Review: Paul Taylor Dance Company

Details

Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Friday, 04 March 2011 05:00

Written by Jack Angstreich

Paul Taylor Dance Company
Choreography by Paul Taylor
Music by Donald York, Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Cowell, Malloy Miller, John Herbert McDowell, Anonymous Renaissance Composers, Gaetano Donizetti, Francis Poulenc, J.S. Bach
City Center, New York City

The Paul Taylor Dance Company is in the midst of an exciting season at City Center. At the matinee on Sunday, February 27, 2011, the program began with Polaris, first performed in 1976, and set to a score, specially composed for the piece, by Donald York. What aesthetic distinction lies in this music -- which seemed to range across a variety of twentieth-century Western classical styles -- was difficult to discern in that, although it was written for a full orchestra, it was not played live and the sound system at City Center is, regrettably -- and surprisingly -- not state-of-the-art.

Polaris is constructed around a structuralist (or conceptualist) conceit whereby the choreography of the first half is repeated in the second identically, save only for a change in cast, music, and lighting. The unfolding of this architectonic has a cumulative power and, indeed, the two moments where the casts exchange are stunning coups de theâtre. Although the visual conception here is minimalist, and characteristic of the period in which it was created, the choreography is by no means austerely bereft of sensuality and liveliness.

The next work, Phantasmagoria, a New York City premiere, reveals Taylor's postmodern streak -- where historical time is collapsed into an endless now in which all styles can be infinitely recombined -- as well as a playfulness and wit which seem to owe something to the example of Jerome Robbins -- but, the generosity of Taylor's imagination is such that irony does not overwhelm affirmation of, and reverence for, his chosen material. Phantasmagoria is set to wonderful music by anonymous Renaissance composers although, again, the effect was diminished by hearing it in a pre-recorded format; however, due to the relative smallness of the instrumental ensembles in these pieces, the artistic compromise here was not as profound as in Polaris. If Phantasmagoria as a whole feels slight, it was not without its pleasures. The amusing costumes were designed by Santo Loquasto.

The most rewarding and enjoyable work on the program, however, was the last, the delightful Cloven Kingdom, also from 1976, set to music by Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Cowell, and Malloy Miller, cleverly spliced together by John Herbert McDowell. Taylor's deployment of the great Baroque composer Corelli here contrasts significantly with that of George Balanchine's in his magisterial, neoclassical Square Dance -- the clash with the sounds of Indonesian gamelan in Cloven Kingdom is an index of the choreographer's exuberant fondness for parody and pastiche and this ballet is often most beautiful in its daring embrace, at moments, of an inspired silliness.

The evening program of the same day opened with the frothy comedy, the 2009 Also Playing -- set to charming instrumental music from two Donizetti operas and with humorous costumes by Loquasto -- where Taylor sends up classical ballet, nineteenth-century opera, flamenco, the waltz, and American patriotism -- it all amounts to a splendid romp.

The 1977 Dust, set to some striking music by Francis Poulenc, finds Taylor working in a more avant-garde, if still jocular, mode. I found this ballet difficult to synthesize on a first viewing but it had some arresting moments.

The day's apotheosis came with the final work on the program, Taylor's signature opus, the exhilarating Esplanade from 1975, set to glorious music from two outstanding concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. This magnificent ballet shows Taylor's creative powers at their peak.

Polaris, Opus Number: 64
Music: Donald York (commissioned score)
Set and Costumes: Alex Katz
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed:   August 26, 1976

Phantasmagoria, Opus Number: 132
Music: Anonymous Renaissance Composers
Costumes: Santo Loquasto
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: July 15, 2010  

Cloven Kingdom, Opus Number: 63
Music: Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Cowell, and Malloy Miller
Costumes: Women's Costumes by Scott Barrie, Headpieces by John Rawlings
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: June 9, 1976

Also Playing, Opus Number: 130
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Costumes: Santo Loquasto
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: April 8, 2009  

Dust, Opus Number:  66
Music: Francis Poulenc
Set and Costumes: Gene Moore
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: June 1, 1977

Esplanade, Opus Number: 61
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costumes: John Rawlings
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: March 1, 1975

For more information, visit www.ptdc.org.

New York City Center
130 W. 56th St.
New York, NY 10019
(212) 581-1212
www.nycitycenter.org
Opened: February 22, 2011; closes March 6, 2011

• < Prev
• Next >