Lucinda Childs brings iconic and new dances to Bard SummerScape from June 26 to the 28th. Childs, described by Fisher Center Director Gideon Lester as a “national treasure,” returns with a program spanning six decades of choreography, from an expanded version of her 1966 solo Geranium to a recent duet for two women, Actus Tragicus.
The evening encompasses collaborations with composer Philip Glass, visual artist Sol LeWitt, theater director Robert Wilson, architect Frank Gehry, who designed the Fisher Center, composer John Adams, and video artist Anri Sala, whose imagery expands Geranium into a new iteration. During a recent interview with WAMC, Childs said, “I love the span and the contrast between the pieces.”
Still solving choreographic problems at age 88, Childs will perform an excerpt of Geranium, a work inspired by an unlikely source: American football. As a member of the experimental Judson Dance Theater, whose artists looked beyond traditional dance vocabulary for movement ideas, Childs became fascinated by a broadcast of the 1964 NFL Championship Game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts. Before televised sports became commonplace, audiences often experienced games through radio commentators whose "vivid descriptions" of the players' movements became a source of fascination.
Geranium explores suspension and instability. “This was a completely experimental process for me, something new and different that I hadn’t done before,” recalls Childs. With a rope anchored off stage, Childs stretches into off-balance positions on one foot “attempting to imitate the movement of the players without falling over,” she said. Childs likens the sensation to “swimming” or “swinging.” Here, as elsewhere in her choreography, freedom and restraint coexist.
In the work, Childs moves among the roles of performer, player, and broadcaster, drawing on a transcription she made of the game commentary. Historic footage of the game, reimagined by video artist Sala, appears behind her. Childs describes the images as drifting across the stage “like clouds.” “I was the same age as the football players, originally.”
Actus Tragicus is set to Bach’s composition of the same name and performed live by pianist Maki Namekawa, a longtime interpreter of Glass's music. Childs says that “everything comes from the music.” During a recent period marked by war and uncertainty, Bach's cantata resonated with her. “It hit me. I wanted to use this music. It's so beautiful,” says Childs. Rather than the original choral setting, the dance is performed to a two-piano reduction. The cantata is, says Childs, “talking about difficult times, but no one is saying help is on the way.” Childs describes Actus Tragicus as emotional rather than political, explaining that she wanted to “stay hopeful.”
Childs re-formed the Lucinda Childs Dance Company in 2009. Dancers stay for decades. "Their loyalty means so much to me," says Childs. Rather than dictating interpretation, she encourages performers to "find their way." Their individuality, their "presence and their projections,” what Childs calls their "radiance," become part of the choreography. Childs speaks of the company’s teamwork as a process that ultimately registers with the audience. "The dances belong to the dancers."
Catherine Tharin is a choreographer, writer, curator, and educator. Her writing on dance has appeared in The Dance Enthusiast, Interlocutor, Side of Culture, and the Boston Globe. Tharin currently curates The Dance Series at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, NY, and dance film at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
