Claudette Sigg was born in San Francisco in 1934. The early part of Claudette’s elementary schooling occurred during the Second World War, and with San Francisco being a potential target of Japanese submarines off shore, her father moved his family to San Carlos for safety. After graduating from Sequoia High School in Redwood City, she went to San Mateo Junior College, and from there transferred to U.C. Berkeley to get a degree in History. “When I graduated, I knew I needed to get a job, but I also was aware I had no practical skills to sell, so I took a stenography class and brushed up on my typing skills.” The truth was she “felt barely competent” to be employed by anyone. Nevertheless, her skills were assessed to be adequate enough for her to get an office job, which made it possible for her to save enough money to return to Cal to get her teaching credential and her M.A.
It was at Cal, as a graduate student, that she had her first “Me Too” moment. Her thesis advisor apparently thought that female teaching assistants were available for additional services, and after being chased around the desk by an amorous middle aged professor, she declined to write her assigned chapter of his next book, and she transferred to San Francisco State. She held three jobs simultaneously while there: graduate student working towards her Masters Degree, secretary in the literacy office, and instructor in a “bonehead” English class, as they were known then. She ultimately received a Masters in English Language Arts with an emphasis on Creative Writing. A selection of her poems include Cherries in Winter, Messages between the Living and the Dead, Balloons in the Sky, Intensive Care.
Her first and only job interview occurred at Richmond High. The principal asked the usual questions—and then asked her to write an essay. “Now that was something I could do!” she thought. “Even before I got home, he had sent me a telegram offering me a position.” And that began her nearly 30-year career of teaching English classes in Richmond, California.
After retiring, Claudette became a docent at the Oakland Museum of California, first in the History Gallery, then in the Art Gallery, and finally in the Natural Sciences Gallery, thus becoming one of the very few “triple” docents at the museum. While she enjoyed doing children’s tours, particularly those that included the three galleries, such as “Indian Life” and “The Gold Rush,” she especially liked doing “Highlight Tours” for adults, tours which covered all three galleries under a unifying theme. However, it was in the special exhibition, “No Spectators—The Art of Burning Man,” that Claudette first met members of Ashby Village.
Dancing in one form or another has been one of her passions since childhood. While in high school and college, she took classes at the San Francisco Ballet School, but she suppressed her love of dancing when she met her husband at San Francisco State. Dancing in any form was not one of his passions. Returning to some form of dance was her first major decision after their separation.
After her divorce, Claudette wandered into a Scottish country dance class. Scottish country dancing and Scottish step dancing are similar to ballet: both use the same terminology and make use of some of the same basic figures. After a couple of years, Claudette was invited to join the Dunsmuir Dancers, a performing group in the Bay Area. Later, after visiting Scotland to get her certificate to teach Scottish Country Dancing, she formed her own performing group, The New World Scottish Dancers, which emphasized the role of Scots in California from the Gold Rush to the present as exhibited through dance. She submitted a country dance, “Moment of Truth,” to an international competition sponsored by the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, and her dance was one of the very few that was accepted and published by the Society. Today both her country dances and step dances are danced around the world. (See Scottish Country Dance Capelthwaite (Reel) and Ladies' Step Dance Bridget's Suggestion)