Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform at Landmark Theatre on March 26

Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform at Landmark Theatre on March 26February 28, 2008Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences will present a return engagement of the internationally acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company in a special performance Wednesday, March 26, at 8 p.m. in the Landmark Theatre.

Additionally, Paul Taylor ’53, H’86, will make a rare public appearance in “A Conversation With Paul Taylor” Tuesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. in SU’s Hendricks Chapel. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Cathryn R. Newton will moderate the event, which is co-sponsored by the college and The University Lectures series. Newton played a leadership role in reconnecting this unsurpassed and legendary giant of modern American dance to the Syracuse community. The event is free and open to the public. Reduced-fee parking is available in the Irving Garage.

Tickets go on sale Monday, March 3 for the March 26 performance. Tickets for the performance are $15 for the general public; $12 for SU faculty, staff and alumni; $5 for students (with valid I.D.); and $40 for a family four pack. Tickets are available by calling or visiting the University’s Schine Box Office (315-443-4517) or through Ticketmaster (866-448-7849). Special group rates are also available.

“Paul Taylor is a creative and liberating force who absorbs, entertains and transforms those who encounter his artistry,” Newton says. “We are thrilled that he has accepted our invitation to engage the University and Central New York communities in a conversation about his artistic process. We are especially delighted that his dance company will again grace our community with a performance we are not likely to forget.”

In 2002, Newton co-commissioned Taylor’s “Troilus and Cressida (reduced),” which premiered at Syracuse’s Mulroy Civic Center Theater in April 2006. That premiere marked his first time back in Syracuse in more than half a century. This year’s program will include Taylor’s master works “Cloven Kingdom” (1976), “Banquet of Vultures” (2005) and “Piazzolla Caldera” (1997).

Set to music by Baroque and 20th-century composers Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Cowell and Mallory Miller, “Cloven Kingdom” tells the story of the human struggle between humanity and savagery and reveals the animal nature lurking just below man’s sophisticated veneer.

When “Banquet of Vultures” was performed two years ago in California, the San Francisco Chronicle called the dance “an antiwar piece in the grand tradition of Kurt Jooss’ 1932 classic `The Green Table’ (an antiwar ballet inspired by post WWI Europe). Not since `Last Look’ (1985) has Taylor been so uncompromisingly bleak. Never has he been more eloquent.” Ballet.co Magazine calls the piece “a powerful, convincing antiwar statement and a valuable addition to Taylor’s choreographic legacy.”

The program will conclude with “Piazzolla Caldera,” named in memory of Astor Piazzolla (1921-92), one of the most influential tango composers of his day. Without a single authentic tango step, Taylor captures the essence of tango culture through a story of passion and romance carried out in a smoky, dimly lit Argentine dance club.

Established in 1954, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has long been one of the world’s most sought-after dance troupes. It has represented the United States at arts festivals in more than 40 countries and has toured extensively under the aegis of the U.S. Department of State. Additionally, the company performs more than half of each touring season in cities throughout the United States.

Taylor, who grew up near Washington, D.C., was a swimmer and art student at SU during the late 1940s, until he discovered dance and began studying at the Juilliard School. In 1954, Taylor formed his own group. A year later, Taylor began the first of seven seasons dancing as a soloist for the Martha Graham Dance Company. In a career spanning six decades Taylor has created more than 125 modern dances.

Taylor is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and has received honorary doctorates from a number of universities, colleges and institutes of fine arts, including SU, the Juilliard School and the California Institute of the Arts. His numerous awards and recognitions include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, the New York State Governor’s Arts Award and the New York City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Art and Culture. In 1989, he was elected one of 10 honorary American members of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.