{"id":1495,"date":"2012-07-05T22:59:20","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T22:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=1495"},"modified":"2012-08-23T06:41:15","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T06:41:15","slug":"paul-taylor-dance-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/paul-taylor-dance-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Taylor Dance Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gossamer Gallants (Francisco Graciano & Michael Apuzzo) (c) Tom Carava<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

at <\/span>Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse<\/span><\/span><\/em> Festival<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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The brilliant Opening Night of the Paul Taylor Dance Company on June 20th<\/sup> 2012 at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre National de Chaillot<\/span><\/strong> was also the official opening of the 8th<\/sup> annual international dance event in Paris of the Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse <\/strong><\/span>festival.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every summer since 2005 the Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse festival<\/span> invites one or two of the most prestigious international dance companies to Paris. Previous companies are: San Francisco Ballet (2005), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2006 and 2009), Ballet National de Cuba (2007), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal (2008), Ballet Novossibirsk (2010), \u00a0\u201cDuet\u201d with Ana Laguna and Mikhail Baryshnikov (2010), and \u201cIn Paris\u201d with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Dmitry Krymov Laboratory (2011).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Paul Taylor (c) Paul Palmaro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This summer, Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse<\/span> 2012 <\/span>offerings are both from the USA: the Paul Taylor Dance Company, from June 19 to 28, and a return of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, from June 25 to July 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Opening Night the Paul Taylor Dance Company program I saw comprised three ensemble pieces: \u201cGossamer Gallants\u201d, \u201cThe Uncommitted\u201d,\u00a0 and \u201cSyzygy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGossamer Gallants\u201d choreographed by Paul Taylor premiered in November 2011. Presented for the first time in Paris by Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse – it is playful, fresh and tells the story about fire-flies and how they pair up, the females searching for their gossamer gallant. The movement of the fire-flies was authentic with quivering arms and hands with quick changes of directions, leaps and symmetry to musical extracts by Bedrich Smetana. Humorous moments of brief acrobatic moves folded into the movement or competition as the males vied for the females were well received. <\/span><\/p>\n

Stylish d\u00e9cor and Costumes designed by Santo Loquasto added to the creativity and playfulness – the men in shimmery sleek black and turquoise metallic detailed body suits, headdress caps and beautiful glistening gossamer wings \u2013the women in shimmery leaf green metallic body suits, headdress caps and glistening white wings. D\u00e9cor by Loquasto and warm dramatic lighting by Jennifer Tipton provided a wondrous atmosphere for these insects with a backdrop of a huge circular castle surrounded by the silhouettes of trees with wiry branches, evoking the dark of night when fire-flies play. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Uncommitted (Eran Bugge, Robert Kleinendorstet Aileen Roehl)<\/p>\n

(c) Photo : Rick McCullough<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u201cThe Uncommitted\u201d choreographed by Paul Taylor premiered in July 2011. Presented for the first time in Paris by Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse \u2013 is a lugubrious and mystical piece set to Arvo P\u00e4rt\u2019s exquisite music: Fratres, Mozart-Adagio, Ricercar and Summa.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This dance, in four parts firstly explores the mood of the music, and secondly, the dynamics of individuals, pairs and groups coming together \u2013 and separating.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Uncommitted (Michelle Fleet)(c) Tom Caravaglia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the first part of <\/span><\/em>“The Uncommitted\u201d <\/span>a dance phrase is repeated by nine dancers as pairs and groups form and disperse depositing a new dancer alone onstage to do their version of the phrase. Each part evolves with the next piece of music, including an outstanding solo by Michelle Fleet and different combinations of dancers. It\u2019s a fascinating meditative piece. The dancing is often muscular with low center of gravity, and slowly sustained in the beautiful section of lifts in the adagio pairs. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This piece transports you visually and viscerally. It\u2019s sultry music, ever changing formations of dancers and poignant relationships, Tipton\u2019s rich red lighting and Loquasto\u2019s red and blue\/gray shaded ancient tapestry inspired patterned costumes make this a very special piece indeed. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Syzygy (Michael Trusnovec & Robert Kleinendorst (c) Paul B. Goode)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\u201cSyzygy\u201d choreographed by Paul Taylor in 1987 to Donald York\u2019s music is a wonderfully fun and fluid piece. According to the program, the astronomical term \u201cSyzygy\u201d means the configuration of “a nearly straight line of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system”. As if in orbit, the dancers are in continual motion around each other, changing speed – with falls, twirls, and darts. This piece is brilliantly choreographed to the music; it is a whole and a very well realized work. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Piazzolla Caldera (Annmaria Mazzini,Lisa Viola & Robert Kleinendorst (c) Paul B. Goode)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Brandenburgs (Robert Kleinendorst,James Samson & Lisa Viola) (c) Lois Greenfield<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

For modern dance fans this festival is a feast because both companies perform a varied program of several short dance pieces at each performance, so it is possible to go more than once and see the repertoire of different dances by each outstanding dance company.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Cloven Kingdom (Jeffrey Smith,Michael Apuzzo, Michael Novak & Francisco Graciano)(c) Tom Caravaglia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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A wonderful feature of the Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse festival is the \u201cRencontres-Spectacles\u201d on Wednesday afternoons during the festival.<\/p>\n

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These events are for the public and especially young people to learn about dance at these specially selected Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performances, followed by a Q&A with the dancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Alvin Ailey American Dance
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\nKirven J. Boyd dans Takademe
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\nPhoto : Andrew Eccles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\u00a0Alvin Ailey American Dance TheaterRevelations (c) Eduardo Patino<\/p>\n

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Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse Festival Dates 2012:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Taylor Dance Company – June 19 to 28, 2012 at the <\/span>Th\u00e9\u00e2tre National de Chaillot.<\/strong>Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – June 25 to July 28, 2012 at the <\/span>Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Ch\u00e2telet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Websites – tickets & more information:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.lesetesdeladanse.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Taylor Dance Company: http:\/\/www.ptdc.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: http:\/\/www.alvinailey.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jo Tomalin Ph.D.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics World<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/jo-tomalin\/ <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

www.forallevents.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Follow @JoTomalin<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Gossamer Gallants (Francisco Graciano & Michael Apuzzo) (c) Tom Carava Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris\u00a0 at Les Et\u00e9s de la Danse Festival The brilliant Opening Night of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[76,715,75,74,77],"class_list":{"0":"post-1495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-jo-tomalin","7":"tag-alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater","8":"tag-jo-tomalin","9":"tag-les-etes-de-la-danse-festival","10":"tag-paul-taylor","11":"tag-santo-loquasto"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"