The Escape Artist: Claudia Moore

> I needed a challenge and that’s what I am getting — an adventure beyond expectation.
> Monday, July 4, 2011: It’s the first day of my first process with Christopher House at La B.A.R.N. He asks me questions and films me trying to answer. A fine beginning, I go to bed happy. Wake up at 4am to the sound of batwings fluttering overhead. An omen. The bat is considered a symbol of intuition, dreaming and vision. I hide under the covers and wait for the sun to come up.
> Tuesday, June 19, 2012: Offerings, reachings, broken shifts to the floor. Paul-André Fortier’s solo becomes a meditation on mortality. We aren’t there yet, but each day becomes a chapter in the process. Stirring curiosity about death. Imagine molecules dispersing, becoming light. His clear, austere movements and directions demand total commitment.
> Friday, May 31, 2013: Oh, golly. I collapse in my train seat, Montréal to Toronto. It’s the end of a fully charged week of work with Susanna Hood. I still struggle along, but find something uplifting in the approach. I need less scary animal madness and more fiery woman warrior. The solo is demanding on every part of me. Thrilling to push the limits. I learn more about bats. “The bat is also associated with medicine. Bat medicine teaches release of fear and any pattern which no longer fits in with our pattern of growth. A new beginning, trusting one’s instincts …” (Symbolism Wiki)
> These solos are exquisite gifts. Christopher, Paul-André and Susanna are lighting a way past some useless growth-stopping patterns of my own. Why do I hold on so stubbornly to something that stops me from moving forward? Time to let go! This is the exciting part. This solo process is making me grow. Exhilarating.

To celebrate my 60th birthday, I will perform an evening of solos choreographed by Paul-André Fortier, Christopher House, Susanna Hood and Apolonia Velasquez and Ofilio Portillo. My mentor for the project is 10 Gates Dancing Artistic Director Tedd Robinson. Jo Leslie is my consulting director, assisting in assembling the works for a seamless hour-long solo performance. The term “escape artist” – also the title of this celebratory program of solos – refers to my pleasure at escaping into the worlds my choreographers have created. Transforming through movement and sharing with the audience what lies inside the dance is a mysterious process that has always and continues to hold me in its grasp. ~ Claudia Moore

Claudia Moore will perform The Escape Artist October 25-27 and November 1-3, 2013 at Dancemakers Centre for Creation, Toronto.

Learn more >> moonhorsedance.com

Tagged: Contemporary, creative process, Photography, ON , Toronto