Artistic Director, clyde forth in the studio. Photo: Will Carpenter

Improvising with the new Hudson Valley Movement Collective at Arts Society of Kingston.

Post rehearsal fun with Jen and Sharon in NYC. Photo by B. Perdomo

Paintings are a residue of movement and mind.

About

The word Lokasparśa is built from two Sanskrit words; loka meaning worlds or realms, and sparśa meaning intimacy or connection. My primary interest as a performer and choreographer is the exploration of infinite connections.

The mission of Lokasparśa Dance Projects is to dismantle barriers through experiences in dance performance and somatic education, and to serve people by bringing them together with a sense of intimacy, wonder and self-knowing.

Creativity is a connective state of mind. Some creations are solitary journeys until they are performed or exhibited, but much of what I have made could not have happened without strong collaborators in the process.

History

My previous performance company, Clyde Forth Visual Theatre, was active for 10 full seasons; from 2003 to 2013. We were presented in NYC, Woodstock NY, Baltimore MD, Washington DC, Troy, NY, Bethlehem, NH and Edinburgh, Scotland over the years.

In 2013, I entered a year of residential Zen training at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, NY and then a second year that ended on September 25, 2016. That experience and my continued practice there since 2007 deeply informed the founding of Lokasparśa Dance Projects, and continues to be the underpinning of my work.

Awards

  • New York State Council on the Arts 2022 Choreographic Commission for Still/Together, premiering at West Kortright Center

  • Mount Tremper Arts fully supported residency, December 2020

  • ASK for Arts Production Residency at Arts Society of Kingston, 2019

  • Dance Omi International Choreographers' Residency, Ghent NY, 2005

  • Artward Bound Residency at Earthdance, The Field, NYC, 2005

  • Commission, Latitude 53 Art Space, Edmonton Alberta, 2001

Education/Teaching

clyde forth earned a Master of Fine Arts from Bennington College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. Before relocating from NYC she was on faculty at Eugene Lang College, developing and teaching interdisciplinary arts courses from 1999 to 2005. She taught in the Theater and Visual Arts departments at SUNY Ulster in the Hudson Valley of New York from 2006 to 2013, at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center from 2015 to 2016, and currently teaches independently and as a guest artist. Ms. forth has been a guest artist at several colleges and universities including Bennington College July Program, University of the Arts, Goucher College, Towson University and SUNY New Paltz. She is the owner/director of Movement from Center studio in Grand Gorge, NY.

These artists have contributed their time and talent to productions since 2003:

Jennifer Lavenhar (Dancer), Sharon Penz (Dancer, Production Manager), Charla Ruby Malamed (Dancer), Caitlin Quinn (Dancer), Andy Kriger (Dancer), Brandon Perdomo (Dancer), Christine Bornarth (Dancer), Laura Velez (Dancer), Rachel Winograd (Dancer), Alison Robinson (Dancer), Hélenè Lesterlin (Dancer), JillAnn Schwartz (Dancer), Elizabeth Ward (Dancer), Estelle Woodward (Dancer), Lisa Abbatomarco (Dancer), Cynthia McLaughlin (Dancer), Tatyana Tenenbaum (Dancer), Katelyn Chakey (Dancer), Mat Heggem (Dancer), Bob Lukomski (Composer/Musician), Kevin Salem (Composer/Musician), Michelle Nagai (Composer/Musician), Jane Rigler (Composer/Musician), Rainer Reeves-Cohen (Composer/Musician), Heather Hutton (Dancer/Lighting Designer), Zack Jacobs (Lighting Designer), Thomas Dunn (Lighting Designer), Heather Brower (Lighting Designer), Jeffrey Volkshausen (Lighting Designer), Bart Woodstrup (Video Artist), Arthur Yanoff (Painter), MAU Conceptual Clothing (Costume Design)