Perusing Paul – A Review of the Paul Taylor Dance Company
by Nicole Fallon

Perhaps one of the most under-represented facets of the performing arts industry in New York City is dance. With theater productions and concerts dominating show business advertisements, there just doesn't seem to be much room for it. Of course there's the New York City Ballet, but other than that, how many dance performances do you really hear about in the city? The Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC), based right here in Manhattan, has been trying to change that.

Paul Taylor, founder of the PTDC, is a legend in the world of dance. He has been sharing his talent for modern dance and choreography since 1954, when he and five other dancers joined together to form PTDC. In the company’s illustrious fifty-five year history, Taylor has taken PTDC across the globe to perform in over five hundred international cities and over forty different countries. Some of the company's most memorable work, however, has been done in its home country. PTDC spends half of its touring season giving performances in American cities, including an annual three-week engagement at the New York City Center on West 56th Street.

The company's tour at City Center this year ran from February 25 to March 15. Each night, a selection of three of Taylor's nearly 130 different pieces was performed. I was fortunate enough to attend the performance on March 12, which featured three dances: "Funny Papers," "Scudorama," and "Esplanade." With background in several different disciplines of dance, there is one thing I can say about the art with a fair amount of certainty - you never quite know what you're going to get with a modern performance.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the field, modern dance was created in the early twentieth century as an escape from the rigid, structured rules of classical ballet. The focus of the style was meant to be less on form and control, and more on freedom of expression and movement. The intrinsic freedom present in this new type of dance opened the term "modern" up for a wide variety of interpretation, so it runs the gamut from simple-interpretive-emotional gestures to wild cultural infusions of African and Native American dances. I had never seen a PTDC show prior to this, and I was unfamiliar with anything he had choreographed so, naturally, I was unsure of what to expect when the curtain opened.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first piece, "Funny Papers," (1994) which was, as the title would imply, quite funny. Almost all of the company’s sixteen members appear on stage at one point performing in seven 3-to-4 minute segments set to what the playbill describes as "novelty tunes" (i.e., Popeye the Sailor Man, Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, etc.). The black and white costumes, mimicking a newspaper's color scheme, were title-appropriate and simple so as not to distract the audience from the dances themselves. The segments mainly consisted of large, exaggerated movements and staged "slapstick" humor, which made for some very graceful slips-and-falls. I thoroughly enjoyed the piece, and the audience was in high spirits by the first intermission. As I read over the program, however, I learned that the dances I had just seen were not original Paul Taylor choreography, but the choreography of other credited artists that was chosen and combined by Taylor. I realized that I had not seen an accurate representation of the dance titan's work, so I was slightly unprepared for the next piece.

Nothing could have been farther from the preceding lighthearted humor than "Scudorama," (1963) a dark piece that could only be described as visions of purgatory. At least that's what Paul Taylor wanted the audience to think - a Dante quote about souls running through black haze is included below the title in the program. There is a backdrop this time: a translucent gray screen with black clouds that sets the tone for the piece. The music, composed specifically for the piece, is ominous and foreboding. A man in a suit and tie carefully steps over seven scattered "dead" dancers in colored spandex bodysuits until they come to life, crawling and thrashing their bodies on the stage. Through careful use of props-several times the dancers gathered under large sheets to form an amorphous mass of movement-lighting, and the choreography itself, Taylor perfectly captures the pain and anguish of souls suffering, trapped in the middle world between heaven and hell. By the time the curtain closed, I was left feeling rather disturbed at the prospect of their fates.

The third and final piece, "Esplanade," (1975) one of Taylor's signature works according to my modern dance instructor, was quite dissimilar from the previous pieces. Set to Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Concerto in E Major and Double Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, the piece begins with nine dancers dressed in pastel colors performing movements that seem to be loosely based on traditional ballet. Taylor uses partner dancing and gender groupings to convey a "high-society" ball concept in which one can feel the rush of excitement in the characters and the thrill at the thought of finding love at this event. When the music switches to Double Concerto, so does the mood of the piece. The previously lighter, happier tempo melts into a slower, more wistful one as the characters' complex relationships with one another are explored. There is, of course, a happy ending that accompanies the return of the E major, and the female dancers are happily united in love with their respective male dancers.

What really struck me about these three pieces was the immense variety and contrast from one to the next. Paul Taylor is truly a chameleon, never staying with one particular theme or type of movement, and yet all of his choreography is equally captivating. Now, what I've seen is only a small sample of his work, but just in this one show he proves to the audience that he can do comedy, tragedy, and romance - and that he can make them last. The longevity of these pieces that were originally created decades ago surely says something about the appeal of Taylor and his take on modern dance.

Perhaps this appeal comes from his emphasis on emotion. In each of his dances Taylor skillfully combines grace with physics-defying feats of strength and agility while simultaneously mirroring the emotional undertones present in the music. When you watch a Taylor dance, you don't just think, "Oh, that's nice." You are inexplicably, uncontrollably sucked into the world he creates. He takes you on a journey that explores every aspect of human passion, and leaves you with the realization that you've just experienced something deeper and more meaningful than simply watching a group of dancers on a stage.

Even if you're not into dance, I would strongly recommend a PTDC performance to anyone looking for an emotionally fulfilling entertainment experience. For more information about the company and upcoming shows, visit http://www.ptdc.org.