Inspiring Women : November 2020
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“They Say a Cat Has<br />
Nine Lives!”<br />
ILYA PARENTEAU<br />
Member: American International <strong>Women</strong>’s<br />
Club of Düsseldorf<br />
From: Chicago, Illinois<br />
Lives: Düsseldorf, Germany<br />
My Life Journey<br />
They say a cat has nine lives. If I were a cat, I’m not sure which life I find myself in currently. I do like<br />
to say that, in my first life, I was a dancer.<br />
At six, I had a friend who enjoyed flaunting what she’d learned in her ballet classes. That was the<br />
beginning. I begged her to teach me her routines. We created performances together for much of the<br />
neighborhood in my backyard. It took two years before my parents gave in to my persistent<br />
imploring, finally allowing me to start lessons. It was my Nana Banana who took me to class. She<br />
cheered me on through the open studio window, year after year.<br />
One day, there was a buzz in the school about an audition for Ruth Page’s version of The Nutcracker<br />
Suite at Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place in Chicago. I was eleven years old and beyond<br />
excited. I had to go to that audition! And I had to get in! With great joy and incredible will and<br />
passion, I landed my first job. The enormity of the experience becomes clear to me as I write this. The<br />
theater sat 5000 people. This experience of working closely with professional ballet dancers set the<br />
50<br />
Images from my early days in the business
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