Paul Taylor Dance Company’s Season of Solid Gold

The Paul Taylor Dance Company celebrates its 50th Anniversary with an extended three-week Season of Solid Gold at City Center. Showcasing the depth, imagination and impact of his work, Mr. Taylor will present 19 dances including 17 masterworks made between 1956 and 2002, and the New York premieres of two works he created in 2004: Dante Variations and Klezmerbluegrass, the 121st work of his career.

The City Center repertoire will include many of Mr. Taylor’s most beloved and critically acclaimed dances. Considered the master of light and dark, Mr. Taylor will be represented by the light-hearted Funny Papers (1994), 3 Epitaphs (1956) and Offenbach Overtures (1995), contrasted with the apocalyptic Last Look (1985) and profoundly disturbing Big Bertha (1970). In Cloven Kingdom (1976), Mr. Taylor reveals the animal nature that lurks beneath mankind’s more sophisticated guises. The choreographer’s renowned Americana works will be represented by Klezmerbluegrass, Company B (1991) and Black Tuesday (2001), set to songs from the Great Depression. His legendary “partnership” with Baroque composers will be celebrated in Esplanade, Musical Offering (1986) and Promethean Fire (2002) to music by Bach; Arden Court (1981) to music by Boyce; and Aureole (1962) to music by Handel. Mr. Taylor’s attraction to 20th Century music will be showcased in Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (1980) to Stravinsky’s score; Syzygy, and Dante Variations. Two other works examine relationships between – and among – the sexes: Piazzolla Caldera (1997) shows men and women at their most sensual against the backdrop of tango culture, while Eventide (1997) presents them at their most purely romantic.