Lucinda Childs
Encyclopedia
Lucinda Childs 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 choreographic 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.
. She began dancing at the age of six, but her ambition 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 Arts
degree in dance. 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. 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.”
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...".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.
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form. A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the use of everyday movement as valid performance art and advocated novel methods of dance composition....
dancer/choreographer. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest movements into an intricate choreographic 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
Lucinda Childs was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She began dancing at the age of six, but her ambition was to become an actress. Continuing her dance training, she studied with legends such as Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...
and Helen Tamiris
Helen Tamiris
Helen Tamiris was an American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher.-Biography:A founder of American Modern Dance, Tamiris originally trained in free movement at the Henry Street Settlement. She danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and the Bracale Opera Company before studying briefly...
. 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 Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in dance. She was able to broaden her technical experience by studying with Judith Dunn, Bessie Schonberg and Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
. 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
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
who encouraged her to be a part of the Judson Dance Theater
Judson Dance Theater
Judson Dance Theater was an informal group of dancers who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. It grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied with John Cage...
in 1963. Here, Childs was allowed to explore and experiment with her own dance style and choreography. 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.”
Style
“As one of Americas leading modern dance choreographers, she makes work which can often be described as conceptual dance.” 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. 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. 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 ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
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...".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. After opening her own dance company, The Lucinda Dance Company in 1973, Childs collaborated with the likes of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass. Childs, Glass and Wilson joined together on the opera Einstein On The Beach Childs participated as the leading performer and choreographer, thus receiving a Village Voice Obie Award. Since 1992, Childs has worked specifically in the field of opera, in Luc Bundy's production of Richard Strauss's Salome.She had also choreographed Bondy's production of Macbeth for the Scottish Opera in 1995.That same year, Childs directed her first opera entitled Mozart's Zaide for La Monnaie in Brussels, Germany.. In 2001, Childs choreographed Los Angeles' Opera's Production of Wagner's Lohengrin, conducted by Ken Nagano. In 2002, Childs directed Orefeo Ed Euridice for the Scottish Opera.. In 2003, Childs choreographed Ravel's Daphnis and Chloefor the Geneva Opera Ballet..Childs choreographed Jon Adams' new opera Doctor Atomic with the San Francisco Ballet in 2007.. Her recent projects include choreographing and directing Vivaldi's opera Farnace for the Opera du Rhin to begin in April 2012.. She has been named principal choreographer for the piece.. In 2009, Childs received the Lifetime Achievement Bessie Award, later in 2004 being appointed by the French Government to the highest rank of dancer performers..Besides her own productions, Childs has also choreographed for the Paris Opéra Ballet, The Lyons Opera Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Berlin Opera Ballet..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
- 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- Radial 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