Lucinda Childs, Street Dance (1964-2026)

In resonance with the exhibition “Minimal”, the Bourse de Commerce is presenting for the first time in Europe Street Dance (1964–2026), a work by American choreographer Lucinda Childs, a major figure of the minimalist movement.

On July 23, 1964, Lucinda Childs created Street Dance, an in situ work now recognized as a major contribution to American postmodern dance. Street Dance (1964–2026) is a reconstitution of this historic work, adapted to the urban setting of the Bourse de Commerce, at the intersection of the Les Halles and Louvre districts, staged by the choreographer and performed by Clara Lou Munie and Adam Chado.

The piece was first presented in 1964 in Judith Dunn’s studio on East Broadway and, a few months later, at the request of Robert Rauschenberg, from his studio located at 812 Broadway in Manhattan. Lasting exactly six minutes, it responds to an exercise proposed by Robert Ellis Dunn to the artists of the Judson Dance Theater. Childs plays an audio recording instructing the audience to look out the window, while she descends into the street to join her partner, James Lee Byars. On the sidewalk, the performers point to architectural details, street furniture, and shop windows. These gestures are precisely synchronized with the recording played in the loft. The choreographer explains that “the spectators are [thus] led to imagine information that exists beyond their field of vision,” allowing a “perceptual link” to be formed with the performers. In the street, passersby, unaware that a performance is taking place, continue their daily activities, allowing the piece to blend into the city’s gestural landscape.

For Lucinda Childs, this work constituted an important step in the development of her approach to score and to the synchronization of sound, image, and live performance. These methods later became central to her minimalist works for the stage, such as Dance, from 1979 onward.