UPCOMING AUDITIONS for Clare Cook Dance Theater

CLARE COOK DANCE THEATER is holding auditions for a new production in NYC!

Wednesday May 29, 6:30-8:30pm
Saturday June 1, 1:30-3:30pm

Clare Cook Dance Theater is seeking diverse performers who are trained dancers and/or actors with a strong movement background for a new, original dance narrative, Touching Loss. Performers should possess a willingness to collaborate and explore movement ideas throughout the rehearsal process. We are seeking an ensemble of 5 dancers/movers to begin a six-week developmental rehearsal period in June and July with rehearsals resuming in September and continuing to an early December premiere.

Touching Loss (written by Leah Miles, choreography by Clare Cook, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh) is a play with dance that explores the depths of loss and life through the eyes of Sally, a dance therapist. As Sally leads the process of grief counseling with her ensemble of clients, she begins to trace her own personal history back to her younger self when she lost her mother to cancer. Dance proves to be a powerful language and it's through movement that Sally is able to help her patients and, in turn herself, re-connect with life while honoring what was lost.

To reserve an audition slot, please email ccdt@claremcook.com with the date you would like to attend and include a current headshot and resume.
Questions? Contact Clare Cook at ccdt@claremcook.com

Check out this video of an early dance exploration for Touching Loss as developed for Wendy Seyb's Storytelling Lab for Choregraphers in NYC in February 2013.

Dancers: Liz Beres and Alex Betka
Music: Franz Liszt
Choreography: Clare Cook in collaboration with the dancers

SHOW ME REAL SPEAKEASY SOIREE - NYMF EDITION

 Join CLARE COOK DANCE THEATER
for a special SHOW ME REAL closing night

 SPEAKEASY SOIREE

Saturday July 14th, 11pm - 1am

The Hourglass Tavern
373 W. 46th St., NYC

FEATURING MUSIC BY Antique Phonograph DJ MAC
A Charleston Dance-off
A 1920s Costume Contest
Specialty drinks of the period
and more!

This is an exclusive event for those who attend the July 14th, 10pm performance of SHOW ME REAL at The New York Musical Theatre Festival. Present your show ticket stub for entry into the Speakeasy Soiree.

FOR TICKETS TO SHOW ME REAL at NYMF click here
Use the promo code '20real' to get $5 off your performance ticket!

SHOW ME REAL at NYMF!

It's hard to believe that two months ago we were premiering Show Me Real at TADA! Theater and now in less than two months we will present Show Me Real at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. I am incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to share this production with a larger audience, particularly one as diverse and theatrically inclined as those that attend NYMF performances.

With not much time to regroup, we've got lots of work ahead of us to enter in the great company of NYMF and we are ready for the challenge! Please join Clare Cook Dance Theater in the fun and excitement in the months ahead!

Most Sincerely,
Clare Cook
Artistic Director, Clare Cook Dance Theater

A few notable links:

FUNDRAISING - We have two months to raise $8000. Please consider a donation and we will be thankful beyond words. You can make a tax deductible donation via New York Live Arts HERE. Or donate via our Indie Gogo campaign below.

TICKETS - General public tickets go on sale on June 15th for all NYMF performances. Purchase HERE.
Show Me Real will be presented on Wednesday July 11 at 8pm and Saturday July 14 at 7pm & 10pm.
We have a big 160 seat theater and we want a packed house at all three performances so come and bring a posse!

TRAILER - Check out the new Show Me Real trailer with footage from our March 23 & 24 performances at TADA! Theater.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE FESTIVAL!

Coming Soon: a soiree, a workshop, and a show!

Over the next six weeks, much is planned for CLARE COOK DANCE THEATER. This posting can be your one stop shop to get info for all of the company's activities that are quickly approaching. Rehearsals for SHOW ME REAL have been moving right along, and every week I feel like we turn a new corner and understand more about the piece. It's surreal, rewarding and tons of FUN! I couldn't ask for a better group of collaborators and performers. The energy in the room is constantly creative, generous, and positively committed to bringing something genuine, honest and exciting to life! I do hope you'll come out to some of upcoming events and be sure to get tickets to a performance of SHOW ME REAL on March 23 & 24.

FIRST UP...A 1920s inspired fundraising event.

Speakeasy Soiree for SHOW ME REAL!
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19, 7-10pm
Hourglass Tavern, 373 W. 46th St. at 9th Ave.

Special Appearance by DJ Michael Cumella playing music of the 1920s on a phonograph!

Come out to a night of 1920s revelry with Clare Cook Dance Theater in support of the company's upcoming premiere of SHOW ME REAL! We'll have music from the 20s, an old movie playing in the background, you can wear your favorite flapper accessory or Fedora hat, or if you're more comfortable in the year 2012, just come perfectly as you are.

This will be a FUN event where you can meet the cast and creative team, learn more about the show, and have a grand evening all around. And it will also be a FUNDRAISER to help cover some of the expenses of the upcoming production. We'll pass the hat and have some swanky raffle items too! Click here for more info about the event.

NEXT...for the kiddos.

GREAT GIRLS CREATE! - A dance and music workshop for girls
Open to Girls, 1st-3rd GRADE
SUNDAY MARCH 4, 2012, 12:30-3:30pm
$35

Red Bean Studios, 320 W. 37th St. , NYC 10018

TO REGISTER: Email ccdt@claremcook.com or CALL 337-654-2537

GREAT GIRLS CREATE! is a dance and music workshop encouraging personal expression, individuality, self-esteem, and collaboration. Students will spend the afternoon creatively exploring their favorite activities through music and dance and will ultimately create their own short dance theater pieces. GREAT GIRLS CREATE! is an extension of programming for Clare Cook Dance Theater’s upcoming production of  SHOW ME REAL. It will be led by Clare Cook, Artistic Director of Clare Cook Dance Theater, and Leah Miles, Co-Founder of MiCo Arts.

FINALLY...and most importantly...THE SHOW!

SHOW ME REAL
Friday March 23 and Saturday March 24, 8:00pm
TADA! Theater, 15 W. 28th St., NYC
BUY TICKETS ONLINE

Conceived and Choreographed by Clare Cook
Original Music and Lyrics by Amy Burgess, Dramatic Text and Lyrics by Gena Oppenheim
Lighting Design by Mike Inwood, Costume Design by Liam O’Brien
Performers: Lori Byargeon, Halley Cianfarini, Clare Cook, Merrill Grant, Julia Kelly, Courtney Pruden

Clare Cook Dance Theater presents SHOW ME REAL, an evening-length dance theater piece that traces the experience of aspiring artists from the glamour and grace of the 1920s’ Ziegfeld Follies culture to the concert dance stage of 2012. The performance views the lives of three female modern dancers through the lens of a past era combining contemporary dance, original song, narrative, and video projection, revealing how much past is in our present.

And be sure to check out this Behind the Scenes video of recent photo shoot with Beowulf Sheehan for SHOW ME REAL and then see the final photos in the gallery.

A New Year, a New Company!

Happy New Year! It is with great excitement that I officially announce the establishment of CLARE COOK DANCE THEATER, my very own company (oh boy!) committed to creating and producing original dance theater projects. Over the last several years, I have been working simultaneously in the theater and modern dance communities of NYC, performing as a modern dancer and working as a choreographer for new musical theater productions, contemporary theater, and any other theatrical endeavors that crossed my path.

Julia Kelly and Clare Cook, work-in-progress showing, May 2011

I love both communities and truly believe the two disciplines inform each other on so many levels, but as I spent much time bouncing between the two worlds creatively, I started to feel that there was more overlap in style and aesthetic that could be discovered. Because so many new work applications / residencies / grants / workshops etc tend to emphasize one particular discipline over another, ideas often get distilled into one streamlined proposal that doesn't always allow for the flexibility of multi-genre projects, i.e. it's tricky to develop characters, narrative, include actors and singing with dancers and have it all resonate in a 10 minute dance festival performance slot. And, on the flip side, it's challenging to develop and perform large, physical dance movement phrases as part of a play in a tiny black box workshop reading scenario. If you fall into either one of these artistic folders, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Inspired by the old adage, "If you want something done right (or at least without restrictions), do it yourself.", I decided it was time for me to make my own work and find answers to my own creative questions about how the fully physical and abstract world of modern dance and more traditional modes of theater (scripted dialogue, character, narrative, song) can be developed side by side for the same project. Plus, I get to bring many of my favorite collaborators along for the ride!

The company will premiere it's first full-length dance theater production, Show Me Real, on March 23 & 24, 2012 at Tada! Theater in New York City. For this inaugural journey, I could not ask for a better team of performers, writers and designers. Rehearsals are in full swing and with each meeting the excitement builds and I sometimes feel like I need to pinch myself to believe it's all happening. Singing, acting, dancing, 6 performers from different backgrounds all trusting each other and trusting their role in this dance story is truly amazing!

Merrill Grant, Halley Cianfarini, Courtney Pruden in rehearsal for Show Me Real, Jan. 2012

SAVE THE DATE FOR Show Me Real
MARCH 23 & 24, 2012 at 8pm
Tada! Theater, 25 W. 28th St. NYC
Purchase tickets here

Also, if you're interested in making a donation to CLARE COOK DANCE THEATER in support of our upcoming activities, your contribution is 100% tax-deductible as the company is fiscally sponsored through New York Live Arts. "
Click here to donate online