Meet Cate Caplin

We recently connected with Cate Caplin and have shared our conversation below.

Cate, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
I’ve always been disciplined about my daily personal regime…. It comes from being a dancer all my life. As an admitted creature of habit and a lover of rituals, I’ve tried to instill some healthy ones! I am extremely self motivated so it doesn’t take alot of prodding to get my wheels turning every morning because I know that I will feel better after I set myself up for the day physically, mentally and spiritually…. That’s not to say that some mornings I may be moving a little slower from a late night the evening before or I might be feeling challenged when traveling and I’m adjusting to a new time zone or if I have an early appointment and I have to get up that much EARLIER in order to stay on track, but I know that I will always approach the day with more clarity of intention and on the up and up if I can at least start it off with positive ingredients that help me feel grounded, relaxed and ready for whatever I am faced with or unfolds.

It’s a known fact that lots of water and staying hydrated as much as possible is something we could all be doing much MORE of, including me (!) but to kick off my day, I start with two large glasses of water. In one I add flavorless fiber and in the second glass EmergenC – Next I prepare a protein shake made with almond milk and a banana, my reward for AFTER I finish my morning workout regime –

I start gently on the floor with a stretching sequence I assembled for myself that includes elements of deep breathing, yoga, pilates floor work and core and strengthening exercises. The session ends with a meditation with a different theme each day depending on the morning. My partner Vernon reads to me during those first 90-120 minutes of workout (depending on what other morning appointments we have) and it is not only a special time I share with my partner while toning and waking up my body, but it is a time to activate my creative mind, hear what’s going on in the world and immerse myself into the words of whichever author we made be engaged in at the moment…. I am always open to learning, growing, and expanding my awareness, sensitivity and knowledge base. These are the ingredients that will fuel and inspire the creative work I do for myself personally and professionally as a Producer, writer, director, choreographer and film maker.

I try to eat a huge salad pretty much every day, and although I DO have a sweet tooth, I try to make a point to eat as much healthy foods earlier in my day so at least I’m powered up with fuel and sustenance first! As a treat and to reward myself for keeping healthy patterns in motion and focus as steady and progressive as possible, once a week I schedule an hour long massage.

I am fiercely devoted and committed to my personal and professional creative work. In order to be most effective WITH and attuned TO the other artists I am collaborating with, these are the ingredients of my mornings, each and every day….

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I live in the world of creative arts – Because work opportunities ebb and flow, come AND go in the entertainment industry (!), I have found that the best way to survive is to stay open to new assignments wherever they might come from. Embracing that understanding and perspective, I have come to realize how critically important it is to nurture your own personal projects that you actually have control of!

As a young artist you feel so much at the mercy of other people selecting you to be a part of THEIR creation and we all know that the odds of booking every audition, interview and submission are low. Allowing other people’s constructs to define where you will go and who you will become can be highly disheartening when you aren’t being invited on board to share you gifts and talent and booking every gig. I’ve often compared the feeling to buying a lotto ticket to determine how your life will unfold!

Looking back, I realize that when I was first starting out, it was my “blind faith in the possibilities” that kept me forever returning to the game of auditions and artistic pursuits. Eventually I turned the corner and started developing and nurturing my OWN projects at the same time as pursuing other opportunities presented by others. I was better able to put myself “out there” without the feeling of desperation or thinking that the work developed and provided by others would somehow be MORE fulfilling or that it was my only avenue of expression and validation.

Because of my varied background, I change hats alot in the work that I do. I had a full and satisfying professional career touring and performing with 3 professional ballet companies and then heading to NYC, I landed work with the American Dance Machine, a Broadway show that became a touring company. We performed different incarnation of shows all over from the White House, to PBS television, to a tour thru-out Japan! In between time (!) I continued my singing, dancing and acting studies, booked commercials, television and film work, and landed summer stock theatre gigs, live industrial trade shows and new play work development opportunities. I also maintained Continuing Ed studies at NYU and Columbia University.

Another highlight of my career was doing an International Tour of the Broadway revival of West Side Story – We spent 7 months performing in outdoor amphitheaters thru-out Italy and landed at the Paris Opera house for 3 months – Jerome Robbins himself directed the production and Leonard Berstein toured with us and conducted the orchestra. I was in musical theatre heaven!

My brother Lee is a film producer and he invited me out to Los Angeles and after many cold winters in NYC and battling bouts of pneumonia, I followed the sunshine out to California and never looked back!

I have immersed myself into the theatre community here as a Director, Writer and Producer but still managed to book television and film work as an actor, dancer and choreographer – I became involved in the competitive ballroom arena and fast forward a handful of years, I have won 34 regional and international titles and am a multiple gold medalist and world champion in Theatre Arts Adagio. I did a 22 city tour with “Disney’s Symphonic Fantasy” as Princess Jasmine and danced to “A Whole New World” starting at the Hollywood Bowl and ending the at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC! With this specialty training, I also became a dance director and coach for other competitors which lead to more DIrecting and Choreography for theatre, tv and film.

So I try to stay forever flexible and open…. Sometimes I am JUST the choreographer, sometimes JUST the director, sometimes both AND producing, sometimes JUST producing…. Again, each job exposes you to a new batch of collaborators and connections and projects surface and new opportunities emerge – I pick some, pass on others, some experiences are phenomenal, some are a nightmare – all add to the scope of experience I now bring to each new assignment – The old adage, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger….?? There’s definitely truth in that one! Of course I always dream of the perfect productions in terms of the dynamics of mutually respecting artists coming together with a shared goal and purpose… but the world is made up of MANY different types of people coming together with all KINDS of different experiences, traumas and emotional challenges – I’ve tried to expand the depth of my sensitivity and compassion through navigating these rough and emotionally charged waters and for that I am grateful….

Most recently I choreographed a musical (“The Fantasticks”), directed a music video for an Grammy Award winning Artist Melissa Manchester (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_e0s9OMlak) and I Produced, Directed and Choreographed a feature film (“The Unicorn Diaries”) currently in post production. Next up I am directing an American Classic play by Arthur Miller (“A View from the Bridge”) and have plans in the spring to guest teach at Interlochen Center for the Arts, a magnificent year round Arts Academy and summer Arts Camp. I also book ballroom dance instructors for Disney Cruise lines and I guest coach and teach actors and dancers privately and at performing arts schools.

So yes, staying flexible and open to where the current of life carries you is especially relevant in my creative life…. I feel blessed to say no thank you to some job offers or assignments that I am not fully inspired by and remind myself daily to trust that new possibilities are forever circulating and have faith that I am in the right place doing exactly what I should be doing at all times, even when the going may get rough or I have patches of time when I don’t know what’s next…. Having faith and trust are my guiding principals…

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that have had the most impact on my creative journey are patience, tenacity and calm midst tension, confusion, confrontation and disruption. I think mediation, yoga and prayer are all centering and grounding rituals that help, no matter what your religious belief is or practices are.

My personal mantra is BREATHE, RELAX & FLOW….Take that extra beat to settle yourself or others so reactions are not irrational and hurtful in ways that you are not able to take back once ugliness is hurled. Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes to feel empathy and compassion. Speak from an open heart and lead with kindness.

I’ve had some amazing teachers, mentors and training thru-out my career including among many others not listed: Washington School of Ballet – Mary Day, Metropolitan Ballet – Charles Dickson, Alan Woodard, Royal Academy of Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts and NY teachers Finis Jhung, David Howard, Maggie Black, Catherine Marks, Lee Theodore, Francois Szony, Los Angeles teachers, Fred Walton, Dora Krannig, Felix Chevez, Robert McKee, Diana Gipson, Mame Hunt, Cythnia Lee, Russel Adcock, Bill Bartlett, Richard Loring, Eric Vetro, Fred Silver, Amelia Haas, Carol Weiss, Robbi Morgan and a handful of other wonderful coaches and teachers at HB Studios, The Strasberg Institute, UCLA FIlm Department, Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop, the Groundlings, Interlochen Center for the Arts, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and the Actors Studio. For all of the wisdom and insight these artists have shared with me throughout my training, I am genuinely grateful.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am alway looking for positive, like minded artists and professionals who are interested in creating work and projects that contribute to making the world a better place for us all. These are turbulent times we live in and my creative work is my salvation. If the work I do while collaborating with others can help improve the state of the world spiritually or lift up a single troubled individual’s heart thru the creative arts being shared, these are the kind of compassionate human beings I want to surround myself with…

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Images are of Cate Caplin and addition shots are Cate and her mentor Francois Szony and dance partners Tom Slater, Gary Franco, Murray Phillips and Vernon Willet

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