Fever Dream

Claudel at Columbus Dance Theatre this past weekend was a grand success, and I love how the reviewer, Tim Feran, called it a "multimedia fever vision." Yes! Camille Claudel knew herself and once said, "Of the dream that was my life, this is the nightmare," and we saw that nightmare onstage, as well as the joyful dream. I hope it's OK to show you these production photos by John Ray, so you can see a bit of the "fever vision," too.

What a privilege and joy to have been part of this art collaboration! You could feel the excitement during and after every performance. One woman wept uncontrollably after the show on opening night. Others gathered in the lobby, eagerly discussing Claudel and Rodin or vowing to learn more. Dance students praised the dancers. Area musicians hailed the return of members of Carpe Diem String Quartet who live now in Washington and Colorado but reunited for this.

My sister's colleagues from Otterbein University got to see her rich, gorgeous depiction of the older Claudel, turned to gold in the asylum where she lived the last 30 years of her life. It was a "Wowie wow wow wow!" event, as Junie B. Jones would say. Here is Chris as Claudel confronting (in memory and dance) Rose Beuret, Rodin's early model and mistress, then common law wife. The costumes, by Liz Hopkin, were amazing, evoking period clothing and marble purity, as needed. Turns out Liz was inspired to become an art historian by the works of Camille Claudel! How lucky she also became a costumer in time for Claudel at CDT!

I did remember to pack shoes for this trip to Ohio!

But I failed to pack boots. And there was a lot of snow. Fortunately I inherited some (kinky) boots, left in a closet, for the trip home.