A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
Esplanade
Choreography: Paul Taylor | Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
The definitive Paul Taylor work, Esplanade is at once playful, somber, romantic, and explosive. This pillar of modern dance instantly affirmed Taylor as one of history’s greatest choreographers.
An esplanade is an outdoor place to walk. In 1975, Paul Taylor, inspired by the sight of a girl running to catch a bus, created a masterwork based on pedestrian movement. If contemporaries Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg could use ordinary “found objects” like Coke bottles and American flags in their art, Taylor would use such “found movements” as standing, walking, running, sliding, and falling.
Company B
Choreography: Paul Taylor | Music: Songs sung by the Andrews Sisters
Just as America began to emerge from the Depression at the dawn of the 1940s, the country was drawn into the Second World War. In a seminal piece of Americana, Paul Taylor recalls that turbulent era through the hit songs of the Andrews Sisters. Although the songs depict a nation surging with high spirits, millions of men were bidding farewell to wives or girlfriends, and many would never return from battle. The dance focuses on such poignant dualities.
Arden Court
Choreography: Paul Taylor | Music: William Boyce
The name Arden Court is a reference to Shakespeare's As You Like It and its vision of a pastoral place of peace and beauty. Set to the music of Baroque composer William Boyce, this famous work by Paul Taylor showcases the power and beauty of male dancers, proving that the strong and powerful can also be sensitive. The backdrop is a beautiful rose - an homage to Paul's mother - creating an idyllic landscape of harmony, innocence, and romance.
