Happy Birthday Kati!

There are few of us in the current DBDC Performing Group who have been there since the beginning. When I first met Kati in 2009 she was almost a child, barely 18 years old. It has been a privilege to witness her growing into this beautiful woman and amazing dancer she is now. Kati is one of the most talented and sweetest people I have ever met but she is also one who never makes any noise about herself. Among all the flamboyant extroverts we naturally have many in the performing group she is more introvert and quiet one, very modest and humble by nature. I sometimes have the feeling that she doesn’t even realise herself how important and amazing she is. As today is her birthday I wanted to dedicate this blog to Kati and make her stand in the spotlight she really deserves to stand in.

Kati during our first show ever (2010)

When you see Kati on stage you would never know that she hadn’t really been dancing at all before she first joined Danny’s classes. When she dances she lights up and shines brighter than probably any of us. Her moves are always beautiful and elegant and there is nothing forced about her dancing. It all comes from inside, from the passion towards Indian and many other styles of dancing she is always eager to try out an bring into her own choreos as well.

Kati's elegance on stage in Estonia show (2014)

Kati is not only a dancer, she has also become a very talented choreographer and dance teacher (watch the video below to see what I mean). She is so far the only choreographer (besides Danny of course) in DBDC whose choreos we have also performed. She teaches her own Bollywood Elegance classes and is in lead of the kids classes and kids performing group as well. 

Kati is one of the full time employees at the DBDC studios. You would think that teaching Bollywood elegance twice a week, kids classes thrice a week, b-burn class once a week plus leading the kids performing group (B-Star Girls) would keep one woman busy enough but there is so much more to Kati. Before she became a professional dancer and choreographer she studies to be a graphic designer. And I must add that she really stands out as an artist and graphic designer as well! This woman is someone you would call a multitalent – she stands out in everything she does. If you see any posters on the studio walls or any advertisment in Facebook or other social media, that is usually Kati’s work of art as well.

Samples of Katis graphic designer skills

And her amazingness doesn’t end there. She is not only a graphic designer but costume designer as well. Most of our recent costumes are her designs  as well as all the kids costumes. And she not only designs but takes care of all the other practicalities from taking the measurements of dancers to organizing the fittings  and all the coopeation that needs to be done with our tailor.

The red costume is one of my favorites designed by Kati

This is still not everything. Earlier I wrote a post about DBDC after school club and Kati is also part of that. She is one of the teachers in the club and on top of all the work she is currently studying to become a physical education assistant. When I first met Kati she was almost a child. Now she is a role model for all the kids in her class and in DBDC after school club. All the little girls adore her and many have said they want to be just like her when they grow up. They try to mimic her style of dancing and I'm sure in future years, when her kids start to take over the adults performing group, we will definitely see Kati's impact even stronger than we see today. 

Kati with her B-Star Girls

It shouldn’t be unclear anymore why this young woman deserves all the appraisal and also gratitude of the rest of us who would many times be in big trouble without Kati. When we have the busiest practice seasons for bigger events she doesn’t count the work hours and sometimes she seems to be working day and night. Yet she never complains. And she never fails. And like I said she never makes any noise about herself.

So today I want to make noise about Kati. She seems to be a superwoman and since she always works like a train people probably don’t even notice that she also gets tired sometimes. But, I have to repeat, she never complains. Or never seeks any attention. I think this could also be the reason why it is not always so easy for everyone to even realize how much she works for everyone else. I have sometimes asked how she does all this and the answer seems to be very clear to her. She is living her dream. DBDC has given her to fullfill her dreams, even the ones she probably didn’t even dare to dream about before. There is fire and passion inside her that drives her ahead, such creativity in her mind and her heart that most of us can only dream of.

There is fire inside her

Today is her birthday but I cannot publish this before evening. In DBDC we have had the habit of surprising our dedicated  members on their birthdays with cakes and other surprises  but I’m not sure if even after all these years Kati expects anything from us on this day. She is organizing her own birthday party although even if she hadn’t done that we surely would’t have let her birthday pass without a good celebration. But we will surprise her in another way tonight. This blog is part of the surprise. This is just one way to tell her how much she means to us and how much gratitude we own to her. I know we are often busy and don’t say outloud the things that we think in our minds but I hope after tonight it won’t be unclear to Kati that we love her and  thank her for everything she has done and for everything she is to us. I feel honored to have been there to witness her growth from this shy little girl into a beautiful, powerful, elegant, goofy, adorable young woman she is now. Kati never was an ugly duckling but today she definitely is a swan.

Happy Birthday to world’s most amazing Kati!!

The Beautiful swan she is today