Reclining Rondo premiered at the YMCA in Nyack, New York. Prior to the Philadelphia revival, Reclining Rondo had not been performed since 1976.
Reclining Rondo
1975
Reclining Rondo in performance, Friday, October 4, 2013 at FringeArts, Philadelphia. Dancers: Megan Bridge, Janet Pilla, and Michele Tantoco.
Reclining Rondo takes place entirely on the floor. The dance is made of one phrase of 18 movements that each dancer completes 12 times in individual directions. The three dancers begin parallel to each other, and then branch out following their own maps, eventually returning to parallel action.
October 4, 2013
FringeArts
Philadelphia
Cast
Megan Bridge
Janet Pilla
Michele Tantoco
Production collaborators
Lighting: Gregory Bain
October 6, 2013
The University of the Arts
Philadelphia
Cast
Nora Gibson
Gabrielle Revlock
Annie Wilson
and
Megan Bridge
Janet Pilla
Michele Tantoco
Production collaborators
Lighting: Gregory Bain
“The trio Reclining Rondo was inspired by Robert Morris’ sculpture Untitled (L-Beams) (1965), in which each of the three beams are placed together in the space on a different angle. This is a perfect example of the Cage/Duchamp philosophy that content is not in and of itself as important as the mental process that the observer is put through in observing the work. In the dance, the same phrase is performed to the left or right so that the dancers’ relation to each other gradually shifts from one diagonal to another. I did not perform in this work originally, so having had the opportunity of seeing it then and now, I would say that this is a more or less genuine reconstruction. What fascinates me in reviving the work now is that it’s impossible to predict the outcome in space of each dancer’s fixed set of moves without referring to the score (an overhead view) that I made for it.”
—Lucinda Childs, 2013
Premiere: March 8, 1975
Y.M.C.A.
Nyack, NY
First cast
Susan Brody
Judy Padow
David Woodberry
Production collaborators
Costumes: Christina Giannini
Lighting: Beverly Emmons
Additional works on program
Duplicate Suite (1975)
Congeries on Edges For 20 Obliques (1975)
Particular Reel (1973)
Calico Mingling (1973)
Subsequent dates of program
March 14–16 and 21–23, 1975
541 Broadway, New York
January 23–24 and 30–31, 1976
Washington Square Methodist Church, New York
Performance history as of December 2014.
Reclining Rondo was filmed in 1975 by Babette Mangolte in Lucinda Childs’ loft at 541 Broadway, New York. Performers in the film are Susan Brody, Judy Padow, and David Woodberry. This film is housed at the Centre National de la Danse, Porte du Pantin, Paris.
Archival Media
