Lucinda Childs: ‘In the US, my work wasn’t something people could deal with’

<p>From being taught by Merce Cunningham to collaborating with Philip Glass, the choreographer who helped shape the New York dance scene – now ‘81 on paper’ – looks back</p><p>“There was a famous performance in Minneapolis of my piece <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/oct/19/lucinda-childs-dance-company-review">Dance</a>,” says <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/lucinda-childs">Lucinda Childs</a>. “Practically no one was in the audience by the end.” She laughs. “We had the same with a Robert Wilson play I was in. We’d look out and see … ‘Well, his sister is there, but that’s about it.’”</p><p>The choreographer’s work, including the minimalist classic Dance (1979) set to the music of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/philip-glass">Philip Glass</a>, the John Adams-scored Available Light (1983) and in Glass’s opera Einstein on the Beach (1976), may not have always been appreciated by everyone – “in the US it wasn’t something people could deal with” – but she’s now recognised as a seminal figure. She’s most associated with the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/oct/12/new-york-60s-arts-scene">Judson Dance Theater and New York’s downtown arts scene of the 60s and 70s</a>, a hub of radical musicians, artists, performers, cheap loft studios and experimental happenings. But Childs has worked steadily since, particularly in Europe, and latterly as an opera director, too.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jun/30/lucinda-childs-dance-choreographer-manchester-international-festival">Continue reading...</a>