Postmodern dance choreographer Lucinda Childs began her career as a member of the Judson Dance Theatre (1962-1964) in New York, renowned for its experimentalism, where trained and untrained dancers flaunted the beauty of ordinary, natural movement as a reaction to the stringent composition and presentation of modern dance.Inspired by John Cage and Merce Cunningham, Childs developed her own minimalist approach that integrated perpetual movement with repetitive scores and structural or light interventions, imparting a poetic stimulation to her choreographies. The beauty in her performances lay in the pure geometrical shapes spatial transformations, hypnotic scores and potent use of light.Last year, Lucinda Childs Company has been touring across the continents with revivals of three pioneering works – Robert Wilson’s opera “Einstein on the Beach” (1976), and Child’s “Dance” (1979) and “Available Light” (1983).BLOUIN ARTINFO met Childs at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris to discuss her new creation in collaboration with light artist James Turrell and composer Philip Glass, in relation to her previous works.GABRIELLA DARIS: In “Dance” Sol LeWitt’s B&W, 35mm film projection of dancers dancing in synchronicity with the - then the same, later different - live dancers on stage, creates a hypnotic atmosphere of successive, simultaneous movement, mostly due to the overlapping lighting. Can you tell me more about this layering?LUCINDA CHILDS: It has to be lit in a very special way because there is a screen in front of the dancers and there cannot be any light on that screen because of the film projection, so all the light has to come from the sides onto the dancers on the stage and then the light from the film takes on different colors from that light. So both the film and the dancers pick up LeWitt’s red, yellow and blue colors of these lights. LeWitt’s film is a minimalist choice, one that makes the dancers seem ghostly and glow like fireflies. Their white costumes act like canvas for the light projections.That’s right. He could have made the film in color but he chose black and white, which I think is very beautiful. I like it very much.When “Available Light” first premiered in 1983 at a warehouse-like space at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the light piercing through the windows played an important role.John Adams was somewhere near the ocean when writing the music and hence entitled the score, “Light Over Water.” I gave the piece the title “Available Light” due to the natural light that was passing through the windows and spreading in the space. Light designer Beverly Emmons - who has worked on all of the company’s productions, both the originals and their revivals - together with Frank Gehry, decided to coat with red gel the overhead skylight that joined the two buildings from outside, in order to amplify the light. It was quite amazing. Remounting the piece, we have similar effects but it isn’t the same as there are no windows.This, of course, echoes the early light projections of James Turrell, in the mid 1960s, which he later developed with his “Mendota Stoppages” (1969-1974); he covered the windows of his Santa Monica studio, allowing only controlled quantities of light pouring in from outdoors. So it seems fitting that Turrell will be working with you, along with Philip Glass, on a new, full-length piece for your company. How did that come about? Philip Glass and I decided that we wanted to do one more work together and both thought that James Turrell is the number one person to ask, and we are very happy that he accepted, because it is not that often that those artists would be involved in a theatre production, a performance production.In “Dance,” Sol LeWitt’s film projections split the stage vertically; in “Available Light,” Frank Gehry’s constructivist set, on two levels, split the stage horizontally; in which ways will James Turrell’s lightscapes transform the space and inform the structure of the choreography? I can only imagine the dancers in the mist, almost ticking the air, ticking a definition out of the image, fitting into the space like a shadow. I think that the lighting will have some very intense moments.We are, however, in very early stages of this production. We will start developing ideas this year. We will do a workshop before we do any choreography to develop a kind of vocabulary together, so that we can look at different concepts and ideas, find ways to design the space and to provide the instruments that he needs in order to achieve the quality he wants. With special lighting we need advance time, to see the different sketches, where we can go, before starting the choreography.I know he wants to work with LED lights, which is interesting because in the theatre there is a transition from incandescent lighting - all these lights that you see - and LED is a new light for the theatre. LED is his medium so it will be interesting to see what he does.There will surely be some elements that will give consistency, so that light is seen the same way in each space. He would not like that, each time, there is a different backdrop. Therefore, there may be some kind of vertical panels, a set that comes apart and is portable - this is what Gehry wanted also, and the same with Turrell - he wants to be able to control the lights, to be able to travel with them when touring, and make adjustments in space to keep a consistency. And there will be both vertical and horizontal spatial transformations.It is tricky to give dancers different surfaces to work on. The light spills onto the floor, and we would need continuity in space. There is a consideration for some special flooring, similar to the reflective silver mylar sheeting that Robert Mapplethorpe used for my “Portraits in Reflection” in 1986. There are many possibilities, even the light can come through the floor - it can come from anywhere. But I do not know yet, I can’t speak for him.There are elements of the sublime and the hypnotic in James Turrell’s work that I find similar to both your choreographies and Philip Glass’ scores. The three of you working together sounds like a very organic, complimentary combination. What sort of dynamic are you hoping will be present on stage?The three elements – dance, music and lights - can be isolated then put together, and rearranged in different ways. Turrell liked that idea. There will be variations of dialogues: light with music, dance with no music, music with no dance, dance with music and light, for a ninety-minute performance.So, like the transition in “Dance,” at times there is only onstage dance, at other times just the film projection, and there are moments when the two join together?Exactly.Alternative spaces for performance were popularized in the 1960s, and are de rigueur today. Given that Turrell’s works usually enclose the viewer as a method of prescribing a controlled perception of light, what spaces do you consider using for the new creation, in order to achieve such effects? In the sixties it was really important for us to find alternative space, to not be in a traditional theatre – to be in galleries, garages, gyms, rooftops, on the streets - and we really liked to be in the same space with the audience for the work we were making. Then everything changed for me because I met Robert Wilson, and got back to the traditional proscenium space, but with a very contemporary concept and aesthetics. So, in a way, it doesn’t really matter where you are - the work can exist. Now I think the world of performance is really open, with new technologies and film - so many unlimited possibilities.As for the new creation with Turrell, space choice is very critical; I think he would like to envelop the entire space, including the audience. You don’t just put them in the dark; there should be no separation. There is a consideration of a total art experience, where audience and dancers mix together. We plan to premiere the work sometime in 2017 in the Armory in New York - that has such spatial advantage - and then tour to similar, alternative spaces.Are there any projects planned for this year, apart from the development of this new creation? The year starts with “Dance,” performed by the company, and three of my solo works, “Pastime” (1963), “Carnation” (1964) and “Museum Piece” (1965), which will be performed by my niece, Ruth Childs, at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva.There will be an exhibition of my drawings – a graphic representation of my choreographies - at the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin, Paris, opening in September. Collateral events will also take place such as performances from different periods, and film screenings.“Dance” runs from 1-3 February 2016, and “Pastime,” “Carnation,” and “Museum Piece,” from 4-7 February 2016, at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva, Switzerland.
↧