Athletes as true heroes
Moe Clark wanted to improve amateur sport in Canada. So she did — by creating a poem for, about, and inspired by the Canadian Olympic athletes. “Becoming Hero” is meant to recognize and present the incredible accomplishments of our “Canadian Heroes”.
As a Canadian artist, Moe sees parallels of dedication to technique and practice between the Canadian athletic and Canadian artistic community. From this place she is able to empathize and understand the drive of team spirit as well as the intense individual strengths of each athlete.
For Moe, giving your everything means “being so much in the breath and in the moment that…you’ve removed the layers and you’re vulnerable and you’re exposed”.
After performing in Montreal at the Mile End Poets’ Festival in October 2011, Moe was asked if she would be interested in creating a piece to inspire and draw from the stories of the Canadian Olympic athletes.
Moe attended the Olympic Excellence Series in late November 2011 and was able to connect one-on-one and in group circles with some of Canada’s athletes. Drawing inspiration from these dialogues and interactions, as well as pulling from her own experience as a young girl growing up with ambitions of being an Olympian, she created the poem.
In 1988 her Grandparents were in the winter Olympics in Calgary, and from that moment on she’s held the Olympics with reverence.
Moe performed “Becoming Hero” live for athletes’ friends and families gathered at COH to watch the Opening Ceremonies. “Getting to meet some of the families here at Canada Olympic House has been really special,” she said.
When asked about the video, Derek Covington, the Director of Olympic Preparation for the Canadian Olympic Committee said:
‘It’s about continually reaching the potential we’ve set out for in ‘Giving our everything’ and in doing so, we are continually ‘Becoming Hero’.
— By Kristena Velan
