Local Face: Cathy Adams

Cathy Adams came to Wendover as a baby in October 1982 and has always enjoyed living here. She particularly likes the fact that people know one another and walking down the street she sees familiar faces. This gives a good sense of security. It’s easy enough to get to places like London or Aylesbury but it’s also good to stay home. Having grown up here, Cathy loves the way she knows people of all ages. When she was smaller, her neighbours might have helped her to her feet if she fell over. Now she is old enough to have a friendly chat over the fence, bridging the gap between our more mature residents and the teenage population. Cathy works at Kidzone and as a popular babysitter, she is developing her own links with the younger generation coming up behind her and so the cycle continues.

Cathy’s interaction with her own generation started in the classic way at Wendover Memorial Hall on Monday afternoons where Wendover Toddlers, as it is now called, still meets. She was there again on Friday mornings where her mother, Chris, took adult tap lessons. When she was old enough she attended what is now Wendover pre-school, also in the Memorial Hall.

Starting at John Hampden County First School was easy and Cathy remembers feeling very confident as she grew into Wendover Middle School and John Colet School all on the same campus but with ever expanding size and catchment area. As a pupil she felt that there was great respect from each school to the others which made this pathway much smoother. The fact that she had a brother (James) 7 years older and sister, Claire, 5 years older also helped, even though it is quite an age gap.

The main love of Cathy’s life has always been dancing and she has studied at the Rozelle School of Dance and Drama at Wendover Memorial Hall since starting in the ballet class at the tender age of three (following on from previous observer status!). By four she had started on tap and at five added stage to her list of styles. At Wendover Middle School she was in the gymnastics team and at the Rozelle she studied Dance Gym. She performed (and still does!) in all the Dance School Shows and school productions.

Since infancy Cathy and her family, including her father, Steve, always went to see the ADOS Pantomime in Aylesbury. At last when she was 14 she plucked up courage to go along with two friends to audition. She has never looked back and has appeared in, Aladdin, Annie, Cinderella (Prince Charming), Hot Mikado, Singing in the Rain, Wind in the Willows, Animal Farm crow), Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch of the West) and in May, 1999 Calamity Jane (Susan). She is extremely impressed with the ability of the men who come along to tap dance with little or no previous experience. Although football and other sports may have dominated their younger lives, there comes a time when they feel equally happy to dance and are delighted to find they can do it!

At the Colet, Cathy’s favourite option subject was the combined Expressive Arts GCSE which included drama, dance, music, art and creative writing. The Colet offered some attractive sixth form options but finally Cathy decided to go to Amersham College where she is in the first year of the two year B Tech National Diploma in performing Arts. This course offers students units in all areas of “The Business” including publicity, programmes, catering, tickets and accounts as well as the areas covered at GCSE.

This spring has been extra busy for Cathy. A week before Easter, part of her coursework involved taking a travelling theatre around First Schools in Amersham with all the setting up, playing and striking that involves! Rehearsals continued for the ADOS production, lessons for dance and the Hip Hop Hot Rock Cafe at Stoke Mandeville Community Centre on 10th April, raising money for Lupus (Cathy’s mother has this illness). In July 1997 her friend Jessica Pask directed and she choreographed Showtastic at Hazells Social Club to raise money to finance Jessica’s place at the ltalia conte School. This time Cathy directed and choreographed with friends from the Colet, the Rozelle and the College.

In the autumn, Cathy will have to decide where to go next. She would like some professional choreography experience but she also really enjoys working with children. Her Work Experience at the Colet has confirmed this. Ultimately she would like to do Youth Work with Theatre in Education because she loves working with young people.

Well done, Cathy, and good luck.