Inspiring Women : November 2020

Performance:
a Kindness Cure
CAROLINE WAGNER-JACOBSON
Member: American Women’s Club of
Amsterdam
From: Phoenix, Arizona
Lives: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
My Life Journey
I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. From a young age, I had a passion for the arts. I studied dance (ballet,
modern, jazz, tap, ballroom) and learned to play the piano. My paternal grandmother had a huge
impact on my life and my decision to pursue the arts. She was very theatrical and so was I, so we
were two peas in a pod. I have a vivid memory of her climbing into bed
with me when I was sick and singing to me to help me feel better.
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I used to produce my own shows in our family room. Using the foyer as
my “stage”, I would print fake tickets, set up chairs for audience
seating, design my own costumes and, to my brother’s dismay, force
him to shine the “spotlight” on me (which was just a giant camping
flashlight). He was in big trouble if he did not keep that spotlight on me
at all times! Poor guy.
At the age of 14, I moved away to attend a performing arts boarding
school in Natick, Massachusetts. I had received a scholarship to study
ballet and did not want to turn down the opportunity. It was hard to
move 2,000 miles away from my family at such a young age. I had to
grow up really fast. My freshman year, I
injured my back. I had been dancing with
a stress fracture in my lumbar spine for 9
months before finally going to the doctor.
Early performing days!
The idea was to “dance through the pain”
and there was a stigma around being an injured dancer. As a ballerina,
once your back goes, everything else starts to go, too. I was getting
more and more injuries, and I realized that ballet was not making me
happy anymore.
Once I graduated, I moved back home to Phoenix and signed up for an
acting class. I always wanted to try acting, but I never had the time to try
it. Let’s just say, I got bit by the acting bug! I fell in love with theater and
went on to get my bachelor’s degree in theater from Arizona State
University, graduating summa cum laude.
Since graduation, I have worked as a professional actor, director,
choreographer, teacher (for both adults and children) and theater-forsocial-change
advocate. I have worked on national tours, both as an