"In the late 19th century the Chautauqua Movement articulated a philosophy of self-improvement and lifelong learning that the times seemed hungry for. Women, especially, took advantage of the courses and lectures offered there. Small-scale "chautauquas" sprang up to accommodate the demand, and traveling chautauquas carried the ethos far afield…. Verdy conveys, without ever saying it in so many words, a belief that ballet, and ballet study, is a distinction—singular, charmed, and exhilarating…. Her teaching persona seems never to have known anxiety or exhaustion either—her classroom style builds on the serene intensity of youthful devotion…. Verdy conveys to her students that ballet steps don't merely make a design in space—they communicate…. Her classes are strikingly musical, and her explanations address the quality of a step's execution as well as its correctness."—Dance Magazine