Works in Silence by Lucinda Childs

Works in Silence offers a unique insight into the early work and artistic development of Lucinda Childs, an icon of American modern dance and one of the most important choreographers of the twentieth century. Six dancers, from the 40+ ensemble Dance On, perform a selection of choreographies from Childs’s extensive repertoire: fascinating both for their rarity and undeniable influence on international dance and visual art. These works were performed throughout the 1970s in museums, churches and public spaces, yet most have hardly, if at all, been staged ever since.

In these dances, Childs has left behind props, objects, the spoken word, symbolic movement – all hallmarks of the era of the Judson Dance Theater – and chosen to focus on the passage of the body through space. To zero in on the essence of initial movement, which, for Childs, is the act of walking. From walking to running, to changing direction, to skipping, to leaping: the Works in Silence illustrate the evolution of movement into dance through the choreographic vision of Lucinda Childs.

These works express a fragility and a humanity that is a perfect example of the value of experience, and ideally suited to a group of dancers that bring with them their own abundant histories and knowledge. In the act of stripping away all artifice and theatricality, the beauty and truth of wisdom is confronted, shared, and exposed. A slice of dance history not to be missed.

Programme

Untitled Trio, Premiere June 1, 1968 - 1973 / Judson Memorial Church, New York, NY
Congeries on Edges for 20 Obliques, Premiere March 8,1975 / Y.M.C.A. Nyack New York
Katema, Premiere March 12, 1978 / Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Radial Courses, Premiere June 23,1976 / Washington Square Methodist Church, New York, NY
Melody Excerpt, Premiere November 3,1977 / Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY