| CATHERINE SCHEMM |
French Forum Moderator |
Catherine was born in Paris, France.
She is not a dancer but has a strong passion for dance. As a
child, she aspired to be a dancer and studied at the Ecole du
Louvre but ended her dance studies due to a combination of circumstances,
including not “being en dehors” (did not have turn-out)
and an illness. She remained captivated by dance, watching every
dance program on television. From time to time, her father would
take her to see the Paris Opera Ballet, the Kirov, and the Bolshoi.
Her first live encounter with the Defilé of Corps de Ballet
in 1980 brought tears to her eyes.
When she stopped studying dance, Catherine
became a huge advocate of dance by encouraging everyone she knew
to see dance. Catherine was also fascinated by Hollywood musicals.
In 1983, a broadcast called Grand échiquier changed
her life and even convinced her sister (20 years older and who
up until then thought the Paris Opera Ballet was all “tutu
and pointes”) that the POB had a wide range of dance in
their repertory. After this program, her sister gifted Catherine
with tickets to a POB program of works by Balanchine, who had
died some days before the performance. The program consisted
of Capriccio, Prodigal Son and Agon. Catherine
and her sister loved it and ever since then, they have seen every
program by POB. Through seeing every performance of every series,
they have learned to watch for up and coming dancers.
Catherine’s favorite choreographers
are Balanchine and Robbins. She also loves Neumeier. She prefers
artistic, rather than technical dancers, whose interpretations
of their roles make her cry as Loudieres did as Juliet. She loves
to seek out new companies and to see their repertory, discovering
works that are not seen in France.
The discovery of this Internet website
about dance has allowed Catherine to realize one of her dreams,
to write about what she has loved since she was a child: dance.
Her other passions are movies (musicals and old movies in black
and white from the 30’s to the 50’s), opera (she is
a fan of Callas, Gencer, Freni) and fine arts (especially sculpture).
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