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The Sarah Lawrence College Board of Trustees voted unanimously this week to honor alumna Lucinda Childs '62 with a Doctor of Arts, honoris causa, at the College’s 97th Commencement.
A pioneering choreographer and performer whose work has immensely influenced postmodern dance for more than half a century, Childs began her career shortly after graduation as a member of the seminal Judson Dance Theater. She formed her own dance company in 1973, and since then has created more than 50 works. In 1976, Childs collaborated with Philip Glass and Robert Wilson on the landmark avant-garde opera Einstein on the Beach, for which she won an Obie Award. Childs received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979 for one of her most enduring works, Dance, which featured music by Philip Glass and film décor by Sol LeWitt. Dance toured internationally and has been added to the repertory of the Lyon Opera Ballet, for which she has also choreographed Beethoven’s Grande Fugue. Since 1981, Childs has choreographed more than 30 works for major ballet companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, and Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Company. She has also directed and choreographed a number of contemporary and 18th-century operas, most recently Philip Glass’s Akhnaten for l’Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur.
Childs holds the rank of Commandeur in France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Among her numerous other accolades and awards are the Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Golden Lion award from the Venice Biennale, the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival award for lifetime achievement, and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance.
"Lucinda Childs has transformed dance with a bold and distinctive voice that began to take shape at Sarah Lawrence,” said President Cristle Collins Judd. “Conferring this honorary degree recognizes both her extraordinary legacy in the arts and the enduring influence of a Sarah Lawrence education."
Sarah Lawrence College’s 97th Commencement ceremony will take place on Friday, May 9.