An evening of two dances

By Nicole Beutler / nb

Based on
1 Radial Courses (1976)
2 Interior Drama (1977)
by Lucinda Childs

Fascinated by the radical and deceptively simple minimalism of Lucinda Childs' early work, Beutler chose to remake two of her silent dance pieces, Radial Courses (1976) and Interior Drama (1977), setting the latter to a specially composed work by Gary Shepherd.

The underlying choreographic scores are captivating and indecipherably complex. Radial Courses is based on three movement sequences in a constantly shifting, circulatory composition. In Interior Drama five dancers conform to an apparently perfect system, moving in repetitive and hallucinatory patterns. Childs describes her own work as an ‘intense experience of intense looking and listening’. Beutler’s reinterpretations centre on the individual dancer’s efforts and responsibilities within the group patterns, revealing parallel realities and the ritualistic qualities of both dances.

Nicole Beutler focuses unwaveringly on the person behind the performer, using musicality and subtle humour to draw in the spectator. She uses an articulate sense of detail to create minimal and highly visual works.

Part of Festival of Miniatures »