Click on a category below for details about our special events and programming.
Dance Film Series
Festival Plus
2010 Rockys
FEASTIVAL
Festival Bar
In September, the Live Arts Festival will present
Dance, the most celebrated work of modern choreographer Lucinda Childs. The work features an original score by Philip Glass, and video by conceptual artist Sol LeWitt. The video, which shows the original dance ensemble from 1979, is projected onto a transparent screen at the front of the stage, and in this remounting layers the history of the work over the ensemble of today.
In conjunction with the showing of
Dance at this year’s festival, and in partnership with the
Institute of Contemporary Art and
International House Philly, Live Arts has organized a film series to showcase the work of Lucinda Childs and Philip Glass. The films provide insight into their creative processes, their careers, and their lives. Taken together, the films provide a rich context for a contemporary viewing of
Dance: as we learn about the circumstances of its creation, we better understand its continued relevance in a changed and changing artist world.
All film screenings are free and open to the public, we just ask that you RSVP to RSVP@livearts-fringe.org.
Sunday, July 11 / 2pm / Institute of Contemporary Art at 118 South 36th Street (map)
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007)
Directed by Scott Hicks
Introduction by Lloyd Shorter, Co-Director of Relache
Run time: 119 m
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts is the result of eighteen months of interaction between director Scott Hicks and composer Philip Glass. Hicks shot his own footage of his meetings with Glass, which took place whenever and wherever their different work brought them together. Hicks filters fragments of Glass's life through a 12-part structure borrowed from Glass's own "Music in Twelve Parts", and the result is a reverent yet unclouded portrait of a brilliant composer and an inscrutable man.
Thursday, August 19 / 7pm / International House at 3701 Chestnut Street (map)
Lucinda Childs (2006)
Directed by Patrick Bensard
Introduction by Jenelle Porter, Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art
Run time: 56 m
"Lucinda Childs" is the first filmed portrait of one of the major choreographers of our time. Childs began her career as a member of the Judson Church Group in New York in the 1960s, and her choreography reflects perfectly the strident modernism of that time. In 1976, Childs choreographed Robert Wilson's seminal "opera"
Einstein on the Beach, with music by Philip Glass. This collaboration continued in 1979 with
Dance, where Childs brought together Glass's composition and video by artist Sol LeWitt.
Dance is still considered one of the most beautiful pieces in modern dance, and it launched Childs to international fame. Since then, Childs has been invited to stage work all over Europe and the United States for the most prestigious dance companies. The documentary includes performances and interviews with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Philip Glass, Anna Kisselgoff, Yvonne Rainer, Susan Sontag, and Robert Wilson.
Tuesday, August 24 / 7pm / Live Arts Studio at 919 N 5th Street (map)
Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera (1985)
Directed by Mark Obenhaus
Introduction by Andrew Zitcer, Urban Planner and Arts Advocate
Run time: 58 m
Einstein on the Beach was first staged in 1976 at the Avignon Festival in France. Scored and written by Philip Glass, directed and designed by Robert Wilson, and with choreography and libretto contributions by Lucinda Childs, this five-hour opera forever altered the perception and definition of contemporary opera. In 1984, it was restaged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Obenhaus followed the production from rehearsals through performance. In addition to footage of the performance, the documentary includes behind-the-scenes footage, notes on the creative process and interviews with the creators.
Through a film series, lecture, moderated discussion, and a master class, Festival Plus programming for Dance offers audiences a deeper insight into the artist and her work. To browse all Festival Plus programming,
click here.
September 6 at 8pm
Festival Bar / SW corner of Spring Garden + Columbus Blvd
21+ / No Cover
For more details,
click here.
Nothing represents Philadelphia's dynamic arts scene better than the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, which each year present the boldest and most cutting edge artistic performances in the country... and nothing represents Philadelphia better than our world-class restaurants.
Please join co-hosts
Audrey Claire Taichman,
Michael Solomonov, and
Stephen Starr for the party of the year, featuring jaw-dropping Live Arts performances, a feast of culinary samplings from the city’s top chefs, and a charity auction to support the Festival.
Click here for tickets and more information about FEASTIVAL.
