"I make dances because I can’t help it," says Paul Taylor, 82. "Working on dances has become a way of life, an addiction that at times resembles a fatal disease. Even so, I’ve no intention of kicking the habit. I make dances because I believe in the power of contemporary dance, its immediacy, its potency, its universality.'
Once again, San Francisco Performances — a long-time partner to the 59-year-old Paul Taylor Dance company — is bringing his modern-dance masterpieces to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, May 1-5, including the hilarious-magnificent Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal).
West Coast and San Francisco premieres include Kith & Kin (Mozart), To Make Crops Grow (Grofé), Gossamer Gallants (Smetana), and The Uncommitted (Pärt and others). Among returning favorites: Company B, to songs sung by the Andrews Sisters.
Robert Johnson reported last week in The Star-Ledger:
... powerful adventures await dance fans at Lincoln Center, where the Paul Taylor Dance Company opened its annual run last week.The genre varies from horror to romance, as Taylor conjures scenes of hair-raising suspense or lyrical abandon, but this choreographer’s imagination has never been more vividly displayed. The extensive season repertoire includes two stellar premieres and a host of masterworks.