Rating: NNNNN
Beginnings
First dance memory?
claudia moore: Climbing doorways at age four. Creative dance class at five — I was in the corner, watching.
bill james: Fred Astaire, The Wizard Of Oz and running through cornfields.
What made you get onstage?
moore: I liked wearing costumes.
james: Albert Reller, my high school drama teacher. He gave me no choice.
First bit of choreography?
moore: I created my own solo in grade six as “memory,” the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol.
james: A piece I performed with a rock band in Saskatoon in 72. It was lame.
Major influences/mentors?
james: Jean-Pierre Perreault, Peter Boneham, Meredith Monk, Thomas Merton, Hyemeyohsts Storm, Frank Lloyd Wright….
moore: Pina Bausch, Lindsay Kemp, Tedd Robinson.
You’re the love child of two artists who are they?
moore: David Bowie and Pina Bausch.
james: My mom and dad.
The Work
What’s your current show about in a single sentence?
james: The present.
moore: A taste of heaven and hell on earth for myself and my three favourite performers, Bonnie Kim, Fiona Drinnan and Miko Sobreira.
What inspired it?
james: The present and recent past.
moore: I wanted to go one-on-one with the feisty beasts.
What’s your biggest challenge in this piece?
moore: Making something meaty enough for Bonnie, Fiona and Miko to sink their interpretive teeth into, and making a dance for me — way hard.
james: Trusting that the dancers will make the right choices.
Last show you saw and loved?
james: That wonderful duet by Louise Bedard and Sylvain Emard.
moore: Bausch’s Kontaktoff.
How can you get new audiences interested in dance?
moore: Good question. Nudity doesn’t seem to work any more.
james: Honesty and directness.
The arts grant process pro or con?
moore: I’m glad they’re still supporting me, but the system is flawed.
james: Pro.
The Career
Best career move?
james: Moving to T.O. Also my worst career move.
moore: Having children. As a mom, I’m too tired to be stressed.
What keeps you motivated?
moore: I’m addicted to dance and enjoy working with other junkies.
james: The dancers I work with and the future goat farm I’m planning.
Best thing about getting older?
moore: Am I?
james: Being able to see the spectrum of the world’s diversity — meanness and beauty and potential — and not get too mad.
Worst thing?
moore: Arthritic hips.
james: The erosion of civility.
Percentage of friends in dance?
james: 50 per cent.
moore: 50 per cent.
Second Thoughts
If you weren’t in dance, what would you do?
james: Raise dairy goats and make the world’s best soft brie-like goat cheese.
moore: Parisian pastry chef.
Biggest regret?
moore: Meeting Pina Bausch too late.
james: Not becoming an investment banker.
Worst stage experience?
james: Being on an outdoor metal stage in France during an electrical storm and not being able to leave without getting electrocuted.
moore: Balancing a wig on my head all over the U.S. in Sleeping Beauty with the National. I quit dance after that, but meeting Lindsay Kemp got me back on track.
Pleasures and piss-offs about the Canadian dance scene?
moore: Pleasure: the great community of artists. Pissoff: that the Premiere Dance Theatre is inaccessible to Toronto independents.
james: My only piss-off is with choreographers who abuse dancers by making excessive demands on their time and then don’t pay them well. This must change.
glenns@nowtoronto.com