Kim Caputo

Kim Caputo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from UC Irvine.  A native of Orange County, she studie with Stanley Holden, Judith Aaen, Christine Baltes, Richard Adama, James Jones, Larry Rosenberg, El Gabriel, and Jilanna, in New York with Ernie Pagnano and Robert Denvers, and in Milwaukee with Ted Kivitt (ABT) and Paul Sutherland (Joffrey Ballet).  She started ballet at age 7 and graduated from Mission Viejo High School at age 15 so that she could get a college education and still be young enough to pursue a dance career.  At UC Irvine, she performed classics such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Pas de Quatre.  She studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance, and Tap.  She went to New York at age 18 and performed as a member of Jazzdance at Riverside Church.  Then she danced with Milwaukee Ballet for a year, performing in the Nutcracker.  After returning to California, she danced for the celebration of the Papal Visit at the LA Coliseum, in the Glory of Christmas at the Crystal Cathedral, and with Opera Pacific in Aida, the first production ever staged at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Kim also choreographed Mission Viejo High School’s productions of Fiddler on the Roof in 1979, Grease in 1985, and Carousel in 1986.  She choreographed La Paz Intermediate School’s production of Bye Bye Birdie in 1986.  After a long break from dance, to raise a family, in 2006 she assisted in St. Kilian’s Church production of The Sound of Music, did some of the choreography and taught 85 people in the cast.

After leaving professional dance, Kim returned to UC Irvine and double majored, earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics, and Information and Computer Science.  She worked for Unisys Corporation for 14 years doing software development and software process improvement.  In 1998 she wrote a book that combined process improvement with dance, CMM Implementation Guide:  choreographing Software Process Improvement.  The book has sold in the US and internationally, and has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese.  In 2000, she started her own consulting company, working for clients in the US, Great Britain, Denmark, and Finland.  Her clients included 4 Fortune 100 companies and 8 Fortune 500 companies.  In 2006 she joined FileNet Corporation as a Senior Manager of R&D, and this October, FileNet is to be acquired by IBM.  She will continue working as a Senior Manager at IBM, while teaching dance classes on the weekends.