ICON OF THE YEAR!!!! AN AMAZING HONOR!!!!! --My Last Blog Post! ;(

As you can see, our experiences at ICON these past few months have not been all about dance per say, but it is thru dance, that these situations occurred. I have learned so much about my ICON family and myself in just these past few months. Thru ICON, I have learned positive qualities, that I know will guide me not only dance, but in my life situations for my future. At ICON, we are learning how to be STRONG, LOVING, ENCOURAGING, CONSOLING, HELPFUL, KIND, SUPPORTIVE, DETERMINED, AND DEDICATED individuals, and in addition, I think we are pretty AWESOME dancers as well! LOL!

With that being said, I COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD OR MORE HONORED TO REPRESENT ICON DANCE COMPLEX THIS YEAR, 2010/2011, AS ICON OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! TO BETH, GEO AND THE WHOLE HUBELA AND SOTTILE FAMILY FOR HONORING ME WITH THIS UNFORGETTABLE AWARD! IT IS SOMETHING I WILL CHERISH FOREVER AND EVER!!!!! I HAVE GROWN IN SO MANY WAYS THIS YEAR AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! I’M SOOO THANKFUL FOR THIS EXPERIENCE! 
I SOOOOOO CAN’T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHO WILL BE THE NEXT ICON OF THE YEAR AND GET TO HAVE THIS AMAZING HONOR AND UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE AS I HAVE!!!!!!
HHHMMM???? CAN I HAVE A HINT???   ;)

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY ICON DANCE COMPLEX!
HAVE FUN AT THE RECITAL EVERYONE!

My Girly Alexis!!!!!!!!! (Blog 4 of my last 5 blog posts!)

Last week the ICON companies attended the USTD Regional Competition in Lancaster Pennsylvania.  Though we won many GOLD and HIGH GOLD awards, it was a certain situation that truly fulfilled my Regional experience. To start, once again, Beth worked soooo very hard to have us prepared for the competition. It was Thursday night and Thursdays around ICON have become an EXCITING night to say the least! So everyone was psyched for competition, and psyched to watch the Boyz at 10pm! But nothing could prepare us for an unexpected bump in the road! My girl Alexis… she truly ROCKS!

This year she took on two extra dance classes to replace another dancer. Alexis was dedicated and worked so hard and many hours to prepare for these new dances. In an unfortunate minute, a split second to say the least, Alexis got kicked with full force right in her face. It immediately blew up and bruised. She was in much pain! She iced it and truly took on the injury so bravely. I’m not talking just a little kick, Alexis’s eye was swollen like you wouldn’t believe and her head was pounding. Boyz, I just want you to know, she insisted on staying and watching your performance on ABDC in all that pain before she went to the hospital…she’s too much! She soon went to the ER and got a cat scan done and they found a slight concussion. She was very sad and in very much pain!  But what does my girl do???? The next day, in much pain, she begs her mom, packs her bags, and suffers a 3 hour ride to Lancaster to support us girls!!!!! OMG! I couldn’t believe it!! I was SOOOOOO HAPPYYY she was coming! I quickly decorated our eye patch from our pirate costume for her. When I first saw her I wanted to cry… sorry Lex, your eye looked terrible! She couldn’t even open it and see out of it!  Everyone just felt her pain! It was then that I once again realized what an amazing group of girls we have in our company. Aside from needing Lex in one of our lifts, nobody was worried about how our dances would look; everyone was worried about Alexis’s health. Ironically, Alexis was worried about the dances and letting her group down! WOWWWWW! I was in awe of her dedication! Guess what?  She decided to dance our Karla Garcia small group dance. The judges said she could just mark her spots and no points would be taken off. Well, my girl, seeing out of only one eye, went all out 100%!!!!!!! She was unbelievable! I look up to Alexis in so many ways! She was soo determined, I was just so proud of her! I had tears in my eyes when we finished the dance.  Can you believe that we won not only a HIGH GOLD award, but the choreography award as well!!... but I have to say, it wasn’t the awards, it was the unbelievable qualities that I saw in Alexis that day that truly made my Regional experience an unforgettable one!

We are here for you Michelle! (blog 3 of 5 of my last blog posts)

What some of our boyz may not have known is that this past month, we all experienced the devastating death of a brother of one of our company members. Michelle’s eleven year old brother tragically passed away on a family vacation over Spring Break. This has been so very sad for Michelle and her family.  Michelle is so sweet and nice, my heart just broke and still breaks that her and her family have to suffer such a tragedy. Our ICON family once again came together as a bunch of us girls stopped by Michelle’s house and spent the day with her, and throughout the week, Beth and our parents supported her family. I went home that day and sat on my bed and realized how we are truly there for each other in good times and in bad, and we can depend on each other in any situation that is thrown our way. We are all sooo very lucky to have each other! With that being said, I’d like to ask all ICONers, and everyone else reading this blog, to please remember Michelle and her family in your prayers, they will continue to need our love and support.

xoxoxox

I'd like to personally send a HUGE SHOUT OUT to the ICONic Boyz (2 of my last 5 blog posts)

First off, I have to say, you can’t imagine how I have this empty feeling with you all not here. I say this sincerely, not a day goes by that you are not on my mind or you come up in my conversations, all good ;).  I enjoy watching all the amazing videos of you all. I think it’s hysterical and even a bit creepy… lol… how some of your crazy fans are! Even I have received tons of Facebook friend requests from your fans... It’s CRAZY! In addition, my heart truly breaks when I hear the negative comments about you guys! I know it is part of the business, but I just want to cry when I read such hurtful things! I know the real ICONic Boyz!

You are sweet, kind, sincere, dedicated, and I know you would do anything for anyone, especially your ICON family, and especially your ICONic Girlz! I am soooo going to cry when I see you guys for the first time when you come back!!  I wanted to have a Great Adventure ICON day and ICON Pool Party, but it just wouldn’t be the same without you guys here… when you come back, we’re on! Continue to REPRESENT!! I couldn’t be more proud of you all!

Emotional and Exciting (1 of 5 last blog posts for the year)

As I sat down to write my last blogs of the year as ICON of the YEAR 2010/2011, I can’t help but be emotional... not because the year is ending, but because the year has been truly AMAZING and UNFORGETTABLE! I can make a list of a handful of unbelievably fun dance opportunities and experiences that have been offered to me this year, but I have to say, I have been most inspired by some of the most unique situations that have occurred just being part of the ICON family in the past few months.

To begin, sending GEO and our boyz out to LA this spring was a HUGE undertaking to say the least!  What many may not know and understand, unless you are a part of ICON, is this unconditional love that is just unexplainable with all the people of ICON. While we were beyond excited for this experience to happen, each and every one at ICON, especially Beth and our Junior Company, has been personally and emotionally affected by the absence of our boyz. We miss them soooo much!

We are together every day dancing, and we all work as a team. Beth had to hold us all together, and continue keeping us a team, even with them all missing. It is not easy to do, emotionally, physically, and socially, things are not the same! Not only has Beth had to run a business of over 600 dancers, but she had to take on the full responsibility of all our Company dances. From costumes and rehearsals, to competition and the recital, this is a huge job!!!!! Beth has done such an amazing job! I am truly inspired by Beth and the Hubela Family on how they come together and make things work. Each has their own responsibility, and each helps out the other when in need. The Hubela Family unit is quite unique and I think that’s why so many LOVE being part of the ICON family they created. I LOVEEEE BEING IN THE ICON FAMILY!!

ABDC EXCITEMENT! Look out LA!!! ICONic Boyz will be in the HOUSE VERY SOON!!!!!!!!!

So, while on my awesome trip to Myrtle Beach with GEO and some ICONic Kidz,

GEO once again surprised me at dinner. He told me that he decided to take the ICONic Girlz on an audition… but not just any audition, it was for ABDC!!!! I was like, “um YEAH!!” I was sooooo excited! It was the week before the audition, yes, week before that’s the way GEO rolls… LOL! And we all showed up for our first practice. It was pathetic, Gianna and I just, like that minute, were overtaken by the stomach flu, Brittany was fighting a sinus infection, and Alexis pulled a muscle in her leg. Well, that was a great start… LOL! Poor Mikayla and Sarah, they were feeling great… LOL! We decided to push the practice up until Wednesday. To add to the craziness, a huge snowstorm decides to arrive all day and night Wednesday. At 9:00pm Wednesday night, I got a call, “Come on over!” Believe it or not, I was sleeping, still not 100%, but I quickly woke up and was ready in 2 seconds! I couldn’t wait to get started on this dance!  We practiced that night and it was sooo much fun. We all knew it was going to be a snow day the next day, so we weren’t in any hurry. Well, we kinda were in a hurry, LOL, the audition was on Saturday. Well, Saturday came and we all were excited. We all knew that it was such a crazy week, that we just wanted to enjoy the day. When it was our turn to go, us GIRLZ knew nothing was gonna hold us back from doing our absolute BEST!  We were psyched!  OMG! WE GOT THRU TO THE NEXT AUDITION ROUND!... AND SO DID OUR BOYZ…OMG!

That night was probably the craziest night of our lives. We truly just danced and danced and danced. We all arrived early Sunday morning, and headed to the city… OMG! ONCE AGAIN WE BOTH MADE IT THROUGH TO THE NEXT ROUND!  When we arrived back to ICON, the parents had organized an awesome celebration for the GIRLZ and BOYZ. It was sooooo much fun! We ate and watched videos of the weekend, and of course, danced and danced!  We just had the best time all together!  We ended the night doing each other’s dances, it was hysterical!  We all couldn’t stop laughing!  I truly, once again, had “THE TIME OF MY LIFE!”

AND THE ICING ON THE CAKE………

THE ICONic BOYZ will be “REPRESENTING” ON ABDC

 IN LOS ANGELES!!!!!!...THEY MADE THE TOP 10!!

I soo can’t wait for Thursday night (10pm) parties at ICON…hope that’s ok with you GEO …or should I say Michael?... LOL!

Congratulations to GEO and his new ICONic GEAR!

So I think everyone at ICON knows the importance of COOL gear when dancing… actually, most of us like cool gear all the time . Well, lucky for us, GEO stays on top of it for us. Recently GEO took creating and selling clothes to the next level. If you go to the site, www.threaderstyle.com, you can see a list of many ABDC crews and their gear. Click on “ICONic” and check out GEO’s newest HIPHOPGEO gear. I’m sooooo psyched my mom let us order one of each. We couldn’t decide which one we liked best  Hey GEO, Kara has a question… ”Are you going to have children sizes soon?”   Well, sending a big CONGRATS to you GEO!... so excited for you! 

Passion and Energy… Karla Garcia

This month we were honored to have been taught by SYTYCD contestant, Karla Garcia.  I was so excited to take the open class taught by her. Karla has this unique way about her moves, which I can only describe as tons of passion and amazing energy.  This is my first year learning Contemporary, and I have LOVED every minute of it. Throughout the year, we have learned all different types, and I can’t even decide which I love the best, I truly LOVE them all. I think of Contemporary as like an “anything goes” type of dance, and learning from different choreographers just makes it more intriguing. This month I will have the opportunity to work with Karla again and I just can’t wait!! Have you ever danced or taken a class with Karla?  Tell me about it?

Ticket Sales… OMG! ICON V will be here in no time!!!!!... I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!

April 10^th is such an exciting day! Tickets for our recital go on sale! I’m just so excited for our recital! That whole weekend is just sooooo fun, exciting, amazing, ummm, like every great word I can think of . I’m sure everyone feels the same. We have some really awesome dances this year, and it’s just so fun to perform them all. When it’s over on Sunday, I actually wish we could do it all again, seriously! Last year I invited my school teacher and his wife to come. They both insisted that our show was like seeing a Broadway show, and they had seen a lot of shows! So if you go to ICON, or you just want to come out and enjoy a fantastic few hours of great dancing, go to www.icondancecomplex.com and find out how to get some tix! Hope to see you there!

USTD… HERE WE COME!

Spring is finally here! Most are excited because of the nice weather, but I’m excited because this time of the year is crazily busy with dance stuff! Competition time is just around the corner. This year we are going to Regionals in May. I’m so excited. I have a handful of different dances going to competition. In total, at Nationals, I will be competing in 10 group dances and 2 solos! I sooooo can’t wait!  We’ve been working really hard lately with a few dances in particular, I can’t wait for us all to perform them, it’s going to be a blast! Which dance have you had the most fun with this year?  Have you seen any other dances? I saw the Mini Tech Company’s Jazz dance the other day… LOVED IT!!!!! 

Rock on and hear me.

xoxo Katie

The Silly Game of ICONic Friends….Continued….

The first word that comes to mind when I hear your name…

Alex Rubiano…………………CUTE!

Julian………………………….LOVE HIM!

Gab Nagrowski……………..BFF!!!!!

Francesca……………………HILARIOUS!
Jade…………………………TOOO MUCH!

Ava………………………….ADORABLE!

Mikey F…………………….SPIKEY!

Danielle Galipo………….BEAUTIFUL!

Mikayla……………………SISTER!

Abigayle…………………FUNNY!

Angelica D………………DANCE COUTURE!

Saige………………………FLASHDANCE!

Allie A……………………NUTS!

Alexis H…………………ALEXAS!

Nick R……………………AWESOME HAIR!!! (like your brother!)

Breanna…………………FIRE ALARM!

Bri…………………………HIP HIP!

Steph……………………DOLLS!

John……………………HORIZ-ICONS!

Jared…………………MOHAWK! 

SHOWSTOPPER WORKSHOP…..IN MYRTLE BEACH!!!

This weekend, GEO taught at a Showstopper workshop in Myrtle Beach. Sarah, Mikayla, Nick, Jason, Thomas, Julian, and I helped GEO teach soooo many amazing classes! Everyone there had a great time!! It is such a fun experience to teach kids who are younger and even older than me! On Saturday night, we went to a disco party at a club! Of course, we all rocked it in the freestyle circle!! That was the best! I’m actually really starting to LOVE freestyling!! Can you believe it??!! 

Afterwards, we went out to eat at the Hardrock Café. I thought we were going to relax and eat, but instead, we danced even more!!There was a band on the stage and when “Boom Boom Pow” came on, Julian did his little glides to stage and started freestyling in front of everyone in the Hardrock Café!! Then Mikayla went up, then Sarah, then Nick, then me, then Thomas. It was sooo much fun just dancing up there. Everyone had their video cameras and cameras with them. Who knows, it could be on YouTube right now and I don’t even know it! Everyone was taking sooooo many pictures and videos!! Kids of all ages had us signing autographs all weekend! I was even signing arms!! 

It was a truly amazing and unforgettable weekend. I seriously had “THE TIME” of my life! LOL!    Have you ever attended any dance workshops? If so, which ones? I’d love to hear all about it!  

The Pulllllsssse!...A Weekend of FUN!!

Not that I looked forward to getting back to school, lol, but I knew after that first week of classes, I had an awesome weekend to look forward to. On January 7^th, I headed out to Atlantic City early, in hopes to beat the snow storm, and get a good night’s sleep before the busy weekend. I had a fab dinner at Carmine’s (dry pasta and a dry meatball)! It was de-lish!! Then, I soon made my way to the Sheraton. 

We’ve had so many ICON happenings there in the past few years; I’m getting really used to the hotel!! It was so nice to pull in and see so many ICONers already there and ready to have fun! Oh, and let me not forget to mention, from my room, I could see you (John, Gab, Nikki) pull up to the door, in your stretchhhhhhhh limo!!... LOL!

Saturday began with a stretching workout, and then all the classes began. I LOVED them all! My favorite was Tyce’s lyrical class. It was more of a fast lyrical, which I thought was sooooooo cool. At night, we were excited to get to perform SCREAM!! I just love that dance! It never gets old!  

As long as the costumes fit, I hope we do it for the next few years… LOL! Everyone said we blew the faculty away! They were jamming and screaming the whole time for us. I’m so glad we could represent ICON, and GEO and BETH, with such an amazing number. During the Awards Ceremony, we won a special award for our dance. 

In addition to the night being amazing, GEO surprised me and I truly wanted to SCREAM! He asked me if I would come to SHOWSTOPPERS (the next weekend) in Myrtle Beach, and help him teach. I was so excited; I didn’t even know what to say! But it was all set up, and my parents knew about it, and they were already planning the weekend ahead. I couldn’t wait!! Along with Mikayla, Sarah, Nick, Jason, Thomas, and Julian, I knew it had to be a fun-filled trip for sure!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and I don’t want to forget to congratulate all the ICONers for winning soooo many amazing scholarships at the Pulse. I’m soooooo proud of you guys!!    

Did you attend THE PULSE? Which choreographer did you like the best? More importantly, which clothes did you buy??  

January at ICON!!

Well, the first month of the year is here, and that means business. Everyone at ICON is buckling down for the year ahead. Dances, solos, duets, trios, costumes, Regionals, it’s a busy time for everyone! But sooooooo very exciting! I started working on my solos a bit more, and flipping through magazines for costumes. It’s so hard, I LOVE everything! I’m so excited at this time of the year, everything starts to come together, and it’s just so much funnnnn! The only problem I truly have at this time is that there isn’t enough time in a day!! I have so much to do and sooooo little time. But I guess I’ll make it work. According to my mom, I have to prioritize… and I do… 

1. DANCE 
2. Everything else….

She doesn’t always agree… LOL!!!! 

So, what’s going on for you this year? How do you “prioritize” things? Tell me about it…

AND THE WINNER IS...

OMG! I just found out the winner of the ICON of HOPE project, and before I offer my CONGRATULATIONS, I want to say a huge “THANK YOU!!!!” to all who participated in the ICON of HOPE project. From beautiful drawings, to the very generous donations, the project was an amazing success! It is so nice that so many of you came out and took some extra time (which I know is hard to find) to help a great cause. With that being said, I would like to personally CONGRATULATE Becky Colson!! Becky, your picture is just amazing! When I first saw it, I was in awe!! It is truly a beautiful piece of artwork. After being displayed at the Monmouth Library this month, it is going to be on a special display at ICON Dance Complex, as the “ICON” for the ICON of HOPE project.  

“Thank You” and “Wishes for a New Year” cards are going to be specially made in honor of your picture. The cards will be sent to the children of St. Jude, as well as everyone involved in the project. Personally, I am going to enlarge the picture, frame it, and hang it in my room!!   It is just so beautiful, and represents so much that ICON has done for me. Once again, Congratulations Becky!! You have an amazing talent, and we are all so happy that you used it for our project!! Check it out!! 

A silly Game…My ICONic Friends

So I decided to do something fun with my blog this month.  I put everyone’s name in the ICONic Company in a basket.  I pulled out the first 20, and as soon as my sister Sam read their name, I said the first word (or 2) that came to my head… these were my results :)

Thomas…………”RED SHIRT”

Christopher (Sottile)……”CUTEEEEE!”

Soroya…………..”GYMNAST”

Jacqueline……..”CURLY HAIR”

Michelle………..”GRACEFUL”

Emily……………”BROKEN ARM”

Leona……………”HIGH KICKER”

Nick Mara………”MINI GEO”

Maile……………..”GREAT AT CONTEMPORARY”

Tori Grassi…….”SWEET!”

Tristan………….”AWESOME HAIR”

Alyssa D…………”FUNNY”

Danielle Guzzo…”SOOOOO NICE!”

Madison………….”JUST SO COOL!”

Steph………………”STRONG”

Chris Corradino…”TEXTER”

Louis………………”TECHNO HOODIE”

Mich………………..”ALICE”

Gabby D………….”COWBOYS”

Vinny……………..”GRAND”

So, what do you think?... Agree, disagree, any additional words for anyone…let me know your thoughts… good and bad, LOL!! 

(I will continue picking out of my hat for my January blog…stay tuned ;) )

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY EVERYONE…AND DON’T FORGET TO TUNE INTO Paula Abdul’s LIVE TO DANCE premiere Tuesday January 8^th on CBS…Check out our AWESOME ICONic Boyzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!... soooo excited!!

Last week before break!!... BEST WEEK EVER!

Adding more excitement to the month, GEO let us have a Pajama Day this past Monday. Everyone LOVES Pajama Day, and looked so so cute! Check out my pictures and you can see how everyone goes all out for these special days. In addition to wearing pajamas, we also played tons of games! We had relay races, Limbo, and even a silly Cookie contest; where you had to get the cookie from your forehead into your mouth… too bad I don’t like cookies !  But it was really funny to watch! GEO was pretty good at it! I think everyone would agree that we were all soooo sad when our hour of class ended. We all could’ve stayed there all night. On Tuesday, which was my last day of dance before the break, I was sooo sad to say goodbye to my friends. It’s going to be a WHOLE week and a half before I see some of them again!! I don’t think I can go that long! I love them and I love dancing… what am I going to do!! 

Well, one thing we can all look forward to is January 8 – 10.  We will all be spending every minute together at the Pulse workshop in Atlantic City. Hope to see you all there… who’s going? If you’re in Atlantic City that weekend, come and check out our SCREAM routine Saturday night at the Sheraton!  See you there!

THE BEST TIME!!… ICON’S HOLIDAY GALAAAAAA!

Once again, ICON’s Holiday Gala was soooooo much fun!  We all just literally DANCE the whole night! I truly love all my friends at ICON, and just hanging with them all night long was just the BEST! There was an awesome free-style circle going on most of the night. You should see some of the ICON dancers out there! GEO and Beth definitely have their work cut out for them in the next few years… those little ones were GREAT!! They were only about 5 to 7 years old and they could DANCE!! I think there was even a 4 year old that went out in the middle of the circle and he started break dancing! They were so fun and cute to watch. Even my little sister Kara went out in the circle!!... she has more nerve than me!!... LOL!  

A few hours into the Gala, the DJ played, “DECK THE HALLS” from Glee, and we got to surprise everyone with a Cheer Funk Flash Mob dance… it was so exciting! Soon after, the whole ICONic Company covered the dance floor with another Flash Mob to “JINGLE BELLS” from Glee also. It was so cool… the ICON dancers ranged from age 5 to 18, all doing the same dance! There truly is nothing like ICON! 

Were you there?  What was your favorite part of the night?  Who’s dress was your favorite?...LOL…I loved Beth’s!   

ICON OF HOPE CONTEST

The night of Chris’s open was also the last night of the ICON of Hope Contest. OMG! I couldn’t believe the drawings that were submitted. If you haven’t seen them, ask Karen at the front desk to take a look at the album. They were all soooo creative! I just couldn’t believe the time and effort that everyone put into their pictures. So far, we have raised over $2000.00 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital!! I am so very thankful for everyone that donated and participated. 

I think GEO and Beth were surprised to see that their students can not only dance, but draw too!! I know many of you are still wondering about the contest winner, but because there were so many amazing drawings, ICON was deciding on choosing more than one winner. We should all know very soon!! 

DECEMBER ROCKS AT ICON!!!!!!!!

The month of December was just AMAZING at ICON! We started out the first Thursday with a Contemporary class run by Chris Smith. All of the proceeds from the open class were donated towards ICON’s annual donation to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The class was soooo fun! I LOVE Chris’s choreography! He always comes up with things that are totally out of the box! Chris and I are currently working on my Contemporary solo and I love it! It is sooo much fun, though I have to work on my cardio! The dance is sooo packed and busy, I’m out of breath when I just run it through my head in my bed at night…LOL! It is really a unique dance; I can’t wait to bring it to competition! Anyone else enjoying Contemporary this year?  Any suggestions on how I can catch my breath during my routine?... LOL!