Up Close And Purr-sonal

While cat people can seem to be just about the cats, they’re almost always about other things, too. In the case of Sibyl Zaden, that’s actually a LOT of other things: the arts, politics, academia, marathons, triathlons, and more.

- By Ann Strople

SIBYL ZADEN

Sibyl grew up in Lansford, Pennsylvania, a small town that, in her words, “had everything.” For Sibyl, that “everything” led to ballet and piano lessons at the age of three, her love of all things creative, and dreams of becoming a dancer, a singer, and an actress. She got a taste of the world of her dreams, dancing and singing with a school group on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, writing songs, meeting and working with celebrities, and performing in an opening act for the Four Seasons.

When Sibyl saw a photo of her cousins walking on the Sunset Strip, she immediately decided that that was where she wanted to go. So, after high school graduation, Sybil moved to California to live with her aunt and follow her dreams. Today, she lives on a hill above Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

While she looked for career opportunities in the theater, Sibyl entered college, getting a degree in theater arts, and then going on to UCLA where she studied theater arts and psychology. She put her love of dancing to good use during her college years, paying college expenses as a professional dancer, as she puts it, “dancing my way through college.”