What was going on when I was born?

It used to be that the New York dancegoer had to scurry out to the farthest reaches of the city, climb the steepest flights of creaking stairs and ease onto the stiffest of plank seats to witness an evening of experimentalist dance. But then centers sprang up around New York, and avant-garde festivals became a regular part of the dance year. Today, experimentalist dance is institutionalized. And the greatest evidence is a weekend like this, when any number of wide-ranging new dances can be seen in any number of theater spaces. The difficulty this weekend, in fact, is to find somewhat more familiar fare, though several established middle-of-the-road groups are offering it.

The Administration today proposed rules that would permit state and local governments to make sure welfare recipients pay their rent. By imposing restrictions on welfare grants, the Administration said, municipalities could prevent tenants receiving them from being evicted. ''The welfare of dependent children cannot be adequately safeguarded'' when the parents are under constant threat of eviction, which may lead to homelessness or residence in a welfare hotel, the proposed rules said. Plan for Two-Party Checks Ordinarily, welfare recipients can use their monthly cash assistance any way they choose. The new rules would make it easier for cities to earmark a portion of the welfare payment for rent by issuing checks jointly to the landlord and the welfare recipient. Such checks could be cashed only after they were signed by both parties.

Two articles in Metropolitan Report on Nov. 8 about voter turnout in New York State and about the party alignment in the State Legislature - incorrectly reported the result of the Presidential balloting in Tompkins County. Walter F. Mondale outscored President Reagan there.

Baby Fae, the infant who received the heart of a baboon 20 days ago to replace her own defective heart, died today at 9 P.M,, officials of the Loma Linda University Medical Center said. Her death was due to complications caused when her body began last Friday to reject the transplanted heart. Her kidneys began deteriorating this afternoon and doctors tried to treat her with a form of kidney therapy called peritoneal dialysis. Her parents were with her as much as possible during her final hours and were receiving support from the hospital chaplain and physicians, hospital authorities said.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1984 Companies The Government forced two large banks to strengthen their credit policies and bolster their financial underpinnings. Directors of the Bank of America and the First National Bank of Chicago have been required to sign pledges to make specific changes. Analysts saw the move as part of a new strategy to keep banks healthy through preventive measures and market discipline. (Page A1.) The S.E.C. is investigating the possibility of securities law violations in connection with a $278 million charge-off for bad loans by First Chicago. (D4.) Continental Illinois said its nonperforming loans fell to $949 million in the third quarter. (D4.) Morton Thiokol will sell its Texize division to Dow Chemical for about $256 million. Dow will give up its 8.2 percent holding in Morton, ending a takeover threat. (D17.)

At almost any hour someplace in New York City one can hear the clack of backgammon counters, the pop of stones falling onto a board of the Asian game go, or the murmur of a close-knit clique of chess players and kibitzers hunched over a board pondering strategies. New York, in fact, is a city filled with players of board games. It is also a city flush with game centers, the little-known clubs, church basements and corners of public parks where almost anyone can find a game suitable to his taste, schedule and level of expertise. More often than not, the seasoned players at such gathering places welcome newcomers to share in their passion. And, for beginners and novices willing to invest the time and a bit of money, it is usually possible to obtain top-level instruction. Not all locales are suitable to all players, however. Chess clubs, for example, range from the old world, high-pressure environment of tournament play to homey shops where people are likely to sit, snack and gossip. At some bridge clubs, players are expected to know how to play the game fast and well, and must be willing to bet goodly sums. In short, it may be worthwhile to shop around for the right place to play.

New York State issued new regulations today prohibiting commercial fishing for five additional species in the Hudson River to comply with new, more-stringent Federal health guidelines on PCB-tainted fish. Ever since 1976, when contamination by PCB's - or polychlorinated biphenyls - was discovered in the river, commercial fishing of striped bass has been banned and that ban has been continued. The public has also been warned not to eat more than one meal a month of striped bass caught in the lower Hudson River.

Whether you ski, sail, fly, ride a motorcycle, go backpacking or do nothing more dangerous than get married, there is something of interest in the package. The price tag, though, is several hundred million dollars. The package is the collection of 24 magazines put on the auction block by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company early last month. Bids from interested parties were due last Friday, though some were taken as late as Monday, and a decision on the winner or winners is anticipated possibly as soon as late next week. When the gavel comes down, the price that the periodicals are expected to fetch - between $300 million and $750 million - will probably make it the biggest magazine sale in history. Among those thought to have interest, according to magazine analysts, are such familiar names as Time Inc., Gulf and Western Industries, the American Broadcasting Companies, CBS Inc., Thomson Newspapers Ltd., the American Express Company, the Hearst Corporation, The New York Times Company and the Times Mirror Company.

A front-page caption on Wednesday with a picture of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg gave an incorrect date for his most recent previous visit to Washington. It was in 1963.

Industrial production in the United States was unchanged in October, the Federal Reserve Board said today. But a number of analysts attributed the sluggishness to temporary factors and predicted modest gains in coming months. In September, according to revised figures, production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities declined a steep five-tenths of 1 percent, in the first setback since November 1982, which was the low point of the last recession. Many economists had expected the September decline to be erased by a strong gain in October.

The Federal Government, in an unusual move, has forced two of the nation's largest banks to strengthen their credit policies and bolster their financial underpinnings, the banks said yesterday in separate statements. The two banks are the Bank of America, the largest in the United States, and the First National Bank of Chicago, the eighth largest. Directors of both banks have been required by the Comptroller of the Currency, the arm of the Treasury Department that regulates federally chartered banks, to sign formal pledges to make specific changes. If the banks do not comply, the Comptroller can take the signed statements to court to obtain removal of the banks' senior officers.

A table of election results in Metropolitan Report on Nov. 8 misstated the vote for George J. Hochbrueckner, who was defeated for the House of Representatives from the First Congressional District in Suffolk County. He received 92,883 votes.