LUCINDA CHILDS
Born in 1940, Lucinda Childs began her career at the Judson Dance Theater In New York in 1963. Since forming her dance company ten years later, she has created over fifty works, both solo and ensemble and received numerous awards including the Dance Magazine Award, The Golden Lion award from the Venice Biennale and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival award for lifetime achievement. In 1976 she was featured in the landmark avant-garde opera EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson, for which she won an Obie Award. In 1979 Childs choreographed one of her most enduring works, DANCE, with music by Philip Glass and film décor by Sol LeWitt, which toured internationally and has been added to the repertory of the Lyon Opera Ballet. Since 1981 Childs has choreographed over thirty works for major ballet companies and directed and choreographed a number of contemporary and eighteenth-century operas for the Los Angeles Opera, for La Monnaie in Brussels and for the Opera du Rhin, among others. Most recently, Childs directed and choreographed Philip’ Glass AHKNATEN for Nice Opera Cote D’Azur which premiered in November 2021.
Three Dances (for prepared piano) John Cage
Three Dances (for prepared piano) John Cage embraces the rhythmic intensity of John Cage’s 1944-45 composition Three Dances, exploring the intricate interplay between music and movement. Childs’ signature postmodern minimalist precision and deep reverence for structured repetition take center stage in this stunning new work, exemplifying Childs’ lifelong fascination with transdisciplinarity and formalism, harkening back to her Judson Dance Theater roots.
Choreography: Lucinda Childs
Lighting Design: Burke Brown
Costume Design: Karen Young
Music Composed: John Cage
Music Compositions:
Three Dances for Prepared Pianos: I
Three Dances for Prepared Pianos: II
Three Dances for Prepared Pianos: III
Performed: Xenia Pestova and Pascal Meyer
Recordings Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.
Presented under license: Henmar Press, copyright owners
World Premiere: The Joyce Theater, New York City, May 6, 2025
Run Time: 25 minutes
The creation of Three Dances (for prepared piano) John Cage was made possible by Gibney Company’s Master Makers Initiative, with generous support from Joan & Jerry Lozinski, Virginia & Timothy Millhiser, Andrew A. Davis and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, Richard Feldman and The SHS Foundation, the Simons Foundation, Nurit & Rick Amdur, Deborah Goodman Davis, and Pamela van Zandt. This project was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Photo: Whitney Browne