The Artist
What you’ll want to know…
The Artist
Paul Taylor – Choreographer, Dancer, Leader.
Until his passing in late August, 2018, Dancemaker Paul Taylor, one of the seminal artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries, continued to shape the American art of modern dance that he helped define ever since he became a professional dancer and pioneering choreographer in 1954.
Under the direction of newly-named Artistic Director Michael Novak, Paul Taylor’s legacy continues today and will do so for generations to come.
During his 60 years as Artistic Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Mr. Taylor curated and presented great modern dances of the past and present alongside his own works at Lincoln Center and other preeminent venues throughout the world, commissioning a new generation of choreographers to make dances on his own Company so that modern dance flourishes long into the future.
Well into his 80’s, at an age when most artists’ best work is behind them, Mr. Taylor continued to win public and critical acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance, and power of his dances. He was proud to use the movement of dance to offer cogent observations on life’s complexities while tackling some of society’s thorniest issues. While he may have propelled his dancers through space for the sheer beauty of it, he more frequently used them to illuminate such profound issues as war, piety, spirituality, sexuality, morality, and mortality.
During his lifetime, Mr. Taylor made 147 dances, beginning in 1954. Many have attained iconic status. He covered a breathtaking range of topics, but recurring themes include life and death; the natural world and man’s place within it; love and sexuality in all gender combinations; and iconic moments in American history.
His poignant looks at soldiers, those who send them into battle, and those they leave behind prompted the New York Times to hail him as “among the great war poets” – high praise indeed for an artist in a wordless medium.
Continuing to embrace new challenges, in 2012 Mr. Taylor moved the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s performances to a new home at Lincoln Center, where it has attracted larger audiences than ever before. And in 2014 he blazed a new trail by establishing an institutional home for the modern dance art form: Paul Taylor American Modern Dance. Until his passing, he remained among the most sought-after working choreographers of the 21st century, commissioned by presenting organizations the world over.
Michael Novak – Artistic Director
In September, 2018, Michael Novak became only the second Artistic Director in the history of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, upon the death of Founding Artistic Director Paul Taylor the previous month. Mr. Novak has been a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company since 2010.
Mr. Novak’s Paul Taylor Dance Company debut in the 2010-11 season earned him a nomination for the Clive Barnes Foundation Dance Award. Since joining the Company he has danced 56 roles in 50 Taylor dances, 13 of which were made on him. He has also had roles created on him by the five Taylor Company Commission choreographers to date.
In announcing Mr. Novak’s appointment as Artistic Director Designate in March 2018, Mr. Taylor said, “Michael has mastered our repertory and steeped himself in dance history. He understands the need to nurture the past, present and future of modern dance. I look forward to working with him and preparing him to assume artistic leadership of my Company.”
“I am determined to further Paul Taylor’s vision,” Mr. Novak said upon assuming the role of Artistic Director, “and to bring his gems to every part of the globe… to honor past dance makers and encourage future artists… and to make sure modern dance remains a transformative force for good in our lives long into the future.”
The Artistry
The Paul Taylor Dance Company
The Paul Taylor Dance Company and Taylor 2 have traveled the globe many times over, bringing Mr. Taylor’s ever-burgeoning repertoire to theaters and venues of every size and description in cultural capitals, on college campuses and in rural communities – and often to places modern dance had never been before. The Taylor Company has performed in more than 540 cities in 64 countries, representing the United States at arts festivals in more than 40 countries and touring extensively under the aegis of the U.S. Department of State. The Company is regularly is invited to tour internationally in Europe, Asia, South America, and more.
While continuing to garner international acclaim, the Paul Taylor Dance Company performs more than half of each touring season in cities throughout the United States. The Company’s season in 2005, marking its 50th Anniversary, was attended by more than 25,000 people. Its 2004-2005 50 state US tour underscored the Taylor Company’s historic role as one of the early touring companies of American modern dance.
The Paul Taylor Dance Company has appeared on PBS in nine different programs, including the 1991 Emmy Award-winning Speaking in Tongues and The Wrecker’s Ball – with Company B, Funny Papers, and A Field of Grass – which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997. In 1999 the PBS American Masters series aired Dancemaker, the Academy Award nominated documentary about Mr. Taylor and the Taylor Company,
Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company
Paul Taylor established the Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company in 1993 to ensure that his works could be seen by audiences all over the world, unhindered by economic or technical limitations. He created a company directed by former Taylor dancers that could accommodate performance requests as well as teach and provide community outreach.
Taylor 2 Company tours extensively. Engagements are flexible and are customized to meet the needs of each community, and often consist of master classes and lecture demonstrations in addition to performances in non-traditional venues as well as theaters. In selecting repertoire for Taylor 2, Mr. Taylor chooses dances that span the broad spectrum of his work.
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
Through a new initiative at Lincoln Center – Paul Taylor American Modern Dance – great modern works of the past and outstanding works by today’s leading choreographers are presented alongside Mr. Taylor’s own vast and growing repertoire. And Taylor Company Commissions enables the next generation of dance makers to work with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, thereby helping to ensure the future of the art form. As an integral part of Mr. Taylor’s vision, these dances are accompanied at Lincoln Center by live music whenever so intended by the choreographer.
Awards & Recognitions
Paul Taylor has received nearly every important honor given to artists in the United States.
In 1992, Mr. Taylor was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and received an Emmy Award for Speaking in Tongues, produced by WNET/New York the previous year. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1993. In 1995 he received the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts and was named one of 50 prominent Americans honored in recognition of their outstanding achievement by the Library of Congress’s Office of Scholarly Programs.
Mr. Taylor is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from eight universities. Awards for lifetime achievement include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship – often called the “genius award” – and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. Other awards include the New York State Governor’s Arts Award and the New York City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Art and Culture.
In 1989 Mr. Taylor was elected one of ten honorary members of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Having been elected to knighthood by the French government as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1969 and elevated to Officier in 1984 and Commandeur in 1990, Mr. Taylor was awarded France’s highest honor, the Légion d’Honneur, in 2000 for exceptional contributions to French culture.
Paul Taylor Dance Company – 30 Second Promo
“Short course in modern dance: in the beginning there was Martha Graham, who changed the face of an art form and discovered a new world. Then there was Merce Cunningham, who stripped away the externals and showed us the heart of movement. And then there was Paul Taylor, who let the sun shine in.”
Laura Shapiro – Newsweek
Paul Taylor Dance Company – Esplanade
Paul Taylor Dance Company – Private Domain
Photo Credits: Paul B. Goode Photography
Paul Taylor’s Dancers at their Greatest
“Young people cavorting with the kinetic propensities of young godlets.” -Clive Barnes, New York Post
