review ICON – de Volkskrant ★★★★
The choreographies of Lucinda Childs fit the dancers of Introdans like a glove.
March 18, 2025
by: Annette Embrechts
Introdans dedicates an entire program to the American choreographer Lucinda Childs: ICON. The opening choreography, Interior Drama, is captivating from the start—a silent gem.
Coughing and phone notifications do not spoil the experience. The opening of the five-part program ICON, dedicated to the oeuvre of the American minimal dance choreographer Lucinda Childs (1940), is a jewel of silence. In 1977, Childs choreographed this revolutionary quintet for the rooftops of New York. Nearly fifty years later, during this Dutch premiere, Interior Drama (1977) has lost none of its mesmerizing quality.
Five Introdans dancers, dressed in white, navigate the black stage; all technical elements are visible, as is every subtle shift in mathematical movement patterns. One misstep could be fatal. Yet these dancers transform the sideways hops and forward-backward turns into a sublime swing, skillfully alternating between pairs and trios. The sound of their footwear accentuates the musicality.
Strong, Subtle Accompaniment
The other four choreographies by Childs also suit Introdans perfectly. Petricor (2018) and Notes of Longing (2025), performed before the intermission, are particularly well accompanied—one by the National Youth Orchestra and the other by pianist and composer Matteo Myderwyk. After the break, the orchestra sometimes plays with a touch of overconfidence—though in ten of the seventeen theaters, the music is played from a recording.
Eight pieces from Myderwyk’s album of the same name inspired Childs, at 85, to create an optimistic choreography about the fleeting passage of sunlight and clouds on a summer day. On the back wall, a sky transitions from white-blue to yellow-red, designed by Childs’ longtime scenographer Dominique Drillot. Four men and four women in flowing pleated trousers form elegant patterns.
Sometimes, in duets, they weave their arms together in short musical turns; at other moments, they leap into the air in trios or quartets. The women evoke the image of the three classical Graces: beauty, joy, and blossoming happiness. Their fourth counterpart undoubtedly symbolizes boundless creativity.