Meet The Editors

Kate Lydon
Editor in Chief
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first started dancing in my best friend’s kitchen when I was 3. She and I would put on 10 pairs of socks each so we could trade off trying on her mom’s pointe shoes (her mom, Susan Tripaldi, was my first teacher). I continued learning tap, ballet and jazz when my parents enrolled me at the California Academy of Performing Arts in Moraga, CA, when I was 9. By then I was totally hooked on dancing and performing. It was a whirlwind into San Francisco Ballet School before I moved to NYC. (I was one of eight girls chosen by Baryshnikov to study fulltime at American Ballet Theatre’s School of Classical Ballet!) At 16, I auditioned for San Francisco Ballet and got a contract. After five fab years there dancing with amazing people, I joined American Ballet Theatre where I danced with more amazing people! Now, I love working at Dance Spirit! Alison, Colleen, Margaret, Michael and Jo are zany, smart and savvy, and we have so much fun putting together the magazine for you (the best readers ever!) each month.

Five Fun Facts About Kate:
(E-mail me at klydon@dancemedia.com to tell me about yourself!)
  1. I held the 6-and-under swimming record in Lafayette, CA, for freestyle.
  2. I broke my arm when I was 3 falling off the back of a couch and had a black eye at the same time.
  3. I performed Apollo with Julie Kent, Susan Jaffe and Jose Manuel Carreño. (MOG!)
  4. I've only had a short haircut once in my life—it was boy-short and blond for about six months.
  5. My family and I are Broadway nerds. During holidays when we’re all together, we’ve been known to blast Broadway show tune after show tune, singing and dancing our hearts out.
Alison Feller
Deputy Editor in Chief
My mom signed me up for my first dance class when I was four and I was instantly addicted. I danced everywhere, leaping through the aisles at the grocery store and making homemade dance videos in my basement with my best friend. Eventually I started competing at Concord Dance Academy in Concord, NH, spending every winter weekend competing in tap, jazz, musical theater, open and lyrical. I spent nearly 30 hours a week in the studio and I never got sick of it. I thrived on competition until I went to college as a journalism major at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, where I was also the captain of the university’s Kickline team. We won first place in the college division at the Scholastic Kickline Championships and now, with a massive trophy and a diploma under my belt, here I am, living the dancer/writer dream working at Dance Spirit.

Five Fun Facts About Alison:
  1. I am petrified of snakes, hairless cats and kinesio tape. Weird, I know.
  2. I’d rather eat ice cream any time of day than a real meal. (Moose Tracks is my fave!)
  3. I love running. I ran my first marathon (26.2 miles!) in September 2011 and I'm hooked!
  4. I'm obsessed with puppies. Pugs, Boston Terriers, French Bulldogs and yellow labs are my favorites, but I'll happily cuddle with any breed.
  5. I lived in Australia (on the Gold Coast) for four months during my junior year of college. My advice to you: Go there! It will change your life.
Rachel Zar
Managing Editor
Growing up in Chicago, I was a total bunhead. I danced with the Ballet Chicago Studio Company until 16, when I started itching to ditch my pointe shoes. I tried a ballet class at another Chicago studio—The Joel Hall Dance Center—and was spotted by the head of their teen company, who offered me a place. The only problem was that it was a jazz company, and I’d never studied anything but ballet! Needless to say, I was taking jazz classes every day to make up for it. And by the end of high school, I had completely fallen in love with the style. As an English major at Tufts University, I planned to focus on my dream of becoming a magazine editor, but couldn’t give up on dance and performing. I joined (and eventually became president of) the student-run Sarabande Dance Ensemble where I tried my hand at choreography. Now, I’m so lucky to have found a job that combines my love for both journalism and dance!

Five Fun Facts About Rachel:
  1. I can’t whistle or cross my eyes. Basically, my face has no talents.
  2. I rarely crave sweets, but my guilty pleasure is anything with cheese on top.
  3. I danced in the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker as a kid. When I grew too tall for the other children’s parts, I played a Mounted Mouse—a mouse riding another mouse (like a horse) in the battle scene. I barely did any dancing, but the audience’s reaction when I galloped onstage made it my favorite year.
  4. I studied abroad in Paris my junior year of college, and I would give anything to go back.
  5. I’m addicted to online shopping. I end up returning more than I keep, but I still can’t kick the habit!
Margaret Fuhrer
Associate Editor
When I was 3, I told my mom that I wanted to be a ballerina. She thought I just wanted a tutu, so she made me one—but she quickly found out that I was serious! Two years later I started taking ballet classes, and I’ve been dancing ever since. During high school I attended summer programs at the Chautauqua Institution and Boston Ballet and performed with a small youth ballet. A bad knee injury kept me from auditioning for companies, so I ended up at Princeton University, where I discovered choreography (and hip hop!) in a fantastic student-run dance troupe, diSiac Dance Company. College was also where I fell in love with writing, and after graduation I pursued a master’s degree in journalism as part of New York University’s Cultural Reporting and Criticism program (where I met my idol, New Yorker dance writer Joan Acocella). Now I’m lucky enough to be combining all of my passions at Dance Spirit!

Five Fun Facts About Margaret:
  1. My family calls me Meg, but in kindergarten I decided to go by Margaret because I thought it was a better “ballerina name.”
  2. I like raw carrots but not cooked carrots, and baked potatoes but not mashed potatoes.
  3. I never use the snooze button. Years of living with roommates has taught me to be fully awake, instantly, the first time the alarm goes off. Often I actually wake up to the little click the alarm makes before it turns on.
  4. I have my best gym workouts when I'm listening to ballet music.
  5. My cat, Molly, has fantastic "turnout"—her front feet naturally face outwards!
Michael Bailey
Assistant/Fashion Editor
From the time I was three years old, there was nothing I loved more than dancing my heart out and rocking the stage with an enormous open-mouthed smile and a little too much energy. Growing up in Salt Lake City, UT (a major dance hotspot), I was lucky to be surrounded by inspiring performers, top-notch teachers and supportive family and friends. I spent my childhood in the studio and at competitions, loving every minute. After high school, I headed to Brigham Young University where I joined the dance team, the Cougarettes. I served as Dance Captain for two years and still proudly sport my national championship ring. Now, with a degree, an oh-so-handsome husband and my dream job at Dance Spirit, I'm one happy New Yorker.

Five Fun Facts About Michael:
  1. My name is Michael—and yes, I am a girl. I know, it's confusing. (Who knew clarifying your gender could be a fun fact?!)
  2. I love chocolate! I can't go a day without eating some sort of chocolaty treat.
  3. I auditioned for “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 4 and made it to Vegas week. It was one of scariest, most exciting weeks of my life!
  4. I performed at several different venues during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
  5. I have successfully turned my investment-banking husband into a dance junkie. Every time we watch “SYTYCD” he says, “I can do that,” and starts busting a move. He "thinks" he's mastered fouetté turns.