If you want to expand your knowledge on postmodern dance, Lucinda Childs is a name not to be missed. An exponent of the Judson Dance Theatre – the revolutionary group of artists who experimented in New York City from 1962-64 with a new approach to dance that, among others, avoided the ‘spectacle’. Childs’ minimalism is still fascinating today. She is now presenting four new works at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, appearing on stage as a youthful 84, in one of them. What was bluntly experimental then has now been assimilated, yet her elegantly clever play with dance conventions still has much to teach.
The evening opens with Actus (2024) a duet danced by Sharon Milanese and Caitlin Scranton to Bach’s Actus tragicus, which can be seen as an introduction to one aspect of Childs’ signature. The minimalist piece is characterised by the repetition of the same sequence in different directions and timing, demonstrating how tiny variations change the whole. Known for her simple yet intricate patterns, being at the right time and place becomes paramount for the dancers. Barefoot and wearing light blue dresses, the dancers execute Childs’ typical angular sequences influenced by ballet technique and modern dance. The relationship between music and movement is so strong that one is taken by surprise once it has moved on successfully a few beats.
This is followed by Geranium ’64 (2024) a reworking of a solo presented in 1965. In it, Lucinda Childs, in a grey overall, pulls a long strap in front of Anri Sala’s projection of a white encrusted wall in which are seen ghosts of football players of the NFL1964 championship game between Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts. Counterbalanced by her invisible duet partner off-stage, Kyle Gerry, Childs seems to be floating across the stage delicately miming the violent and jerky movements, and the effort made by the players on the running commentary of the radio broadcast. In pure postmodern spirit the piece questions and pushes the limits of dance: What is dance? What qualifies as a dance movement?
This radical questioning also involved the dancers and brought non-professionals to perform with the Judson. Still, some of these enquiries needed highly skilled movers with rigorous training, such as with Childs and her company. In her Timeline (2024) a group piece on music by the Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, the seven dancers, in light grey trousers and tops, perform an accumulation of movements. Against a purple background, one by one, when lit by the spot, they perform a sequence that slowly increases in length to decrease again. The absence of pulse in Guðnadóttir’s music makes it difficult for the dancers to coordinate. They must rely on their internal counting only. After a long time, in which they are stationary, they gradually exchange places to come to a (too) short partnering sequence with entrancing clusters and sculptural poses.
Two music interludes played by the pianist and post-minimalist Anton Batagov are offered after the second and third piece. The first is Lyrical Music from Unfamiliar Weapon by composed by Batagov and the second, The Poet Acts, from The Hours by minimalist composer Philip Glass and longtime collaborator of Childs; a collaboration that dates to the opera Einstein on the Beach (1975) in which Childs was the choreographer and played the leading performer, winning an Obie Award as Best Actress.
The last piece, Distant figures (2024), also features the company with music by the Glass – Distant Figure (Passacaglia for Solo Piano) – played by Batagov. Against a blue background, six dancers, in light blue trousers and wrap-over tops, react to the music in groups of three. As in the previous dance, the sequences quickly increase in complexity with the typical angularity of modern dance. Signature movements are the arm pose, similar to the dab, repeated several times with the arms facing up or down and the sauté arabesque with one arm in elongé over the head. The dancers, first on their spots, then travel on fixed routes with 180° direction changes. Next, they are allowed to shift trajectory at a 90° angle, ending up as a visual tongue twister, after several changes, in the same spot as at the beginning.
Curated by Yusuke Hashimoto, the performing arts season 2024-25 of the Berliner Festspiele concentrates on the celebration of the heritage of contemporary performing arts, with particular focus this season on New York’s performing artists. It is a great opportunity to see contemporary ‘classics’ such as Lucinda Childs, and in January, the Trisha Brown Company, another leading post-modern company will be guest at the Festspiele. Childs’ programme Four New Works is a co-production between the Berliner Festpiele, Chaillot-Théâtre de la Danse, Paris and La Bâtie-Festival in Geneva.
