Hello beautiful,

Now that Halloween and All Saint's Day have passed, we still celebrate cherished traditions and think of our beloved dead as the Holidays approach, with the full Beaver Moon on the 5th (according to the BBC, "The second of three consecutive supermoons of 2025 will coincide with Bonfire Night on Wednesday... 5 November. It will be the largest and brightest Moon this year."), Transgender Day of Remembrance on the 20th, and American Thanksgiving on the 27th.

Of particular interest to me and my dancer and balletomane friends, ballet companies worldwide will stream and share content from their individual platforms for Access becomes Art: World Ballet Day 2025 on the 12th. After a hiatus, it looks like the format has changed, but I'm excited to peek at what the Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Australian Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and others are up to!

Since my last missive, I've published a reflection on the prior month of September and Quarter 3, as well as articles on Personal Curriculum, Safer Spaces, and Mood Music, a video primer on finding your "Plumb Line" and Center of Gravity, and more linked below. I've also enjoyed a weekend escape to Belgium with friends and tons of teaching, personal experiences and accomplishments many of which I'll be recounting in my upcoming October reflection.

Its strange to only be sending one email a month after keeping a weekly schedule for several years now, but I appreciate the flexibility in such a full season! Not easy to recap four weeks in one brief message, the news and events are so overwhelming, but I'll do my best. Please reach out anytime as well, it means a lot to be in community with you.

Important to note if you're part of my mindful movement classes (Yummy Gentle Yoga, Balletlicious Adaptive Ballet) online or would like to try them out, we "fell back" to Central European Time zone from Summer Time on October 26th in Germany, so sessions continued to take place at the same time on this continent, but times may vary in Hawai'i and other locations without Daylight Savings adjustments. Of course time changes happen on different dates in other locations, so it's always a time travel party!

My other creations, recommendations, and questions for you are:

Listening:

• My new Mood Music that Moves Me- Playlists of Songs & Pieces to Inspire the Spirit article links to all of my current playlists-in-use, with seasonal and other themed collections
• ​Spooky October Sounds playlist on YouTube was my Halloweentime accompaniment, and now we're on to
• ​Send Me Sighing - Bluesy Autumnal Jazz playlist on YouTube and
• ​Harvest & Thanksgiving Songs playlist on YouTube
• "Look Up" by Joy Oladokun really does uplift

Reading:

• ​How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life: As a dance educator and teaching artist, creating a safe space for learning has long been a topic of interest and top priority in coaching and classes. Being familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of queer nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are applicable in a variety of social and educational contexts.
• ​Mood Music that Moves Me- Playlists of Songs & Pieces to Inspire the Spirit: Nothing sets the mood like the right music! Tastes vary, but the exploration of music that moves us is full of delightful discoveries that become lifelong memories. As a choreographer, teaching artist and coach, music, songs, and playlists are a huge part of my life, as I disc jockey sessions in real time and build up my library of music with which I resonate.
• ​​Someday is Today​​b y Matthew Dicks, one of my nonfiction picks of 2025, finally complete and a good motivating read. I don't agree with all of his timesaving tactics, but it's worth a look if you've got work you want to produce and can't seem to find the time, with lots of valuable takeaways that I will apply nonetheless.
• ​​The Happy Ever After Playlist​ by Abby Jimenez was another sweet romantic dramedy from this author who has a knack for writing characters I feel like I've met
• Started reading A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 1) by Deborah Harkness, as an ebook and audio book (which I now see has also been made into a TV series!), but sadly foiled by some sort of copyright issue with the audio book I bought, seeking solutions and meanwhile...
• ​​The Guncle​ by Steven Rowley I just started, but already love

Viewing:

• ​Autumn Personal Curriculum 2025 - Looking forward to Learning & Teaching this Season video on YouTube
• ​September & Q3 Flip & Reflection - Creative Journal Video on YouTube
• Saw the "Beethoven 7" dance concert by Sasha Waltz & Guests live and found it electrifying
• "Fly Me to the Moon" film with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum was a cute bit of romantic history
• "Chief of War" series features Olelo Hawai'i, and English subtitles and then English speaking when would be more realistic, and shows in graphic detail what that turbulent time might have looked in the Hawaiian islands, bringing history beautifully and sometimes violently to life.
• "28 Years Later" was a fitting zombie movie for Halloween which with pizza and friends, made a spooky celebration
• "Shrinking" Comedy Drama series, now we're in the 2nd season and I'm so invested in these characters. They make plenty of mistakes, but the vulnerable honesty when it comes is so beautiful.
• Started the "WondLa" animated fantasy/sci-fi series with my middle schoolers and it is bringing family friendly action adventure and a strong female lead character

Practicing:

• Finding center with the Plummy Plumb Lines - Finding Your Center of Gravity - Ballet & Dance Alignment Tool Visualization video on YouTube here's a valuable visual to apply to your dancing and/or teaching. the concept of vertical alignment, the dimensions of space and center of gravity in support of balance and dance technique.
• Lifelong learning in my Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Autumn 2025 Personal Curriculum article: Let's romanticize, gamify, and bring the fun to our learning and creating goals this season with a "Personal Curriculum!" It is a trending topic that I can really jump on board with.
• Quarterly reflection & completion in my SeptEMBER was Fire – 2025 Month 9 & Quarter 3 Reflection article: September brought the last gasp of Summer in Cologne and I basked in the warmth, as well as events such as the Harvest Moon, Autumn Equinox, back-to-school, Oktoberfest, and more! In this article I wrapped up the month of September and Quarter 3 of 2025 in my projects & life.
• Would like to play with a version of my Autumn Leaves Adage in ballet again this month...
• Moved from one seasonal notebook to another as we got into October, leading to my Autumn Migration - Notebook Switch & Mood Music for the Change in Seasons video on YouTube, in which my Quarter 4 plan-with-me continued with fleshing out plans, projects like the Mood Music spread that led to the article of the same name
• Gratitude and abundance at Thanksgiving and every day

Practicing Together LIVE / Adult Movement Classes this month:

• Online Yogalicious Gentle Yoga. 7-8:00pm CEST Tuesdays (8-9:00am HI) provides a delicious mindful movement feast which balances strength, balance and coordination for mind, body, and spirit and is adaptable to all levels and conditions (English)
• Online Balletlicious Gentle Adaptive Ballet Barre+, 7:30-8:30am CEST Fridays (Thursday p.m. HI) consists of mostly supported barre exercises with a little dancey centre work, building a strong, body-friendly, and graceful foundation for dance at home or anywhere in the world (English)
• Daily Ballet Technique for the Advanced Dance Program at Tanzraum Nippes 9:00-10:15am weekdays is an intensive course applicable to aspiring professional dancers in a variety of forms

Inquiring:

• What are you grateful for this season?
• Which books are on your TBR?
• When I say Mood Music, which tracks come to mind?
• On what will you feast in November?
• How might I help you move gracefully through the holidays into 2026?

Gladly share your response to the questions above or provide other updates by replying to this email.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and keep moving mindfully!

Love, Blythe

Blythe Stephens, MFA, Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach: dance through your difficulties
and take leaps of faith into a joyful, fulfilling life

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