MSP 176: Clare Cook

Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

We are back! This season we will focus on interviews and discussions with vibrant artists from cities across the United States. Up first - Clare Cook in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Clare is the Founder and Creative Director of Basin Arts, a non-profit arts incubator dedicated to helping Louisiana artists develop sustainable creative practices. Basin Arts aims to expand access to professional contemporary arts experiences while fostering genuine connections between artists and the broader community. In our interview, we explore how dance was positively cultivated in different spaces throughout her life, what she’s grateful for, and unpack her decision to pursue a life in dance. She shares insights into being the youngest in her NYU Tisch Dance program, her passion for storytelling and collaboration, and her interest in the theatre-dance hybrid. We also discuss her experience with an observership, the decision to return to Lafayette, and go deeper into the heart and vision behind Basin Arts. For all this and much more, be sure to tune in!

Key Points From This Episode:

· We’re introduced to our guest Clare Cook and her life and dance journey.

· She reflects on how dance was cultivated in different spaces throughout her life and what she’s grateful for.

· Clare unpacks her decision to pursue a life in dance.

· How she thought of dance as a way to become more of herself.

· Her love and interest in storytelling and collaboration.

· How she got her first gig choreographing a musical.

· She talks about her interest in the theatre-dance hybrid.

· Clare shares about her opportunity to do an observership.

· The impetus to move back to Louisiana and what it was like navigating that transition.

· How the concept for Basin Arts started to unfold.

· She speaks to the idea of trajectory as continued evolution along the path of creative process, collaboration, and community.

· Clare breaks down what creating authentic relationships with the community looks like through Basin Arts.

· Clare shares what she’s excited about and upcoming events.

“[Basin Arts] was this idea of how can we, in the simplest, least encumbered way, find a space for people to come together and do their work.” — Clare Cook

Clare Cook is a hyphenate artist working simultaneously as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and arts administrator through her work as Founder & Creative Director of Basin Arts, a interdisciplinary arts incubator in Lafayette, La.

Special thanks to season supporters: The Ohio State University Dance Preservation Fund and a special Anonymous Donor!

For more on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

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