Let's change the arts
A smiling white woman with fair hair, striped with pink, and a nose piercing. She wears a bright jacket with a jungle pattern on it.

Claire Hodgson

Claire Hodgson

Joint Artistic Director

Claire is a Theatre, Dance and Circus Director, committed to achieving social justice. Claire founded Diverse City in 2005 and is the co-founder of Extraordinary Bodies, the UK’s leading professional integrated circus company.

Claire was a Clore Fellow in 2012 and writes for The Guardian online. She is a former course leader for Performing Arts at London Metropolitan University and was awarded an MBE in 2016 for services to inclusion in the Performing Arts. Together with Jamie Beddard, Claire won the Clore Duffield 50th Anniversary prize, which they used to tour Extraordinary Bodies across the UK and support 10 ‘Unexpected Leaders’ who have faced barriers to entering the industry.

She is a co-creator of Mid Life, a taboo breaking show about menopause that played to sold out houses in 2019, and will be remounted in 2023. The show also led to Diverse City’s first short film Mid Life: The Skin We Are In.

In July 2022 Claire led almost 600 dancers to break the Guinness world record for the largest ever disco dance at Camp Bestival. She also created a large-scale piece sea choreography called SW!M in Swanage, Dorset, in collaboration with The Mowlem.