The Birth of a Comedy Duo

On Feburary 12th, 2009, Elizabeth Burwell walked through the door of studio B at PMT Dance Studios where Rachel Sattler was taking herself through a basic ballet warm-up.  

Rachel had been renting a weekly hour slot in the dance studio for some time in order to try and kick start her choreography aspirations.  The truth was, though, many days she spent her hour with "dancers block", just listening to music and stretching rather than creating the master pieces of her dreams.

Elizabeth wasn't sure she was going to turn up to the studio that day.  Rachel had offered that she could join, but Elizabeth was tired and hungry.  She had been in NYC for nearly 6 years, done countless auditions, and though she had done several various dance projects in her time, she hadn't had fun in the studio for a long time.

But, she walked through the door on that fateful Thursday afternoon and surprised Rachel.  They both chatted about what was currently inspiring and frustrating them about dance.  Elizabeth had been listening to Ediath Piaf recently and liked a song called Milord.  So they put it on, and Rachel taught Elizabeth how to polka.  They polkaed, laughed, and left the studio that day with both a lighter step and the seed of a grand idea in the back of their minds.  So went the first day of what would soon become the MerryMakers.