Our Shoppe has been doing a thriving business, because we haff so much good stuff in there fur mew. We just got in some new leg warmers in our studio colors that are great fur practice. We'll be keeping the air conditioning up high in the studios; it'll be cool. Of course kitties don't purrspire but we do stretch out and take naps on cool floors if we get hot, and we doesn't want to trip any dancers. We also haff new liddle practice skirts and lotsa offur goodies in the shoppe. Please let us know if mew would like us to order anything in purrticular.

Now fur our regular article on dance needs fur kitties:

Props Fur Dancing
by Phelicity

Mew would think that kitties in dancing costumes, hats and tap shoes was enough of a show, but sometimes we like to use what I call props when we dance. Fur example, the feather boas seen in the Jazz Review, the purrty fans used in Flamenco, and the tap dancing canes lots of us are using in tap class.

Canes are cool to tap dance wif, long as mew can curl your paw around it just right and not drop it. It spoils your rhythm to drop your cane - instead of a nice tappity-tappity-tap-tap-tap mew get a tappity-tap-clatter-bang-ity-tap. See what I mean? It'll get mew outta step wif the mewsic and cause some kitty to step on it and go Oww. Speaking of Oww, mew has to be careful not to hit anykitty in the head wif that cane so mew doesn't get swatted. Stopping to swat kinda spoils the rhythm, too. So get a good grip on your canes. A liddle gum helps.

Dey sometimes use other props in good stompy jazz dancing, like in the movie Cabaret. I luffs that movie and it's got great dancing, but half the time dey's draggin chairs around. I can do that stuff too, but I doesn't want to drag a chair around while I does it. I'd get tired. I notice in some shows sefural boys will carry a girl way ofur their heads while dey dance. I doesn't know about mew, but I don't want six kitties carrying six parts of me way up high, uh-uh! So I would say that chairs and other kitties are not good props.

Then there's veils and stuff some girls wave around while dey does modern dance. I gots no idea why. Some human named Isadora Duncan started that, probly cuz she didn't wear enough clothes. We kitties don't need veils unless dey happen to taste good. In fact, there's a whole new kind of something like modern dance, but from what I've seen, the props are garbage can lids. Nope, we don't teach that here. We got no garbage cans.

As mew see, props can be anything from cool to plumb silly, and kitties, of course, like to be cool. So I know none of mew will ask me about my peacock feather.

Here's a review of our newest dance DVD, which is available in the shoppe.

Singin' in the Rain
by Phelicity

Singin' in the Rain is among the best movie musicals of all time, and it nefur gets old. It's a totally happy movie to watch, full of wonderfur tap dancing. The story takes place way back in the late 1920's and the movie was released in 1952, can mew believe that?! It's a simple story, just about talented humans making a new kind of movie way back then. What kind? Talkies! Befur that, movies were silent. Really!

The title song is still so well known, my mom says dey play it in the grocery store befur dey rain on the lettuce. There's probly nobody that hasn't seen Gene Kelly singing it and tap dancing in the rainy street wif an umbrella. No, I wouldn't want to tap dance in the rain, splashing through the puddles wif an umbrella, but it sure is fun to watch. It was magic.

Gene Kelly was one of the best dancers and choreographers of the golden age of musicals. Donald O'Connor, the other male lead, was surely one of the best tap dancers of all. The two of them was an astounding display of tap dancing talent. Then add Debbie Reynolds, who was furry young (18) and energetic enough to practice hard to keep up wif dem, and mew just can't beat those musical numbers. All the tap dancing is so enthusiastic and memorable, I can watch it over and over. Watch their feet fur the best steps mew will ever see! That's what tap dancing is; happy, energetic and fun.

I know mew will luff this movie. The DVD edition has a musical number in it that was cut from the original, so that part is brand new to us. There's a great "fantasy" dance purrformed by Kelly and Cyd Charisse, too. She was not only a great dancer, but we girls could take femme fatale lessons from her. And we can all learn wonderfur new tap dance steps from this!

If you haff any dance related news you would like us to announce, please email us at cat_mountain2003@yahoo.com.


Our good furriend and studio memfur Annie has recently opened:



Be sure to visit; she has some great dance outfits, costumes and warmup clothes!



Previous monff's newsletters are here:
March/April 2006
February 2006
January 2006.
Nov-Dec. 2005.




Our business card, please link back to www.oocities.org/cat_mountain2003/studio Thank mew!