Paul Taylor Dance Company
The Paul Taylor Dance Company is known the world over for their exquisite movements and agility. The dancers shine in every move, precise, robust yet sophisticatedly nimble, revealing Taylor's implicit ingenuity through electric fluidity. It is no surprise that his male dancers are hailed as the handsomest men in the world, and his female dancers have the most beautiful minds and bodies.
Since its establishment in 1954, the Company has continued Taylor's mission to promote modern dance, has performed in more than 520 cities in 62 countries, at theatres and venues of every size and description in cultural capitals, on college campuses and in rural communities. In 1997, the Company was invited to give a nation-wide tour in celebration of India's 50 th Anniversary. Its engagement in Chile was named the Best International Dance Event of 1999 by the country's art critics' circle. In celebration of the Company's 50th Anniversary and 50 years of creativity by one of the most extraordinary artists in the world, the Taylor Foundation presented Taylor's works in all 50 states of America between March 2004 and November 2005. The grand event highlighted the Company's leading status in the American modern dance world , aptly described by the New York Post as "one of the few indisputably great dance companies in the world".
The Company has been frequently featured in the media of the United States and other parts of the world, including Matthew Diamond's 1998 documentary about Paul Taylor and his company, Dancemaker, which won an Oscar nomination.
On its tour to Hong Kong this October, the Paul Taylor Dance Company will be presenting six dances which promise to dazzle and delight with the boundless energy and strong sense of drama that have made the Company's founder and Artistic Director, Paul Taylor, a contemporary dance legend. Out of the six pieces selected by Taylor for Hong Kong audiences, four are his signature pieces, and Promethean Fire, which was created to commemorate the 911 attacks, while Changes is his latest work this year.
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| " Paul Taylor is the King of Kings in modern dance!" |
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Lin Hwai-min
(Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan) |
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| Paul Taylor |
Artistic Director & Choreographer |
Heralded by
TIME Magazine as the "reigning master of modern dance", Paul Taylor has cast such a profound influence on modern dance that he stands unchallenged. Through the far-reaching tours he pioneered as a virtuoso dancer in the 1950's, people in cities and towns throughout the world have enjoyed live modern dance performances and experienced first-hand the explosive power and versatility of the art form. This tradition is continued to this day through the international tours by his two dance companies ¡V Paul Taylor Dance Company and Taylor 2.
Since his first works appeared 54 years ago, Taylor has choreographed over 120 dances. After retiring as a performer in 1975, he devoted himself fully to choreography.
Esplanade marked his first work as a full-time choreographer, and other masterpieces soon followed. Now at 78, he still creates two new dances a year, making himself the most prolific master of our time. Taylor is acutely perceptive and insightful. He always infuses the silhouette of different eras in his dances in the most unimaginable way. His movements are vivid and lucid, often lifting the audience to rapture. Celebrated for his musicality, he has set movement to music so memorably that for millions it is impossible to hear certain orchestral works and popular tunes, from Bach, Schubert to greatest hits which top the pop chart, and not think of his dances.
Taylor 's amazing creativity has also inspired many men and women who have gone on to create their own dances or establish their own troupes. Pina Bausch, the diva of Tanztheater in Germany, went to the U.S. to study under him. Lin Hwai-min, founder and Artistic Director of Cloudgate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, was also inspired by Taylor to take up dancing and have become his dedicated fan since youth. Taylor is among the most sought-after choreographers working today, commissioned by leading companies, theatres and presenting organizations all over the world.
He has won numerous accolades for his achievements in modern dance, which include the National Medal of Arts presented by the U.S. President Clinton in 1993, the Kennedy Center Honors, an Emmy Award, three Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and eight honorary doctorates. In 2000, he was awarded the Lˆmgion d'Honneur, the highest honour in France. He is the subject of the widely seen documentary,
Dancemaker, and author of a critically acclaimed autobiography,
Private Domain.
