Four New Works

“Four New Works”, which will celebrate its premiere at Kampnagel in Hamburg in August 2024 and is co-produced by Berliner Festspiele, presents the first new works Lucinda Childs has developed in almost a decade with her company. The showcase not only allows an in-depth insight into the aesthetic cosmos and current creative work of the New York choreographer and dancer, but also highlights the progression of her work as one of the pioneers of post-modern dance for more than five decades. Her style is distinguished by minimalist and pure movement patterns, performed with pace and precision in countless repetitions and variations, unfolding a hypnotic pull.

“Actus”, a duet and the first of the works, is set to the cantata “Actus Tragicus” by Johann Sebastian Bach. Presumably composed for a funeral, Bach’s early cantata opens a moving dialogue about eternal life and earthly suffering, providing a comforting, but also sharp sound. “Actus” is followed by a new adaptation of an original solo from 1965 titled “Geranium ’64”, which is performed by Lucinda Childs herself. The solo continues Childs’ prolific collaborative record with video work by the renowned visual artist Anri Sala. The third piece on the programme, “Timeline”, is a new creation for seven dancers to unreleased music by the Icelandic composer, cellist and Academy Award Winner Hildur Guðnadóttir. The evening closes with “Distant Figure”, a new choreographic work for 6 dancers with music by Philip Glass. This final work will be accompanied live by Russian star-pianist Anton Batagov who will play the 2017 composition that Glass wrote for his long-standing artistic partner Lucinda Childs.

Lucinda Childs was born in New York City in 1940. In 1963, she began her career as a dancer, choreographer and founding member of the Judson Dance Theater in New York. Ten years later, in 1973, she founded her own company, for which she has created more than 50 works so far. She forged long-standing partnerships with artists like Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, Sol LeWitt, John Adams and Frank Gehry. She was introduced to the Berlin audience through Nele Hertling’s work at the Academy of the Arts. Since 1980, Lucinda Childs has been directing and choreographing works at major opera houses and for ballet companies such as the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Bavarian State Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Los Angeles Opera or the Opéra national du Rhin. She has received numerous awards and distinctions: She was declared a Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and received the Gold Lion at the 2017 Dance Biennale in Venice as well as the 2022 Dance Magazine Award.