Cracking Wise

Acclaimed dancer and choreographer Claire Porter will present an informal dance concert titled Namely, Muscles at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio.

Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for seniors and Washington University students, faculty and staff. The Annelise Mertz Dance Studio is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more tickets or information, call the Edison Theatre Box Office, (314) 935-6543.

Courtesy photo

Visiting dancer Claire Porter will perform *Namely, Muscles,* an informal dance concert, March 20.

Combining science, art and humor, Namely, Muscles is an hour-long, one-woman show that features Porter in the role of Dr. Nickie Nom. A “forensic orthopedic autopsy muscular anatomical specialist,” Nom is also a would-be poet, whose latest collection — the titular Namely, Muscles — enacts all the major muscles of the body, and then some.

Namely, Muscles is the latest of Porter’s ongoing Portables, a series of solo comedic movement monologues that The Village Voice describes as “droll and beautifully observed character studies.” Ballet News adds that, “Like all sophisticated humorists, Porter has a sharp eye, a good sense of timing and tolerance toward those she satirizes.”

Porter has performed across the United States and in Germany, Holland, England, Latvia and Korea. Her many honors and awards include choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and New Jersey State Council on the Arts as well as commissions from the Dance Theater Workshop in New York, the Harkness Dance Foundation, Domino’s Pizza Company and University Dance Companies.

Porter is in town to perform as part of The American Beauty Ballet Ball, a gala fundraiser for Dance St. Louis, which takes place March 21 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. For tickets or more information about the gala, call (314) 534.6622 or visit dancestlouis.org.