I arrived in Geneva in 1970 following marriage after a career in France and in Germany working mostly for Television on a freelance base. The dance world in Geneva consisted exclusively of classical Ballet Schools. Jazz dance found itself relegated to cabaret – or nightclub dancing, and a mother would never have accepted to send her child to “that kind of a dance program”.

At the same time I heard ballet teachers complain about “the lack of turn-out, lack of instep, lack of talent while lamenting that students were not motivated enough and that some of them don’t have the right proportions and were too fat for a career…”  What does a young child care about a career? Why not start dance education with what she or he is naturally endowed: joy of expression, expending their pent up energy, use of creativity, and eager to learn how to do a full split!

                                                                                           <<Even a bit chubby I can still dance >>

With these thoughts in mind, everything became clear:  I wanted to pioneer a new approach to teaching children, starting with a non ballet base at the age of 4. Ballet would be added later on, when coordination, rhythm, general dance vocabulary and body awareness, placement and flexibility/strength were acquired. 

Before that though I first had to turn to necessity of converting classically trained dancers into jazz dancers! I had started to work quite a bit for Swiss TV in the early 1970s, and producers found it difficult to import jazz dancers from Paris or Munich.

I thus found myself thrust into simultaneously teaching, choreographing and organizing, and at times  with doubts about being able to cope with it all.