Matt Pardo Portraying Lucinda Childs

by movementinmotionphotography

“What we are fighting for, especially my generation, is that dance is in and of itself a beautiful thing.”

-Lucinda Childs

As a child, Lucinda set out to be an actress and dancer.  She trained under many great dancers, including Hanya Holm, Merce Cunningham, and Yvonne Rainer.  She joined the Judson Dance Theatre in 1963, where she has opportunities to explore and experiment with her own style of movement and choreography.  In 1973, she established her own dance company, Lucinda Childs Dance.  Lucinda has set works on performing companies all over the world, and she has also directed numerous operas.  Her company is no longer established, but her work as a postmodern choreographer lives on in those who share her work.  Recently, Lucinda was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance, where an exhibition of her work was installed.

Matt Pardo portraying Lucinda Childs

“Lucinda’s work is important to me because it has shown me how to consider the essence of a single movement.  In executing Lucinda’s cerebral and impossibly difficult scores, you as a dancer, cannot help but be humbled by its simple genius. I have been so profoundly shaped by this work and it is easy to spot its influence in any of my classes.  Most recently, I published a paper in the Journal of Dance Education about developing a practice of performance in young dancers.  This research was originally conceived while performing the austere and minimal work of Lucinda Childs, which allowed me to truly understand who I was when in performance.  I feel that my skillset is so perfectly aligned with Lucinda’s work and it was always a joy working with someone who was so generous.  I am so thankful to have found work that makes me feel valuable and to have found an amazing artist who continues to inspire me in so many ways. I always include conversations about the history of the form in all of my classes.”

-Matt Pardo

Co-Director of The Blanket, Assistant Professor of Dance at Shenandoah University