Performative Video Compositions - (VJ)

- TRAFFIC, Bill Shannon, Dance New Amsterdam, NYC, June '10
- AFTERHOURS, Bill Shannon - what is what, Hirshhorn Gallery, Washington, D.C., April '10
- WINDOW, Bill Shannon, Sightlines Festival, NYC, September '07
- SKETCHY, Bill Shannon, Kaii Theatre, Belgium, April '07

Production
- Co-Founder, Mlab, June ’04
- Production Manager & Resident Lighting Designer, Miro Dance Theatre, Philadelphia, October ’04 - present
- Production Manager, Johannes Wieland, New York, October '05 - present
- Production Manager, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Philadelphia, August '03 – December ‘04
- Lighting and Technical Director, PICA’s TBA Festival, Lincoln Hall, Portland, OR, September ‘04
- US Technical Liaison / Technical Director, US Dance Showcase, Tokyo Performing Arts Market, Tokyo, Dec. '03
- Assistant Production Manager, Arizona Production Management, CSK Auto Convention, MGM Grand Hotel,
Las Vegas, spring ‘00

Tour
- Production Manager/Lighting Director, Johannes Wieland, PROGRESSIVE COMA and NEWYOU, International Tour, Summer '07 - present
- Technical Stage Manger, SPATIAL THEORY, SKETCHY, WINDOW, and TRAFFIC, Bill Shannon, Sept. ‘03 - present
- Production Manager/SM, Rennie Harris Puremovement, US & international touring, March '03 - October '07
- Stage Manager, Cedar Lake Ensemble, EMERGE and BEYOND THE RED, US tours, Springs ’04 & ‘05
- Production Technician, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2, Germany tour, January ‘05
- Technical Stage Manger, Spymonkey, COOPED and STIFF, International Tour, Aug. ’01 - May ‘02
- Lighting & Technical Director, Kali Theatre Co., RIVER ON FIRE, National Tour, England, spring ‘01
- Lighting Dir/Tech Dir/SM, Desert Dance Theatre Co., SISTER MOSES, Arizona tour, spring ‘99

Technical Director, Pense Performing Arts Center, Fall '98 - Spring '99
Teaching, part-time: Intro. to Technical Theatre and Stagecraft
TD / Technical Stage Manager, Arts in the Desert Series, Pence Performing Arts Center, '98-'99

Bachelor of Fine Arts - Lighting Design and Technical Direction - 1998

Lighting Designs:
Vinegar Tom, Ron Gural, Spring '98
An Evening of Dance, Spring '98 (thesis show)
Archangels Don't Play Pinball, Jose Luis Solis, Spring '97
An Evening of Dance, Spring '97
the Tulane / ACTF production, Madame de Sade, Jose Luis Solis, Fall '96
the Spring '96 One Act Festival

Technical Director / Master Welder:
A Streetcar Named Desire, Ken Risch, Fall '97

Awards:
- Dan Mullin Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Design and Tech, Spring '97 and '98
- Honorable Mention in Lighting Design for Tulane University's Madame de Sade, American College Theatre Festival, Oklahoma University, Norman, OK, Spring '97
- Excellence in Lighting Design for Tulane University's Madame de Sade, Louisiana College Theatre Festival, Centenary College, Shreveport, LA, Fall '96

Cabinet of Wonders
Gas & Electric Arts, Philadelphia

"Instead of a defined playing area, Epstein uses the play’s hybrid form to expand the action into every corner of the cavernous underground space. Lighting designer James Clotfelter makes great use of the objects that clutter the area giving the production a visual signature that is both distinct and effectively dreamlike."
- J. Cooper Robb - Philadelphia Weekly, October 20, 2009 | link

"James Clotfelter’s lighting design gives the show a slightly creepy, contemplative cast, and a menagerie of old-fashioned lamps looms throughout the space. Their soft yellow points of light give a hypnotic, picturesque and eerie quality to the outer gloom, where the actors scuttle like ghosts."
"... a creative, distinctive, wholly absorbing atmosphere and design make it a worthwhile experience."
- Alaina Mabaso - EDGE Philadelphia, October 4, 2009 | link

Microworld(s) Part 1
Thaddeus Phillips, Lucidity Suitcase International, Philadelphia

""Microworld(s)" is smart theater for a new generation of theatergoers, a model of efficiency and theatrical ingenuity."
- John Moore - Denver Post, October 22, 2009 | link

the break/s
Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project

"The technical elements (video by David Szlasa, lights by James Clotfelter, and set design by both) supported the performances exactly. Szlasa’s video clips acted alternately as the mood setter and action creator. Clotfelter’s lights created intimate scenes for Bamuthi Joseph to connect deeper with the audience."
"Every beat (musical and theatrical) was as tight as it could have been in this 80-minute drive-by of a show."
- Kacey Shiflet - Broadway Hour Seattle - June 19, 2009 | link

"well-crafted, entertaining and provocative"
"the technical design of the piece (which was an order of magnitude more intricate than I was expecting) had literally hundreds of cues, each executed to perfection."
"One affecting moment, reliant on the controlled environment of the theater, finds him standing just behind a panel of light spanning the stage’s apron; as he speaks of the inner conflict unique to the African-American-as-descendant-of-slaves and the resultant flaring up of feelings of rage and revenge, he dips forward into the light, and backs out again, moving horizontally as though he’s snorkeling along a vertical surface, where the light is water and the audience (perhaps more diverse tonight than in many of his previous host venues) creatures of the deep he’s peering at from the other side of a divide as profound as the one between ocean and air."
It is nuanced... seamless in excecution..."
- trailerpilot.com - March 27, 2009 | link

"the break/s is among the most innovative bits of theater I’ve ever seen."
- John Stoehr - Artsjournal Weblog, June 20, 2008 | permalink

Spooky Action
Miro Dance Theatre, Philadelphia

"This spare, elegant, and emotive dance had multiple elements to harmonize, not least of which was the magnifiicent minimalist set designed by the M Lab."
- Marilyn Jakson - Philadelphia Inquirer, May 11, 2009 | link

The Seafarer
Southern Repertory, New Orleans

"...James Clotfelter's lighting dims so that the sole light source seems to be the living room's open stove, throwing long shadows on the back wall, evoking horror movies and campfire stories."
"How good is "The Seafarer" at Southern Rep? It is one of the best things I've seen in 40-odd (and they have been odd) years of theater-going in New Orleans."
"Extraordinary is the word for this theater experience, a confluence of talent and craft seldom seen on our stages."
- David Cuthbert - The Times-Picayune, November 14, 2008

Chekhov Lizardbrain
Pig Iron Theatre Company, The Ohio Theatre, New York City

“Peculiar, hypnotic and unexpectedly moving… [a] wonderful production … [that] glimmers with a quirky fascination.”
- Charles Isherwood, New York Times, October 2008 | link

“…hilarious and brilliant…Chekhov Lizardbrain is an astounding piece of theatre.”
- Duncan Pflaster, Broadwayworld.com, October 2008 | link

"James Clotfelter’s lighting design is the most soulful and evocative I’ve seen in quite a while; even his tangle of bare light bulbs is striking and haunting."
- Jenny Sandman - A CurtainUp Review, October 2008 | link

"The highlight of the show, aptly enough, is James Clotfelter’s lighting design."
" The overall lighting effect is so seamlessly blended into the scene changes that its cleverness almost escapes notice…"
- Emma Varvaloucas, Washington Square News, October 17, 2008

Flesh and Blood and Fish and Foul
Geoff Soebelle and Charlotte Ford, The Abandoned Rite- Aid, Philly

"Ford and Sobelle are supported by an extraordinarily imaginative and clever team of designers."
- Toby Zinman, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sep. 11, 2008