5 Ridiculous Questions with Caroline Calouche
By Tim Miner
Caroline Calouche
Founder of Caroline Calouche & Co.
and CLT Cirque & Dance Center
Native Gastonian Caroline Calouche loves to dance. But, dancing on the ground wasn’t enough. Two BFA degrees in Ballet and Modern Dance wasn’t enough. A post-graduate choreography program at the Salzburg Experimental Academy for Dance in Austria wasn’t enough. She wanted to dance in the sky. So, she learned to dance suspended by silks.
And, that’s the essence of Caroline Calouche. She goes all in. After living in Rome and Brussels, Caroline returned to the Charlotte area and, 14 years ago, she decided to start two (yes, one just wasn’t enough) two nonprofits at the same time — Caroline Calouche & Co. and the Charlotte Dance Festival, a national platform for dance artists to share their art and learn from each other.
These days, she runs a third initiative, CLT Cirque & Dance Center on Monroe Road. The center specializes in teaching dancers of all ages and experience levels aerial silks, contemporary dance, lyra, trapeze, acrobatics, hip-hop, Spanish web, hand balancing and more. Oh, and she also wrote a seasonal alternative to The Nutcracker with her twin brother called Clara’s Trip. She’s also producing a February show entitled Rouge.
See Caroline Calouche & Co. in action!
Expect the unexpected. From comedy to thrills, the circus artists and dancers will entertain you cabaret-style. Led by our Madame of Ceremonies Rachael Houdek, we have an exciting evening for you filled with gravity-defying aerial acts and tantalizing dance. This show is for mature audiences (PG). Rouge is playing February 14 at 9pm and February 15 at 5pm & 9pm at Booth Playhouse. Purchase tickets ($25-$40) here.
So, yeah. It’s safe to say that Caroline doesn’t come down to earth very often. And, when she does, you’d better be quick to catch up with her.
It took everything we had, but we finally got Caroline to slow down for a minute. And, when we did, we asked her 5 Ridiculous Questions …
1) If you could do a silk show or a dance performance around/with any piece of public art in Charlotte, what would it be and why?
La Cascade (by artist Jean Tinguely) at the Carillon Building. [You have to make] it larger and sturdy for dancers to climb on. It will possibly need to be lifted by a crane. Anyone else love this idea? Seriously, contact me.
2) If you could have worn one outfit from this year’s Oscars, what would you wear?
Kristen Wiig’s, it’s sexy funny. (I get a chuckle out of the caterpillar bottom.)
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
3) Broadway is calling! They love “Clara’s Trip” and want your take on “Swan Lake” for a new production. Give us a 25-word pitch!
Swans can die from heartbreak, if their lifetime partner dies. My love story takes place on, in and above a location called Swan Lake.
4) What AWFUL movie are you powerless not to watch if it comes on the TV?
Clueless
5) Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Tell us about when you knew you loved Charlotte, NC?
When I returned from college and Europe in 2005 (I left in 1998), to see the huge change in Center City that was bright, clean and more art along with neighborhoods like NoDa and Plaza-Midwood growing.
AAAAAAAAAnd …one to grow on,
You’ve got a passion for pit bulls (so do we). What do you want the world to know about them?
They love to cuddle.
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