Meredith Monk at St. Mark's Church Parts of Meredith Monk's audience are old loyalists who let you know that they can, as they say, remember her when; other parts are young, keen on her not as history but as an artist who opens doors in the mind to new terrain. On Monday she gave a performance at St. Mark's Church, contributing to Danspace Project's Judson Now series. Though the show lasted only a little more than an hour, it showed her as a composer, singer, choreographer, dancer and filmmaker in three works shown in chronological order and spanning over 40 years. At the end a cake was brought in, with candles aglow. The next day was her 70th birthday. Meredith Monk A selection of the artist's work was presented by Danspace at St. Mark's Church with, from left, Allison Sniffin, Ms. Monk, Katie Geissinger and Ellen Fisher. The first and third works were films, and most imaginatively made, but they were also documents of other performance pieces. The first, "16 Millimeter Earrings" (1966), is still radical (we were shown the 1979 film of it by Robert Withers). Often highly surrealist in manner, recalling imagery by Man Ray, it shows Ms. Monk alone in scene after scene, in successive costume changes and from different angles, with various effects, like trompe l'oeil or magnifying-lens. The recurrent image of her face, with each eye very differently enlarged, makes an indelible impression. Sometimes she sits, sometimes she dances. Meanwhile the soundtrack of the film goes through song, speech and noise - often at absurdist cross-purposes with what we're watching, especially when one dance scene is accompanied by Ms. Monk's vocal description of an entirely different dance. At the end we see Ms. Monk, naked, in profile, in the middle of flames, while we hear her singing "Greensleeves": "Alas, my love, you do me wrong ... ." The image of immolation makes you reconsider all that has preceded it, turning it into a psychodrama. This leads to the finale that at once suggests the lover's complaint and her torment, possibly her suicide. It is still an astonishing, riveting film, both eloquent and difficult. The centerpiece of Monday's performance was a selection from "Shards" (1969-73), with music, images and movement performed live by Ms. Monk with Ellen Fisher, Katie Geissinger and Allison Sniffin. I've never seen or felt the handsome interior of St. Mark's Church so well employed. When two of the women, seated on opposite sides, sang in harmony, their voices perfectly, beautifully filled the space. A vocal trio used a few long-held gestures, making patterns that brought out architectural symmetries in the church. In one scene, off center, Ms. Monk played a keyboard while Ms. Fisher, like a spectral presence, quietly advanced from behind and added an occasional third hand to the playing, now slowly in the bass register, now fast in the high. Later, these two women danced together on a diagonal, covering space with hungry steps. The most remarkable parts of "Shards" are the singing. Ms. Monk's vocalism often combines - or alternates among - ancient and modern, American, European and Asian traditions. Its harmonies, vibrations and trill-like effects; its keening reiterations of two-note patterns; its use of extreme vocal portamento and of diverse resonances all make Ms. Monk one of the world's most phenomenal musicians in terms of composition and performance. The evening ended with film excerpts from "Songs of Ascension" (2008), a work of rare beauty. Though Ms. Monk created the piece four years ago, this film is still a work in progress. It records separate images of the music as performed at a tower designed by the artist Ann Hamilton in Geyserville, Calif., a breathtaking space. The tower is a tall cylinder, opening at the top to the air and containing a marvelous spiral staircase, descending to a well. The film catches individuals and groups ascending and descending on the curving stairs and waiting in recesses. In one shot the well water comes as a surprise; in another, the surprise is greater, for now the water contains a woman, gesturing upward while turning. Meanwhile the music commutes between baroque and minimalist, between Asian and Western. An interesting aspect of Ms. Monk's work is that it has grown brighter and more harmonious over the years. It is still bracing and unusual, and can include grief. But the bleakness and despair of "16 Millimeter Earrings" belongs to the past. The Meredith Monk of recent decades is an artist whose eclecticism is characterized by generosity.