LUCINDA CHILDS
2005-2007 Update
In March, 2005 Ms Childs choreographed a new work for the Boston Ballet with music by Arcangelo Corelli which premiered in Boston at the Wang Center. Ms. Childs also choreographed Stravinsky’s Firebird for Maggio Danza in Florence in a program which included a revival of John Adam’s Chairman Dances choreographed for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo in 2000, and Largo, a solo she choreographed for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2001. During the summer Ms. Childs choreographed John Adams new opera Doctor Atomic for the San Francisco Opera, which was directed by Peter Sellars.
In October, 2005 she returned to the Ballet du l’Opéra du Rhin for a revival of Dance with music by Philip Glass and film/décor by Sol LeWitt, which she choreographed for her own company in 1979, and Chamber Symphony with music by John Adams, which she choreographed for the Staats Opera Ballett in Munich in 1994. This full-length evening program was presented in the Cannes Festival of Dance in November, 2005, and will be presented at the Maison de la Danse in Lyons, in March, 2006.
In 2006 she will return to the Geneva Opera ballet for a revival of Concerto with music by Henryk Gorecki, which she choreographed for her own company in 1993. Concerto will be presented in the Festival of Montpelier,France in February, 2006.
In 2007 she will return to the Ballet du L’Opéra du Rhin to choreograph Stravinsky’s
Le Rossignol , and his opera, Oedipus Rex, which she will also direct for the Opéra du Rhin. These works will premiere in Strasbourg in March 2007. She will also appear in Robert Wilson’s production of Bach’s Passion of St John at the Théâtre de Chatelet in Paris in 2007.
In 2006, the French and German Arts television program ARTE will broadcast the film documentary by Patrick Bensard of La Cinémathèque de la Danse, which features interviews with Lucinda Childs, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and the Ballet de L’Opéra du Rhin in rehearsals and performances in New York, London, and Paris.
In 2004 Ms. Childs was appointed by the French Government to the rank of Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
LUCINDA CHILDS
Biography 1963-2005
LUCINDA CHILDS began her career as choreographer and performer in 1963 as an original member of the Judson Dance Theater in New York. After forming her own dance company in 1973, Ms. Childs collaborated with Robert Wilson and Philip Glass on the opera Einstein on the Beach, participating as leading performer and choreographer, she also took part in the revivals of the opera in 1984, and 1992. During 1977-78, Ms. Childs performed opposite Wilson, in his two-act play I Was Sitting On My Patio This Guy Appeared I Thought I Was Hallucinating, and in 1987-88, in Wilson's production of Heiner Muller's Quartett. In 1996-97, she appeared Wilson's production of La Maladie de la Mort by Marguerite Duras, opposite French actor Michel Piccoli.
Since 1979, Ms. Childs has collaborated with a number of composers and designers, including John Adams and Frank Gehry, on a series of large-scale productions. The first of these was DANCE choreographed in 1979 with music by Philip Glass, and a film/decor by Sol LeWitt, for which Ms. Childs was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Since 1981, Ms. Childs has received a number of commissions from major ballet companies; these include the Paris Opéra Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet, Lyon Opéra Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the Geneva Opera Ballet, Ballet du l’Opéra du Rhin, and the Boston Ballet.
In 2003, Ms Childs choreographed Ravel’s DAPHNIS AND CHLOE, for the Geneva Opera Ballet and revived CONCERTO with music by Henry Gorecki, which choreographed for her own company in 1993. In 2003, she also choreographed a new solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov, OPUS ONE with music by Alban Berg, and in 2004, Bartok’s MANDARIN MERVEILLEUX for the Ballet de l’Opéra du Rhin. where DANCE was revived and performed at the Theatre de la Ville in Paris. This past year Ms Childs has choreographed a TEN PART SUITE for the Boston Ballet with music by Arcangelo Corelli, which premiered in Boston at the Wang Center. She has also choreographed Stravinsky’s FIREBIRD for MaggioDanza in Florence which was presented in a program that included a revival of John Adam’s CHAIRMAN DANCES choreographed for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo in 2000, and LARGO, a solo choreographed for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2001.
Since 1992, Ms. Childs has worked extensively in the domain of opera, in Luc Bondy's production of Richard Strauss's Salome, which she choreographed for the Salzburg Festival, and in 1999, Verdi's Macbeth for the Scottish Opera. In 1995, with Peter Stein for De Nederlandse Opera's production of Moïse und Aaron, and that same year Ms. Childs directed her first opera, Mozart's Zaïde, for La Monnaie in Brussels. In 2001, Ms Childs choreographed Los Angeles Opera’s production of Wagner’s Lohengrin, conducted by Kent Nagano In 2002, Ms. Childs directed Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice for the Scottish Opera and in 2003 Ms. Childs was invited to return to Los Angeles Opera to direct a new production of Orfeo ed Euridice. Ms. Childs also choreographed Wagner’s Parsifal which premiered at the Grand Theatre de Genève in 2004, and this past summer she choreographed John Adams new opera, Doctor Atomic, which premiered in October 2005 with the San Francisco Opera.
In 2006, the French and German Arts television program ARTE will sponsor and broadcast the film documentary by Patrick Bensard of La Cinémathèque de la Danse, which features interviews with Lucinda Childs, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Ballet de L’Opéra du Rhin in rehearsals and performances in New York, London, and Paris.
In 2004 Ms. Childs was appointed by the French Government to the rank of Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.