Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin
December 3, 2024
It may have been made way back in 1979, but Dance is still considered the most seminal work by American choreographer Lucinda Childs. In three roughly twenty-minute sections, it’s dance just about as pure as it comes, about movement to music and nothing else. There’s no hidden theme, no hidden meaning. It’s even performed in simple white tops and trousers.
The choreography in the opening and closing ‘Dance I’ and ‘Dance III’ are full of fast moving quick chassées, runs, small jetés and off-centre tilts, mostly in pairs, and mostly crossing the stage. It’s fluid and highly dynamic. Although initially appearing repetitious, it’s structurally quite complex and full of variations. Changes of tempo or a few seconds when the stage is empty come as a surprise. Propelled ever onwards, the two sections reflect perfectly the numbers from Philip Glass’ Dance Nos. 1-5 to which it is performed. In the centre, ‘Dance II,’ sits a solo originally performed by Childs herself.
Photo Sally Cohn
Dance is a window to the past. That was made even more so in 2009 when Childs reconstructed the work adding Sol LeWitt’s footage of the original cast, projected on to a scrim and including Childs herself, to the live action. Sometimes the film focuses on a single dancer, sometimes it’s a wider, whole-stage shot. Sometimes the projections are above the dancers. It’s at its best when the film and live action overlay each other, however.
The video does draw the eye, in part because it is usually more than live size, so dominating the live performers. It also has the advantage of changing angle and perspective. There are close-ups, shots from above, shots taken looking diagonally down which makes the virtual stage appear tilted.
The meeting of past and present is a fascinating coming together but it does invite comparison. It also makes one wonder just how well the original choreography would fare today if seen on its own. Dance has become about the live action and the film co-existing in the same space. Without the video, would it have the same attraction. I suspect not.
All choreography changes over time. The dancers of today are just that, so it should not come as any surprise to spot differences.
The film makes today’s dancers look lighter and faster across the ground, although that may be an illusion brought about by the 1970s stage looking much smaller. It may also have something to do with footwear. While the costumes are more or less the same, the shoes worn by the dancers from the past are not. Today’s wear lightweight jazz shoes. In 1979 it was rather less flexible and heavier sneakers. That does make a difference.
Today’s dancers also appear more precise. The dancers on film look more relaxed, their movement freer, looser, less bound. This is especially so in the middle section with its more casual walking and swinging of the arms where present dancer Caitlin Scranton is seen against Childs herself.
‘Dance III’ sees the dancers work mostly in fours, and in rectangles rather than the straight lines of ‘Dance I’. Now full of low fouettés, it comes to a marvellous climax before the work’s abrupt end.