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My favorite teacher.

Article Excerpt
[B] Melissa Morrissey, formerly with Dance Theatre of Harlem, currently freelance

[B] Elizabeth Walker, corps, New York City Ballet

[B] Anna Laghezza, dancer, Metropolitan Opera Ballet

[B] Jenifer Ringer, principal, New York City Ballet

[A] Nancy Bielski

MELISSA MORRISSEY I started taking class from Nancy when I was 11 years old in David Howard's summer program. Later when I was with National Ballet of Canada, I would stop in at Steps and take her class whenever I came to New York. Now I sometimes take it five days a week. She has a lot of energy and gives lots of corrections. Her barre is great; it warms me up and prepares me for center. I love her center work because it has a lot of releves that are strengthening and get you ready for pirouettes. She gives challenging pointe work and good petit allegro combinations. And that helped with all the Balanchine I was doing at Dance Theatre of Harlem. Now that I've been freelancing, she'd know when I was going to do Sugar Plum or Paquita and she would put fouettes in class so I could work on them.

ELIZABETH WALKER I went back to Nancy's class because I needed a fresh perspective on my dancing. Her barre is so challenging in terms of variety speed, and stamina. To link the steps together, you have to fully complete one movement in order to do the next. The combination of glissades, jetes, brises, and sissonnes--it's like an obstacle course to grasp in your mind and translate into your body. But she doesn't just throw it at you and watch you flail. She's very clear in demonstrating, and she'll stop and ask if it's too fast or too slow.

I'm an allegro dancer, and adagio has been a challenge for me. Her adagios are lengthy and strengthening, so now I feel confident in adagio. Sometimes her reminders are things I've heard for years and one day the light bulb goes off. For instance, when you're balancing at the barre, you should connect your inside shoulder and your outside hip energetically. I couldn't feel that diagonal connection until about a month ago!

ANNA LAGHEZZA Nancy's class will make you strong and make you aware of musicality. She creates an environment where everybody is working super hard. It's a good space to try to...