New York City–Based Ballet Teacher Kate Loh Shares Her Weekly Routine
Kate Loh is now a sought-after ballet teacher in the New York metropolitan area, regularly filling classes at Steps on Broadway, Peridance, Broadway Dance Center, and other studios. But her reputation wasn’t established overnight. It took several years for Loh to gain teaching experience, and more for her to build the following she has now.
When Loh approached the end of her career performing with Charleston Ballet Theatre, Connecticut Ballet, and various companies in New York City (including Staten Island Ballet), she asked to assist at the front of the room and began watching rehearsals with a coach’s eye. “I started forming all these corrections, putting it all in my brain, and I would try them on myself,” she says. “I learned what worked and what didn’t, who was successful in relating to dancers and why.”
She was also inspired by her mother, a special education teacher. “Teaching was always in my mind,” Loh says.”I love being able to help somebody that maybe doesn’t feel like anyone believes in them, and to be the one who gives them the confidence.”
Below, Loh shares a typical week in her life.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
6 am: Weekday mornings don’t vary much for Loh. She wakes around 6 am and enjoys a quiet breakfast of Greek yogurt with nuts and fruit and black coffee while reviewing her class plans. Then she gives herself a gentle ballet barre, using the at-home setup she once used to teach virtually during the pandemic.
7:30 am–8:45 am: She gets her two kids, ages 3 and 6, out of bed and gives them breakfast. Her younger child’s babysitter arrives at 8 am and takes over the morning routine while Loh showers. The family is out the door by 8:30 to drop her older child at summer camp (or school during the academic year) by 8:45.
9–11:30 am: Loh then crosses Central Park to Steps on Broadway, where she teaches an advanced intermediate class from 10 to 11:30 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
11:30 am–12:45 pm: She slips into the studio next door to take Nancy Bielski’s class. “I think it’s important for me to still stay connected to my dancer self and be back in that mindset, because it’s so important to relate to my students,” Loh says.
1 pm: She leaves class a few minutes early to change and eat quickly before she teaches a private lesson on the fourth floor.
2 pm: Right at 2 pm, Loh heads to Ballet Arts at New York City Center for an advanced beginner class at 2:30. This afternoon class is often taken by dancers after a morning audition or before an evening performance, she explains.
4–9 pm: She returns home. “Then it’s full-on mom mode,” Loh says. She helps her son with homework before the family eats dinner together, then heads to bed with a book by 9 pm.
Tuesday and Thursday
6–11 am: Loh completes her same morning routine with her children and heads to Steps on Broadway to teach a private lesson at 10 am on Tuesdays; on Thursdays, she teaches the Steps Conservatory students from 9:30–11 am.
11:30 am–2:30 pm: She takes Nancy Bielski’s class at 11:30 am, but leaves early to arrive downtown at Peridance by 1 pm. Loh describes the dancers in this class as strong technicians with a contemporary bent. Her day of teaching ends at 2:30 pm.
2:30–9 pm: On Tuesdays, she buys groceries or schedules any appointments. On Thursdays, Loh gets to bring her 3-year-old daughter to her own dance class, pre-ballet at Ballet Academy East. “I didn’t want to push her, but she’s been around the studio with me and she started asking,” Loh says.
In the evening, Loh stages the next day’s clothes and bags for herself and her kids. After dinner, the family has “couch chill time.” Loh and her husband might watch Netflix while the kids play, or they will have a family movie night. “My husband was an athlete too, so we like sports documentaries,” Loh says. “We’re on Season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.”
Weekends: Loh doesn’t always teach on the weekends, but her current schedule has her teaching beginner ballet at Ballet Academy East on Saturday and intermediate ballet at Broadway Dance Center on Sunday. Before or after class, she will often take her kids to the park, or the kids will ride their bikes on their rooftop. After class she and her husband will prepare meals for the week ahead or have dinner with friends.
Loh prioritizes seeing her students perform whenever she can. “They’re doing amazing things, and I want to be able to support them, but also to stay very relevant and know how I can help the ones who are coming up,” Loh says. Regulars in Loh’s classes have gone on to ballet careers, but her students have also gone on to modern companies, Broadway, and the Radio City Rockettes.
