University Music Society 2027 Gibney Company Lucinda Childs Program

What You’ll See

The recent subject of a major profile in The New York Times, Lucinda Childs was named to a five-year appointment as resident choreographer of Gibney Dance earlier this year. A founding member of the experimental 1960s collaborative Judson Dance Theater, the 85-year-old choreographer is known for her close association with composer Philip Glass, including his monumental Einstein on the Beach.

This exciting performance features a landmark new work for 10 dancers, Another Look at Harmony, Part 4, which will have its world premiere in January 2027. Scored for choir plus organ, the large-scale production incorporates music that was originally composed for but never used in Einstein, and is being created in celebration of Philip Glass’s 90th birthday, reuniting two defining figures of American minimalism in a rare and timely artistic convergence.

The first half of the program will feature Three Dances (for Prepared Piano) John Cage, which explores the intricate interplay between music and movement. Childs’s postmodern minimalist precision and deep reverence for structured repetition takes center stage in this stunning work that harkens back to her Judson Dance Theater roots.