At the February launch of the Center’s new multimedia online publication, A Steady Pulse: Restaging Lucinda Childs, 1963–78, Lucinda Childs and Judy Hussie-Taylor, executive director of Danspace Project, discussed Childs’ career and artistic influences.

In the video that follows, Childs reflects on her influential years studying at Sarah Lawrence College, and the immense impact of Merce Cunningham on her creative development. “Merce Cunningham arrived in 1959 and everything changed because of just the one class with [him]…suddenly I realized where I wanted to be and who I wanted to study with.”

In this second video, Childs recalls a transitional time in her career. “At a certain point, the Judson [Dance Theater] work reached, I think, for many of us, a little bit of a dead end,” Childs says. “I wanted to go back to simple movement material and not necessarily governed by whether or not it was in or outside the realm of traditional dance.”

Explore A Steady Pulse here.