Paul Taylor Dance Company

Bach to Offenbach

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Bach to Offenbach


"Cascade", "Sunset", "Offenbach Overtures"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
November 23, 2025


The final program of the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s 2025 Fall season was an all-Taylor afternoon ranging from the pristine classicism of his 1999 Bach-inspired “Cascade” to the 1995 “Offenbach Overtures” raucously comic send up of ballet cliches, with a detour to “Sunset”, Taylor’s 1983 lyrically mournful picture of young sailors set to Edward Elgar. The program was

By Mary Cargill
New and Old

Paul Taylor Dance Company

New and Old


First Program: "Vive la Loïe", "Takademe", "Solitaire", "Company B"
Second Program: "Sunset", "Under the Rhythm", "Beloved Renegade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
November 12, 2025 (first program) and November 13, 2025 (second program)


The Paul Taylor Dance Company is facing the same questions that other companies whose repertories are based on the founding choreographer are facing—how to continue when the source of new works is no longer around. 

By Mary Cargill
Going to the Dogs

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Going to the Dogs


"Company B", "Scudorama", "Diggity"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
November 7, 2025


It may have been accidental but this all-Taylor program had a canine theme--there were lots of dogs, flat metallic ones sitting on the stage for the dancers  in the final work, “Diggity”, to maneuver around and Taylor has also explained that one of the inspirations for the middle work, the inscrutably surrealistic “Scudorama” was the memory of a dog

By Mary Cargill
Taylored Style

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Taylored Style


Program A: "Polaris", "Tablet", "Cloven Kingdom"
Program B: "Tablet", "Churchyard", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 19, 2025  (Program A) and June 21, 2025, evening (Program B)


The Paul Taylor Dance Company faces the same problem that all companies built around a founding choreographer face when that choreographer is no longer around—how to keep the company fresh without ignoring the past.  Michael Novak, the current director, has been looking both

By Mary Cargill
Taylor Cubed

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Taylor Cubed


"Arden Court", "The Word", "Syzygy"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
November 21, 2024


This all-Taylor program included works showing some of Taylor’s frequent  themes, from the bright, cheerful “Arden Court”, through the dark and somber “The Word”, and finishing with the bursting energy of “Syzygy”, all danced with an impressive power.  The works, for all their differences, had Taylor’s confident and imaginative use of structure to reinforce

By Mary Cargill
Let There Be Light

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Let There Be Light


"Aureole, Vive La Loïe" "Recess", "Funny Papers"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
November 8, 2024

There was a lot of light and cheer in the evening’s dances, including the premiere of Jody Sperling’s homage to Loïe Fuller, an early modern dancer whose voluminous costumes and imaginative lighting inspired thousands of Art Nouveau lamps.  It opened with Paul Taylor’s “Aureole”, his light-filled vision of a world full of Handel

By Mary Cargill
Going to Extremes

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Going to Extremes



"Runes", Post Meridian", "Brandenburgs"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 26, 2024


Marketing has christened the Joyce’s week-long Taylor season as “Extreme Taylor”, a perfectly accurate designation since all of Taylor’s works are extreme challenges, requiring both physical strength and an internal fierceness strong enough to transport an audience. This program highlighted Taylor’s variety; “Runes” (1975) showed his fascination with communal rituals, the rarely seen “Post Meridian” (1965) featured his sly and

By Mary Cargill
I like bugs, too

Paul Taylor Dance Company

I like bugs, too


"Somewhere in the Middle", "Eventide", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 12, 2023 

“I love bugs!” Eran Bugge says Paul Taylor told her at her audition.  The audience at her retirement certainly agreed as she and Christina Lynch Markham, the most senior members of the company, both retired at the end of the Lincoln Center season to cheers and flowers.  Neither looked retirement

By Mary Cargill
Looking Back

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Looking Back


"Book of Beasts", "Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal)", "Black Tuesday"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 8, 2023 


This all-Taylor program showed the choreographer looking backwards, from the zany take on Medieval bestiaries (combined with satires of ballet dancers) of “Book of Beasts”, to the odd homage to Nijinsky in “Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rehearsal)” with its oblique references to gangster melodramas, and ending with “Black Tuesday”, Taylor’

By Mary Cargill
A for Effort

Paul Taylor Dance Company

A for Effort


"Echo", "Vespers", "Piazzolla Caldera"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 4, 2023 evening


This triple bill showed the Taylor Company expanding its repertoire offering a new work by Lauren Lovette (“Echo”) with an all-male cast and “Vespers”, choreographed in 1986 by Ulysses Dove for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company with an all-female cast.  Both of these works got committed, fierce  performances, showing off the company's thrilling technique.  But,

By Mary Cargill
The Human Touch

Paul Taylor Dance Company

The Human Touch


"Dreamachine", "Eventide", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 1, 2023


The Paul Taylor Company returned to its now traditional Fall Lincoln Center season with a mixture of modern choreographers and Taylor classics.  Lauren Lovette, the former NYCB dancer, was appointed the resident choreographer in 2022, has two premieres, and the season also includes works by Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, and Larry Keigwin,  It also includes

By Mary Cargill
Getting to Know You

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Getting to Know You


Program A: "Fibers", "Images and Reflections", "Hope is a Thing with Feathers", "Profiles", "Aureole"
Program B: "Tracer", "Events II", "A Call for Softer Landings", "Profiles", "Aureole"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 17, 2022 (Program B) and June 18, 2022 matinee (Program A)


The Taylor Company's brief Joyce season was a history lesson of sorts, featuring several early Taylor works, some not seen since their original performances, and a possible glimpse of the future, with

By Mary Cargill