Lucinda Childs

Lucinda Childs (Born June 26, 1940) is an American postmodern dancer/choreographer. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest movements into an intricate chorographic masterpiece. Her use of patterns, repetition, and dialect has caused her to have a unique style of choreography that is often imitated for its ability to experiment.

Early life

Born in New York City, Lucinda Childs always had a passion for the arts. Although she began dancing at the age of six, her ideal dream was to become an actress. Continuing her dance training, she studied with legends such as Hanya Holm and Helen Tamiris. As a musical choreographer, Tamiris gave Childs her first acting job which proved to be a frightening experience for Childs. After this traumatic experience, Childs decided to focus on dance and pursued a Bachelor of the Arts degree in dance at Sarah Lawrence where she was able to broaden her technical experience by studying with Judith Dunn, Bessie Schonberg and Merce Cunningham. Childs describes Cunningham saying that he “elucidated a kind of particularity and clarity in dance that felt distinctly separate from anything I had experienced up to that point”. While studying at the Cunningham studio, Childs was introduced to Yvonne Rainer who encouraged her to be a part of the Judson Dance Theater in 1963. Here, Childs was allowed to explore and experiment with her own dance style and choreography. [Sally Banes, "Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance" (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979), 133 ] Childs states, “Judson made me interested in dance, but it also made me feel torn between different things – technique, working outside the dance vocabulary, using objects and texts.” [Roslyn Sulcas, “Dance:Freeing the Inner Childs: Talking Dancer” "The Village Voice" (2001), [http://iipa.chadwyck.com/home.do IIPA] , 67 ]

tyle

“As one of Americas leading modern dance choreographers, she makes work which can often be described as conceptual dance.” [Debra Craine, "The Oxford Dictionary of Dance" (Oxford University Press, 2000), 102] While her minimalist movements were simple, the beauty in her choreography lay in her spatial exploration. Her work captivates the splendor of the different patterns the human body can create across a stage by basic repeated movements such as skipping or turning. [Debra Craine, "Oxford", 102.] She would create an entire performance piece based on one simple combination that would be repeated numerous time but in a different way. Whether she takes apart and reorders the combination or simply reverses it the same movements would not be repeated as they were initially introduced. [Lucinda Childs, “Notes:’64-‘74”, "The Drama Review: TDR", Vol. 19, no. 1, "Post-Modern Dance Issue" (1975), [http://www.jstor.org JSTOR] , 34.] Often, pieces she choreographed, such as "Street Dance", were accompanied by a monologue that would explain not only her movements, but what it's about.

"Street Dance"

In "Street Dance" (1964), Childs created her stage on a street in Manhattan where her audience was the occupants of a nearby loft. The six minute dance was based on its surroundings and the performers blended in with what was occurring on the street. Every so often they would point out different details about the appearance of the buildings and the assorted window displays. Although the audience was not completely able to see what exactly the performers were pointing to, they could hear the explanation from a nearby audio tape. Childs discusses the performance stating that “the result was that the spectator was called upon to envision information that existed beyond the range of actual perception...". [Lucinda Childs, “Notes:’64-‘74”, 33.] Childs approached this piece from all different angles exploring dialect, architecture, and staging. The piece asked its viewers to look beyond what was in front of them and instead use different senses to visualize the unseen.

Career

Lucinda Childs choreographed steadily until 1968 when she decided to take a break and focus on her own style of dance. During this break, she experimented with her choreography exploring different methods. [Barbara Naomi Cohen-Stratyner, "Biographical Dictionary of Dance" (New York: Schirmer Books, London: Collier Macmillan, 1982).] In order to broaden her new found style of choreography, Childs formed her own dance company, The Lucinda Childs Dance Company in 1973. Besides her own productions, Childs has also choreographed for the Rambert Dance Company, The Lyons Opera Ballet, The Berlin Opera Ballet, The Bavarian State Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

In 1976 Ms. Childs was featured performer in the premiere of Robert Wilson & Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach a roll she reprieved in the 1984 & 1992 revivals. While the 1976 premiere of "Einstein on the Beach" contained choreography by [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Degroat Andrew de Groat] subsequent revivals have featured Ms. Childs' own choreography.

In 1995, she made her debut as a director for the opera, "Zaide", in Brussels, Belgium. [Debra Craine, "Oxford", 102.]

Works

*1963- "Pastime"
*1963- "Three Piece"
*1963- "Minus Auditorium Equipment and Furnishings"
*1963- "Egg Deal"
*1964- "Cancellation Sample"
*1964- "Carnation"
*1964- "Street Dance"
*1964- "Model"
*1965- "Geranium"
*1965- "Screen"
*1965- "Museum Piece"
*1965- "Agriculture"
*1966- "Vehicle" [ [http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=1734] "Vehicle," online, retrieved September 25, 2008 ]
*1968- "Untitled Trio"
*1973- "Untitled Trio 2"
*1973- "Particular Reel"
*1973- "Checkered Drift"
*1973- "Calico Mingling"
*1975- "Reclining Rondo"
*1975- "Congeries on Edges for 20 Oblique’s"
*1976- "Radical Courses"
*1976- "Transverse Exchanges"
*1976- "Cross Words"
*1976- "Figure Eights"
*1976- "Einstein on the Beach"
*1977- "Melody Excerpt"
*1977- "Plaza"
*1977- "Interior Drama"
*1979- "Dance 1-5"
*1981- "Mad Rush"
*1981- "Relative Calm"
*1982- "Formal Abandon Part 1"
*1982- "Formal Abandon Part 2"
*1983- "Available Light"
*1983- "Formal Abandon Part 3"
*1984- "Cascade"
*1984- "Outline’’
*1984- "Field Dances"
*1986- "Portraits in Reflection"
*1986- "Clarion"
*1986- "Hungarian Rock"
*1987- "Calyx"
*1989- "Mayday"
*1990- "Perfect Stranger"
*1990- "Four Elements"
*1991- "Rhythm Plus"
*1992- "Salome"
*1993- "Concerto"
*1993- "One and One"
*1993- "Impromptu"
*1994- "Chamber Symphony"
*1994- "Trilogies"
*1995- "Commencement"
*1995- "Solstice"
*1995- "From the White Edge Oh Phrygia"
*1995- "Zaide" (Director)
*1996- "Hammerklavier"
*1996- "Don Carlos"

References