Vineyard resident and choreographer Lucinda Childs was recently in New York to cast her upcoming production Dance. When the director of The Yard, Wendy Taucher, asked if I would be interested in observing, I jumped at the chance. Although Ms. Childs calls the Vineyard home, her work is performed predominately in Europe, where she has choreographed for the Berlin Opera Ballet, the Bavarian State Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet and the Lyons Opera Ballet.

Two years ago, the Yard presented a documentary film on her career to a sold-out Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven. This was the first opportunity I had to see the work of this world-renowned artist. The audience was filled with dancers and choreographers, friends and neighbors. After the film credits, Ms. Taucher announced that Ms. Childs was in the audience and would be happy to answer questions. This regal presence floated down the center aisle of the theatre. As she reached the stage and pirouetted to face the audience, there was an audible gasp. After watching the film, her presence literally took our breath away.

The latest casting call for dancers took place on 42nd street in New York city, with more than 200 professional dancers vying for just 11 openings. I had thought I would be seated in a darkened auditorium, invisible to the dancers. Instead, I was ushered into a bright, fluorescent-lit room where I sat with Ms. Taucher, separated from the dancers by a single narrow table. Ms. Childs stood in front of us with her principal dancer and assistant, Ty Boomershine, who called out the dancers’ names and organized them into smaller groups. When I arrived on the second day of casting, I passed dancers milling about in warm-up clothing, comparing notes about their impressions and talking about “phrasing” — a dance term for a group of steps within a larger work. Although I didn’t realize it, they had just been cut.

One of the remarkable aptitudes of dancers is their ability to memorize and learn difficult new material quickly. Although it was unlikely many of the young dancers had seen much Lucinda Childs’ work — the film shown on the Vineyard has not yet been released — they understood immediately what they were trying to project. Lucinda Childs casts a long and important shadow over modern dance. These dancers may have worked with younger choreographers influenced by her lyrical, minimal style.

Ms. Childs has received many awards and honors including a Guggenheim in 1979 and the Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2004, an honor awarded annually to 20 people who have made a significant contribution to culture. The list is predominately French but a number of Americans have received the award including another Vineyarder, the late Art Buchwald. Ms. Childs currently is choreographing a new work for the Ballet National de Marseille in France with the music of composer John Adams. Mikhail Baryshnikov is planning to screen the documentary on Ms. Childs at The Baryshnikov Center in New York city this spring.

At the beginning of each audition, Ty would introduce a series of several dozen steps — showing arm, feet and body positions. He allowed the dancers to practice for a few minutes and then organized them into groups, counting aloud while they performed the dance, moving across the rehearsal space in unison from left to right and back again. There were a few missteps which caused Ty to remind them about arm positions and where to focus their gaze. The dancers watched carefully as each group performed the sequence of phrases, as if searing the movements to memory. The technical quality of the dancers auditioning that day was remarkable. One could discern differences in their styles; some were romantic, others projected athleticism and others seemed rigid. Ty kept repeating the sequences, making the tempo a little faster, then faster again, and then finally, they had to dance to the music of Philip Glass, commissioned by Ms. Childs’ company in 1979, the tempo of which was faster still.

Ms. Taucher and I shared our thoughts about which dancers were the best. Although our opinions varied, I was pleased to learn that many of our favorites made the final cut. I asked Ms. Childs about the dancers’ differing styles and she said she was not worried — repeated rehearsals would bring about a uniformity of style. Watching Lucinda observe the dancers, I noticed that she didn’t follow them individually — she was looking at the choreography and the dancers within that choreography. As the artist, she was evaluating how the dancers interpreted her work. Watching the dancers rehearse for several hours had seduced me into believing that I understood Lucinda Childs’ choreography. There is repetition, to be sure, but there is also subtle change, and when the observer gives herself over to the experience, it is transformational.

Wendy Taucher has auditioned hundreds of dancers and choreographers for The Yard. Founded by Patricia Nanon 36 years ago, it is the longest-running art colony in the country offering residencies to dancers and choreographers. The Yard is revered within the dance community and summer residencies are highly competitive. As well as being artistic director of The Yard, Ms. Taucher is also a choreographer and director of both dance and opera. Under her leadership, The Yard has expanded its performance programming to include opera, theatre and drama. Lucinda Childs has been an important contributor to The Yard, offering suggestions about residencies and counsel to the young artists.

Fortunately for all of us on the Vineyard, The Yard has received a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts for the revival of Lucinda Childs’ Dance (1979), to be performed on her home turf on Saturday, July 25. Because the 100-seat theatre at The Yard is too small for the audience and production, Dance, with stage sets designed by artist Sol LeWitt, will be performed on the stage at the Performing Arts Center at the high school. The revival of Dance was commissioned by the Bard Summer Dance Festival and The Yard and will premiere July 10 at the Fisher Center.