Choreography:
A Fashion Show (1997 - 2003)
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A collaboration with innovative sculptor Claudia Fitch, this work tampers with the formalities & theatrics of models on the runway. Both Skura & Fitch have a history of bending traditional forms to uncover subconscious underpinnings.
Fitch designed 30 pieces using fabric & the moving form as her medium. Each piece is the basis for a unique brief dance performance on the runway. The movement responds to the nature of the clothing as much as the clothing reinvents the construction & social implications of apparel. Performance activity includes the runway as well as an onstage dressing room. This work began its first life in 1997, & was recreated & performed in various venues during the next six years. Original cast: Skura & Richard Waugh. Full length version: Margit Gallanter, Lila Hurwitz, Skura, & Richard Waugh. Lights by Ben Geffen.
Performed in Seattle at University of Washington, Dance on Capitol Hill, Broadway Performance Hall, Bumbershoot, & Seattle Festival of Dance & Improvisation. Commissioned & performed by Cornish Dance theater in 1999.
PERFORMANCE VIDEO, full-length (32 min)
"Sleek, funny & smart, Fitch's incredible costumes were whimsical, referential, & perfectly executed." (The Stranger, Seattle)
"Profoundly hilarious" (Seattle Weekly)
"I literally laughed my scalp off. It was really beautiful as well as funny." Vanessa Sooy
"The piece is truly imaginative & witty. I don't think I've ever seen a more complete merging of performance & design than your collaboration with Claudia Fitch. It's a privilege for the Seattle Arts Commission to be associated with the development of such innovative work." Susan Kunimatsu
"Working with you creatively on and off over the past many years -- as a student and as a dancer in your choreography -- has yielded some of the most juicy and inspiring dancing times of my little life. 'The Fashion Show' was easily the best piece I've ever been involved in." Lila Hurwitz, dancer /collaborator