Claire Porter

Claire Porter

Claire Porter's work has been produced in New York City by Dance Theater Workshop, PS-122, Joyce Soho, The Joyce Theater, The Bottom Line, The NY Horticulture Society, The Knitting Factory, Danspace at St. Marks as well as by Jacob's Pillow, The World's Fair in Tennesee, The Southern Theater in Minneapolis Minnesota, Duncan Theater in Palm Beach Florida, Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, The Kitchen Theater in Ithaca New York, Wooley Mammoth Theater in Washington DC and the Off Center Theater in Tampa Florida.

Claire was Hostess-Comedienne-SceneChanger for the Minnesota Composers Forum's New Music Concert, created an on-site piece for 12 performers for the TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport (with support from the NEA InterArts Program), performed at the opening of the Peter Eisenman Building at the University of Cincinnati, and has received commissions from college dance companies, Art Matters, DTW's FIRST LIGHT Project (funding by Jerome Foundation, St. Paul, MN), The American Dance Festival, VOGUE Magazine and Domino's Pizza Company.

Her collaborations include Not Without You with Guy Klucevsek, accordionist-composer, part of Guy's SqueezePlay at The Kitchen NYC, Between Spaces with Mary Ellen Childs, composer, and Frieze Frame with John von Bergen, sculptor, Richard Lloyd, composer.

Claire grew up in Connecticut, dancing in a local studio, and was an award winning athlete in 5th grade. She was a member of the Starlettes, a high school singing and performing group, and tried to choreograph for her dog, Dudley. After earning a BA in Math, she became a computer programmer for GE Analytical Engineering in Schenectady, NY.

Returning to dancing after seeing Maria Tallchief perform, Claire eventually moved to California and studied at Sonoma State University. While in California, she taught Family Dance, Exercise and Children's Dance. She also directed a dance company of 12 members and eventually moved to Ohio to study dance at Ohio State. While there she began studying Laban Movement Analysis. She was later certified at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies NYC. At Ohio State she began a piece on a chair that led to the exploration of gesture, acting, writing and voice. She taught at Grand Valley College in Michigan for three years where she continued gesture work that included a piece in American Sign Language and a piece based on lecturing movement. Claire was awarded The Mather Professorship at CASE Western Reserve University in Cleveland OH, taught Choreography and Laban Movement Analysis at Teachers College Columbia and gives workshops on Text, Movement and Choreography.

Claire has received several National Endowment for the Arts and New Jersey State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellowships, was nominated for the Cal Arts / Herb Albert Award and received the College of Arts and Sciences' Creative Achievement Award at Ohio State University where she received her MA in Dance.