Paul Taylor Dance Company
He's charming. He's funny, He's a crowd-pleaser. He has survived for more than 50 years and composed 124 dances. But don't underestimate choreographer, Paul Taylor, or dismiss him as light-weight. He has a company of 16 strong dancers, with the strongest contingent of male dancers that he has had in years for "Bouquet of Vultures," (2005) his grim and dark anti-war statement looking stronger than ever.
Taylor's background at the American Dance Festival and The Juilliard School in the 1950s brought him to the attention of the Martha Graham for her Contemporary Dance Company. But he never quite took to her world of tragedies and gods, although one can still see an occasional contraction (horrors) in his work. Taylor joined her company in 1955, at the same time creating his own dances for his own small company. Balanchine, however, did see Taylor's underlying humor in a serious solo he created or him in New York City Ballet's "Episodes," 1959. It was from both choreographers, that Taylor may have gotten the musical instinct and eclectic taste. From Bach to Astor Piazzolla, Taylor finds his musical choices more for accompaniment than as impetus for his interpretation. By 1962, he was ready to strike out on his own. By 1975, he had created his signature work, "Esplanade," with his zany running gag...literally running...busily interpreted this season by Lisa Viola, supposedly inspired by Taylor's seeing a woman run for a bus. But nothing seems to compare in humor to his earlier work, "Three Epitaphs," (1956) with his dancers in black unitards, heads covered in black hoods except for a single silly rhinestone on each forehead, as the dancers shuffled around to harmonica music. Wonderful, but not seen recently.
At NYCity Center, a season of 18 works, Taylor's spoof, "Piece Period," (1979) was revived, complete with "period music and costumes," and was delightfully danced. Some of the other works presented in the NY season were: "Dante Variations" (2004), "Piazzolla Caldera" (1997), "Lines of Loss" (2006), "Sunset" (1983), Taylor's meditation on war pervaded by doom with the men in red berets and the women in white.
Showing more loyalty and respect for his own work than his two predecessors (Graham and Balanchine), Taylor incorporates the talents of his long-time associates; lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, set and costume designer, Santo Loquasto, rehearsal director and former Taylor dancer, Bettie De Jong, and for his Taylor 2 mini-company, his long-time colleague, Linda Hodes. Check the internet for the travels of the main and Taylor 2 companies. Taylor's 1954, autobiography is "Private Domain."