ANNIVERSAY ISSUE 0717

PERFORMING ARTIST PROFILE
Laura Carruthers
Grace Fury
“My mission is to defend what it means to
be a genuine artist. An innovator willing to
question and stretch those boundaries, defy
them at times, and ultimately bring them
together in new form.” - Laura Carruthers
Laura Carruthers is a performer, choreographer,
director, producer, and master visionary with that
magic combination of creative rebelliousness to
make her mark by changing up the dance world and
challenging audiences. Not only is she breaking the
rigid barriers of ballet and Scottish Highland dance by
merging them into her own celebrated form, she has created
a whole new hybrid genre of film and stage performance
that combines the cutting edge artistry of performers, musicians,
cinematographers, editors, special effects and stage
designers. The result is a fully immersive, fantastical
experience seen in a string of successful productions that
have been captivating audiences and critics worldwide.
Now after seven years in the making, Carruthers is about
to unleash her most highly anticipated production yet. Set
for release in January, 2017, Grace Fury is a feature length,
dance infused media scape starring Carruthers as her autobiographical
alter ego, Grace Fury, and an all-star cast of top
dancers from major companies and Broadway productions.
In a musical montage of Celtic, Contemporary and Classical
dance, audiences will be taken on a journey of self-discovery
through the eyes of a dancer that dares to challenge the
paradigms but also faces difficult choices at every transitional
juncture along the way.
“Grace Fury is my ultimate expression of raw, rebellious
and refined,” Carruthers reveals. “Through blessing and
tragedy, mystery and humility, ambition and sacrifice,
uniqueness and common bond, she not only prevails in her
own mission to touch our culture, she delivers a socio-political
message inspiring everyone to step out of the box and
create their own way.”
In addition to being an important story with a very human
appeal, Grace Fury promises to keep audiences on edge of
their seats with a masterful montage exploring different
styles and genres of music, choreography and film. Shot
with five Panasonic VariCams, the narrative story interweaves
between finished stage performances, documentary
style behind the scenes footage and clips from Carruthers’
past projects to present an autobiographical journey of her
20-year evolution as a performer and innovator.
“The production jumps between different styles of music
and dance in a playful, provocative manner that challenges
traditional paradigms and through the performance, the
playfulness is brought into order as the evolution of an artist
takes shape,” she explains. “The choreography, music,
themes, and footage, have been deconstructed,
rearranged, and blended to portray Grace Fury’s unique
artistic vision and her observations, thoughts and feelings as
she is challenged to stay true to her authentic self in the arc
of her journey.”
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