One of my goals this year is to launch an arts-in-education experience for our students. Twelve of our students participated in a choreography workshop during Christmas break and the first week of January, facilitated by visiting choreographer and teacher, Janice Hurley. She also happens to be my mom! She taught and staged the children’s contemporary ballet Danger, the Dog Yard Cat. She created this work while completing her master’s thesis at Lesley University in early childhood development and dance movement. It is based on a real cat who was the mascot of Libby Riddles’ dog yard. Libby was the first woman to win the iditarod in Alaska. The students thoroughly enjoyed Janice’s exuberant personality and teaching style as well as her various warm-ups using ballet barre exercises, pilates and yoga. I enjoyed watching the students fuse their acting skills with their dance technique. Stay tuned for the upcoming performance schedule.