photos by Luke RedmondAbout Clare
Clare Cook is a choreographer, teacher, and dancer. Her work has been seen in venues across New York City and Louisiana (born and raised in South Louisiana!).
Clare's choreographic work ranges from contemporary dance, experimental theater, musical theater, opera, film and everywhere else in between. Her choreography has been part of productions at the New York Musical Theater Festival, Ars Nova's ANT Fest, HERE Arts Center, Fringe NYC, Berkshire Fringe Festival, Planet Connections Festival (Best Choreography Award), the Bohemian National Hall and JCC in Manhattan with productions for Opera Slavica, as well as productions at NYU (Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program), Columbia University, The New School for Drama.
Recent choreography projects include: SHOW ME REAL (presented by Clare Cook Dance Theater at TADA! Theater in NYC and NYMF 2012), Jack Perry is Alive and Dating (NYMF), Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (Opera Slavica), What Happened to Bill Viola? (ANT Fest, Berkshire Fringe), The Money Show (Here Arts Center), Dvořák's Rusalka (Opera Slavica, POP! (NYU), Cheer Wars (NYU), Sarah Kane's 4:48 Psychosis (New School), Chuck Mee's Big Love (Columbia Stages), Wagon Wheel (Planet Connections).
As a dancer, Clare has worked with Yin Yue Dance, Colectivodoszeta/Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez, Raw Delivery/Carrie J. Brown, expandance, Yoo & Dancers, and ChristinaNoel Reaves, with performances at Dance Theater Workshop, St. Mark's Church, Joyce Soho, La Mama, Duo Theater, Webster Hall, Bushwick Starr, John Ryan Theater, and The Tank, among other venues.
Clare holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she worked closely with choreographers; Christopher Williams, Ivy Baldwin, Jim Martin, Kay Cummings, and Gerald Casel. While at NYU, Clare also trained extensively under pilates Master Teacher, Kathy Grant, and upon graduation served as the teaching assistant to Ms. Grant for two years. Clare is now on faculty at Tisch Dance, teaching pilates to undergraduate and graduate students. Clare is also a dance teaching artist for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and teaches the Great Girls Create! music and dance workshop series with teaching partner Leah Miles. Clare is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Clare's early dance training was at Delarue Dance Centre under the direction of Carol Delarue in Lafayette, Louisiana, from which she continued her dance training at Louisiana State University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and The Ailey School in NYC. While living in Louisiana, she performed extensively for the Cangelosi Dance Project and worked with choreographers and teachers; Kris Cangelosi, Susan Quinn-Williams, Nan Giordano, Jose Traba, Irene Rampino, Kathleen Spinazzola, Molly Buchmann, and Susan Perlis. In Louisiana, Clare's choreography has been shown at the Manship Theater, LSU Union Theater, BREC Theater, and the Heymann Performing Arts Center. She remains involved with the Louisiana dance community through teaching workshops and choreography residencies. In Summer 2010, Clare joined the LSU faculty, teaching modern dance in the Department of Theater.
