Child's minimalist choreography seduces Berlin

By Katja Vaghi, 15 August 2015

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“The dancers were so synchronized in their execution many [...] speculated about a secret conductor”

Reviewed at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin on 13 August 2015

Available Light (Lucinda Childs)

The marvelous, disarming Sons of Echo at the Joyce Theater

Carla Escoda, 14th January

A rare opportunity to see five male ballet superstars – notably Alban Lendorf, in great form long after injury sidelined him – in an intimate theater, in work exclusively by women.

****1

The inspired and the prosaic at Fall for Dance at New York City Center

Carla Escoda, 20th September

A perfect triple bill became a less perfect quadruple bill. Brilliant performances by dancers from Gibney, kNoname Artist, Paris Opera étoiles rarely seen in New York and – a rarity these days – live musicians.

****1

Four New Works by Lucinda Childs: classic postmodernism

Katja Vaghi, 7th December

Lucinda Childs presents four new works at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, appearing on stage as a youthful 84, in one of them.

****1

Reaching for the light: Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson's Adam's Passion

Alissa Balocco, 31st March

For the first time in Italy the opera that brings together the spiritual music of the Estonian composer and the minimalist direction of Robert Wilson.

****1

Wendy Whelan embraces minimalism in The Day

Gillian Ebersole, 18th October

The Day features music by David Lang and choreography by Lucinda Childs as former ballerina Wendy Whelan and cellist Maya Beiser perform together in this work contemplating memory, mortality, and aging.

***11

Lyon Opera Ballet: Trois Grandes Fugues

Graham Watts, 19th October

A programme that proves you can definitely dance to Beethoven; and in so many different ways.

***11

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Katja Vaghi

With a background in Dance Studies, Literature and Linguistics (MA English Studies from Zurich University and PhD in dance philosophy from the University of Roehampton in London) and a formation as a modern dancer (Ballet Arts, NYC), Katja is a freelance dancer, choreographer, dance researcher and dramaturge currently living in Berlin.

John Adams, Lucinda Childs and Frank O. Gehry: Available Light at Tanz im August, Berlin