The unparalleled Paul Taylor Dance Company returns with two masterpieces
Paul Taylor
With a 64-year career and 147 works, Paul Taylor (1930–2018) left an ineffable mark on American modern dance. His choreography, which reflects his deep roots as an artist, innovator and provocateur, is known for its overarching architectural structure, musicality and for tackling thorny issues.
The Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC), which has performed in over 600 cities in 64 countries, returns to our stage on Apr 17–18. Expect to experience the breadth of Taylor’s genius with two radically different works: the Emmy Award-winning Speaking in Tongues (1988) and the joyful Esplanade (1975).
“The reigning master of modern dance”
Dance Magazine
Six feet tall, athletic and enthusiastic about swimming and painting, Taylor first discovered an interest in dance from books in his university’s library. He began formal dance training in 1951 and, after a serendipitous encounter with Martha Graham at a 1952 festival, enrolled in Juilliard’s dance division.
Taylor first made a name for himself on the stage, performing as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company for seven seasons. Later, he received an invitation from George Balanchine to perform in 3 Epitaphs (one of Taylor’s earliest works) with New York City Ballet.
In 1957, Taylor’s avant-garde performance Duet with Toby Glantemik raised eyebrows. Inspired by John Cage’s 4’33” score of silence, Duet featured the pair motionless on stage for over four minutes. The work catapulted him to fame by its infamous blank Dance Observer review by critic Louis Horst and Graham praising him as a “naughty boy.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Fearlessly blending contemporary dance, ballet and theatre, Taylor’s works portray the gamut of human emotion, from the outrageous to the sublime.
Speaking in Tongues
This April’s program opens with the dramatic and apocalyptic Speaking in Tongues, which first premiered on the Penn Live Arts stage in 1988. The 52-minute work explores religious extremism in the United States. Taylor’s choreography is paired with fragments of evangelical broadcasts in Matthew Patton’s “suitably strange” (The New York Times) score and biblical writings built into Santo Loquasto’s set. Hailed as “a masterpiece for our time” (The New York Times), it features an enthralling and frightening preacher alongside a congregation of archetypes to examine how fervor can lead to trauma, abuse and even death.
Having just seen Rennie Harris’ Losing My Religion, it will be interesting to revisit Taylor’s work, almost forty years since its premiere. Ironically, Harris (now 62 years old) and Taylor (58 in 1988) were celebrated mid-career artists when they created these powerful social conscious works wherein both artists were questioning their religious backgrounds.
Esplanade
PTDC fans like me are used to mood swings in Taylor programs, so it’s fitting that Esplanade follows the dark, powerful Speaking in Tongues.
Admired worldwide and perhaps Taylor’s most popular masterpiece, Esplanade celebrates its 50th anniversary. Named for an outside place to walk, Esplanade is a joyful, exuberant and playful tour de force set to Bach’s glorious music.
Taylor was inspired by a girl running to catch a bus and focused his choreography on everyday movements: running, catching, falling, sliding, jumping. The five sections feature numerous unpredictable exits and entrances that keep audiences smiling. His storytelling comes full circle, ending with a little girl alone on stage who suggests, “The meek shall inherit the earth.”
“It’s one of the most electrifying dances ever made. The audacity of its abandon, the ordinariness of its movement, the bliss of its structure — this isn’t just dancing, it’s flying.” (The New York Times)
Continuing the Legacy
Upon his death in 2018, Paul Taylor left his legacy of 147 dances to Michael Novak, a University of the Arts graduate, PTDC dancer alum and artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. PTDC continues to reach new generations of dancers and educators through the Paul Taylor Technique taught at academies and conservatories worldwide. And Taylor’s immense impact also lives on the work of numerous celebrated PTDC alums: Twyla Tharp, David Parsons, Pina Bausch, Dan Wagoner, Patrick Corbin, Christopher Gillis, Bettie de Jong, Amy Marshall and so many others.
Having performed almost twenty times in Philadelphia across the past four decades, the company has quite the fan base with our audiences. We hope to see many of you Apr 17–18 to enjoy this thrilling program of contrasting works.
