Claire Porter was born in New Britain, Connecticut, where, as a child, she was a star athlete and danced in a local studio.

Mark Haim, Claire Porter and Bill Young will also present work.

The theater was packed with guffawing, cheering audience members, including a good many dancers and choreographers, when Claire Porter performed on Friday night.

And Claire Porter spilled six young dancers out onto the stage to talk of time in disjointed comments as they moved through an excerpt from "It's About Time No. 1."

"Bessie" has glimpses of strong choreography, chiefly by Ronald K. Brown and Claire Porter.

In contrast, Claire Porter scarcely moved at all in "Fitness Digest," the comic modern-dance solo she offered last month; instead, she pretended to watch other, invisible people move.

Claire Porter and Lisa Kraus, two choreographers who can make incisive comments on the world around them, are both presenting works this week.

Claire Porter deftly satirized all charitable appeals in an excerpt from "Fund Raiser."

This year's festival will feature works by choreographers like Jane Comfort, Bill Young and Claire Porter.

Dance by Claire Porter, Trisha Bauman, Nathalie Paoli and Victor Quijada will be performed in this second of three festival weekends.