Choreographer Elisa Monte knows firsthand how important it is to get to class as a dancer. In her late 20s, Monte–who is now the artistic director of her own company, Elisa Monte Dance–became a devotee of Maggie Black’s ballet class in New York City, squeezing it in between her rehearsals with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Pilobolus.“There could be 100 people in Maggie’s class, and everyone got a correction. No one could fall to the back and not be looked at. I loved being challenged. I loved not being told, ‘Oh, yes, dear–that was just lovely.’ You want to hear what’s wrong, not what’s right. You need to work on what’s wrong in order to improve. When I teach, I constantly correct people. And when they make that correction–great. Then we move on to the next thing. There’s always something to work on, as a dancer.”

Photo of Elisa Monte in her work Life-time; by Amanda Kreglow, courtesy of Elisa Monte Dance