Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A company on the move: PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY heads into its fall season with ambitious plans for growth

• By drediman
• November 7, 2024
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Paul Taylor Dance Company is carrying a lot of momentum heading into its three-week fall season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Just last week, Taylor announced its ambitious plans to move into spacious new studios on West 38th Street, while retaining its current real estate down in the Lower East Side, where the company has been an anchor for the neighborhood since first leasing the space in 2011. The much-publicized move uptown to its new digs (which is about three times the size of the current headquarters on Grand Street) will allow the iconic contemporary dance company to grow its school — a chief priority of the company’s as it continues to redefine and stabilize itself after Taylor’s passing in 2018 and the subsequent blow caused by the pandemic, and key component of its expansion plan in the years to come.

Then at last night’s gala, it was also announced that choreographer Robert Battle — the former Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Battle parted ways with the storied company about this time last year) — has found a new home at Taylor, joining Lauren Lovette as a Resident Choreographer of the company. This appointment was made possible through the Taylor Future Dance Initiative (“TFDI”), which has been funded by a generous initial investment of $1 million from dance philanthropist and Taylor Board Vice Chair Steven Kroll Reidy. In short, TFDI allows choreographers to maximize the quality of their creative output, while providing them financial stability and nurturing fruitful, long-term partnerships — further signaling Taylor’s aggressive growth and proactive investment in the future of dance.

Although short and sweet, the gala performance made perfect sense within the context of the big news. The program — thankfully danced to live music played by the fantastic Orchestra at St. Luke’s — featured two world premieres, commencing with Lauren Lovette’s pas de deux Chaconne in Winter, which was dedicated to Reidy. Set to the melded music of Bach and Justin Vernon, the piece featured undulating and robust movements, particularly silken as performed by Madelyn Ho and John Harnage. The other premiere — fittingly entitled Dedicated to You — was created by Robert Battle to honor his teacher and mentor Carolyn Adams. The solo was joyously performed by Jada Pearman, the perfect conduit for Battle’s obvious homage to both Taylor and Ailey. The evening concluded with the entire company in a vigorous performance of the 2002 Taylor classic Promethean Fire.

RECOMMENDED

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY
Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Approximately 1 hour (without an intermission)
Fall season concludes on November 24