - 10th, Alice Rothman-Hicks – 11th, Gene Schiavone (dance photographer extraordinaire) - 11th, Noreen G Torres - 11th, Christine Nolan - 12th, Ashley Arcement - 12th, Amy Lee Drown - 13th, Deborah Grisorio - 16th, Zakk Manzella - 18th, Josh Kurtz - 19th, Irene Urati - 20th, Kay Nickens Boone - 21st, Margaret Campbell - 22nd, Sandy Coyte - 24th, Dea Soares Berrios - 24th, Elka Samuels Smith - 27th, Elizabeth Foster - 28th, Beth Ann Capristo - 28th, Emily Bufferd - 28th, J.R. Whittington - 29th, Gay Merwin-Hild - 30th, Alvina Loke - 30th, April P. Cook (BDC PR) - 30th, Davide Ferraris - 31st. Happy Fall Birthday tutu each of you this month. May your day be filled with special celebrations, special people, and the joy of dancing.

Elizabeth K. co-produced her show called "ON THE CASE WITH PAULA ZAHN": World Premiere, Sunday, Oct. 18 at 10 PM ET on Investigation Discovery. Be sure and watch!...Barry W. co-choreographed this prenatal DVD. Nice work Bear - now get back in class!..Gregory O. will be appearing Saturday Oct 3rd in the scary movie "Perkins 14" from 3pm-6pm on the Syfy Channel (HD 717 NYC)…Congratz…Sophia R.'s film "My Lucky Day" was selected to be a part of the "Baltimore Women's Film Festival" on October 25. Go here for more info…Taylor G. and many of your classmates will be dancing once again in The Radio City Christmas Spectacular here in NYC this season. If you're interested in going to the show she can get good discounts on tickets as it gets closer to the season, so let her know. Get regular tickets here. She can also give you the very fun backstage tour!...Yasmine L.'s new musical "Punk Princess" just had a staged reading in London and will be part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. See performance corner below…Woo Hoo Shyrelle K. just won the Capezio ACE awards 2009 and has agreed to show the winning number in our November Showcase! Congrats Shyrelle. We look forward to seeing your award-winning chorography!...Congratulations to Allegra Kent, Ohad Naharin, Sara Rudner and Jason Samuels Smith for being chosen to receive Dance Magazine Awards! The recipients will be honored November 9 in NYC.

*Quote of the month: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King Jr.



*Andros on Ballet: Modern Dance

Taylor's Tales
A column by our webmaster, Taylor.

This is the 50th issue of Kat's e-newsletter! To celebrate I thought I'd reprint "50 Reasons Why We Love Kat Wildish" - which we gave to her in book form for her birthday last week. It's hard to stop at only 50...

1. Her smile as she welcomes new students 2. The torture she provides and the way we crave it so 3. Who else retires from the stage at 48 and immediately transitions to producing three sold out NYC performance seasons a year?! 4. The Friday night adagio 5. "Blubber, double chins, and butt flaps" 6. She's the ideal opposite of the above traits 7. She WORKS HARD for that body 8. Her beyond impressive performance resume, and the accompanying modesty 9. Her ability to juggle twenty people asking questions after class 10. Tolerance 11. Her desire to continue learning as a teacher by pursuing certifications 12. Her extensive, diverse, eclectic, and loyal student body 13. The influence of vodka on petite allegros and adagios 14. Her genuine interest in students' outside lives 15. The time she takes to provide personal corrections in a class of fifty people 16. Fouette Wednesdays 17. Her collection of femur bones, eyeballs, feet, and other body parts 18. Her dedication to keeping us informed via her monthly newsletter 19. Her collection of cute, flashy newsletter tags with her name and head 20. Her unique ability to take someone of the street and make them a dancer 21. Her invented vocabulary like "nub" and "tutu much" 22. Her apt memory for birthdays 23. Her warmth towards babies and children in class 24. Her 'recent activity' on Facebook extending fifty lines long by mid-morning 25. Her personal outreach to students

26. She could teach and live anywhere she wanted in the world but still calls NYC home 27. "Blood and guts" in pointe class 28. Her commitment to her performance showcases 29. Her confusion in running a CD player 30. Her spurts of frustration when she hasn't napped or eaten 31. Her faith in her students' growth at all levels 32. Her generosity in ballet and in life 33. The advice she offers to the injured, the ignorant, and the innocent 34. Her true artistry when she demonstrates combinations 35. "Dee-tah dee-tah Vla-da-mir" 36. Her ability to keep it real while maintaining the integrity of her art form 37. The same anecdotes she repeats so often 38. The way said anecdotes change slightly with each telling 39Her questioning if certain ballet steps are "legal" 40. Halloween class 41. Her demand to offer class on holidays 42. How she stops class to look out the window if firemen go by 43. Her gift for physical comedy 44. Her questioning if certain ballet steps are "legal" 45. Sarcasm 46. "Breathe. Or you will die." 47. The annual gigue on St. Patrick's Day 48. How she puts aside her own life and devotes her entire heart and soul to teaching 49. The way she actively incorporates lessons from her own teachers into her syllabus and stories 50. The influence she'll have on our own stories

Kat's Monthly Mailbag
*Hi Kat I have been take your class over 15 years, and I was never bored at your class. Your energetic lesson makes strong body and your yelling makes relax the class. It is fantastic! Thank you so much K. **Dear K, Thanks for your note. Wow 15 years! How happy I am that you still enjoy coming to my classes. It's my great pleasure to continue to train lifetime dancers like yourself. My very best wishes are with you, Kat

*Hi Kat, I am a new student in your 7:30pm Advanced Beginner class and I just wanted to thank you so much for welcoming me back to class. I had previously been in your class a year ago, but I hurt my knee and had to stop dancing for a while. Now that I have recovered, it feels so nice to return. You are the best dance instructor I have ever had. I love how hands on you are with all the students and how attentive you are to each of us. Your classes really motivate and inspire me. Thank you so much! CM **Dear CM, Thanks for taking precious time to write me and share. I appreciate your most kind words & I am so happy you thrive in our dance environment here at the Ailey Extension. My hope is that you continue to heal and learn more about your body so that we can further your dancing dreams. My best wishes, Kat

*Dear Kat, So I'm doing what you suggested and taking other teachers. You're by far the best dancer of them all. Talk about being out of my comfort zone. HA! …but I feel pretty prepared because a lot of the stuff I imagine you saying things like THERE's NO ARCH IN A SIDE BEND! heheh But I still have so much room for improvement. I never knew that other teachers do 45 barre and 45 floor. Less time to hide behind the barre. N **Dear N, Your emails always make me smile with your new discoveries. Yes many teachers do a much shorter barre. I tend to want to be certain that my adults have been thoroughly warmed up so that when we hit the center we can move and you can feel the freedom of alignment that comes from the foundation of a good all inclusive barre. My best, Kat

Monthly Tips: Stretching, Pointe, Health, & More
*Stretch-o-da-Month: October 2009: Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend (Taylor's Fav.) Rotate your thighs outwardly, pinning the outer thighs against the floor, so that the knee caps point straight up toward the ceiling. Reach out through your heels and stretch your soles, pressing though the balls of the feet.

*Health Tips of the Month:
*Dancers' Body Secrets Revealed
*Stretching: check out Front Splits: webcast replay -brought to you by Lisa Howell, Physiotherapist AUSTRALIA
*NEED A HEAD? body fact: Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still. Facial Toning designed to stimulate the 57 (fifty-seven) muscles, which construct our face and neck. Men and women are turning to yoga to help look younger. See the video here (from newsletters past). Remember the ballet rule: the head goes toward the foot that closes in the front. Let's try and use that a lil more with our practice this month!

And Finally...
Re've'rence:

*Marjorie Mussman, great choreographer, great teacher: Mussman began her career with the Jose Limon Dance Company and later performed as soloist and principal with the Joffrey Ballet, Anna Sokolow's Lyric Theatre and the First Chamber Dance Company. She has also worked with the Milwaukee Ballet and the American Repertory Ballet, and has taught and produced for numerous companies. A recipient of five National Endowment for the Arts choreography fellowships, she has produced over 30 ballets during her career. Sadly no other info of her passing is available at press time. R.I.P Marjorie, you passed on your gifts to live on thru many of those you taught, thank you!

*Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers' hearts with "Dirty Dancing" and then broke them with "Ghost," died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. R.I.P. Patrick you remain an inspiration to many.