Growing up in Connecticut, Claire Porter danced, sang in her high school performance group and attempted to choreograph for her dog. With her PORTABLES, a series of solo comedic movement monologues, the New York-based dancer and comedienne combines her humor and knowledge of movement. Finding the absurdity, humor and emotion in seemingly normal themes gives Porter fodder for her widely acclaimed satirical pieces.
In “Namely, Muscles,” a part of Porter’s PORTABLES series, she plays Dr. Nickle Nom, a world-renowned Forensic Orthopedic Autopsy Muscular Anatomical Surgical Specialist. Dr. Nom reads more than 30 poems from her new book of poems, “Namely, Muscles,” while enacting 68 major muscles, -and then some. The one-hour, one-woman play pokes fun at the extravagant and inexplicable names of muscles, their origins and meanings.
Her character’s poetry bear titles such as “Psoas – The Tender Bender,” “Gluteus to my Ears,” “Long in the Head,” “Just the Meat,” “And Now a Word From Our Tendons,” “The Rotator Gang,” “Names on your Nerves,” “Tongues.”
During her residency at VCU Dance, Porter will also perform “Fund Raiser,” a skit about a club president who solicits money and support in every way possible at several Richmond venues. Porter has been performing PORTABLES all over the country and the world for more than a decade.