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Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to Lincoln Center Fall 2023

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Paul Taylor Dance Company

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY RETURNS TO LINCOLN CENTER

WITH ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S, OCTOBER 31—NOVEMBER 12, 2023

Repertoire Features Nine Classics by Paul Taylor, and Works by Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, Larry Keigwin, and Lauren Lovette, Including Two World Premieres

Special Guests Vanessa Williams, Grammy Winners Time for Three,
and William Catanzaro with CHAIN will Perform Live

Special Events Include Family Day and Season Gala;
Company Introduces “$20 Under 40” Tickets

NEW YORK, NY – The Paul Taylor Dance Company’s 2023 Season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, from October 31 through November 12, will include fourteen dances by five choreographers – Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, Larry Keigwin, Lauren Lovette, and Paul Taylor – and feature world premieres by Lovette, PTDC’s Resident Choreographer, and Keigwin, Taylor Company Commissioned choreographer. Music on all programs will be performed live by Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL), conducted by Taylor Music Director David LaMarche and Tara Simoncic. Ticket prices for the 2023 Season start at $15 and go on sale September 13. Tickets are available at www.boxoffice.dance.

Continuing his mission to build a repertory for the 21st Century, Artistic Director Michael Novak will present four works by three of today’s leading dance makers.

·           Lauren Lovette will be represented by two new works. Dreamachine, set to Michael Daugherty’s percussion suite of that name, will have its New York premiere. Premiered in Los Angeles in April 2023 with set and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, Dreamachine will include the world premiere of a new section created for New York and featuring Daugherty’s score performed by OSL.

·           Lovette’s Echo, created for the men of the Taylor Company, will be given its world premiere. Set to Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts’s “Contact” to be performed live by OSL and 2023 Grammy Award-winning trio Time for Three. Echo will feature costumes designed by renowned fashion designer Zac Posen and lighting by James F. Ingalls. Complementing Echo will be a dance featuring the women of the Taylor Company: Ulysses Dove’s 1986 masterwork Vespers, set to music by Mikel Rouse and staged by the late choreographer’s brother, Alfred Dove.

·           Larry Keigwin, who created Rush Hour on commission for the Taylor Company in 2016, will premiere his second PTDC work Drum Circle, set to a score by Argentine composer William Catanzaro and performed live by multi-percussionist trio CHAIN. Drum Circle will have costumes by William Ivey Long and lighting by James F. Ingalls.

·           Amy Hall Garner’s Somewhere in the Middle will return following its premiere performances last season. Set to the music of Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, and Bill Evans, the dance has costumes by Mark Eric, set by Donald Martiny, and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

The season will also feature nine Paul Taylor classics spanning thirty years of extraordinary creativity: Book of Beasts (1971), Esplanade (1975), Cloven Kingdom (1976), Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (1980), Mercuric Tidings (1982), Last Look (1985), Eventide (1997), Piazzolla Caldera (1997), and Black Tuesday (2001).

“I’m passionate about creating visually stimulating conversations between music and dance, in collaboration with Orchestra of St. Luke’s,” said Novak, who succeeded Paul Taylor as PTDC’s Artistic Director in 2018. “Both Lauren Lovette and Larry Keigwin are choreographing their works, quite literally, around the musicians.” Lovette’s Echo and Keigwin’s Drum Circle will feature musicians performing on stage. “I’m committed to showcasing interdisciplinary collaborations for Lincoln Center,” Novak continued. “This current generation of Taylor dancers carry significant emotional and kinetic power, which has yielded a Season of significant repertory and commissioning, packed with visually stunning and daring theatrical works.”

PTDC’s 2023 Gala performance will take place on Thursday, November 2 at 7pm and features the world premiere of Lovette’s Echo and Taylor’s Mercuric Tidings. The performance will be preceded at 6pm by a cocktail reception for Gala guests and will be followed by dinner and dancing at 8pm. Vanessa Williams is Honorary Chair of the Gala and Co-Chairs Caroline Cronson and Jonna Mackin will host this special event honoring Dimitra Manis, Executive Vice President and Chief Purpose Officer of S&P Global. Echo costume designer Zac Posen will make a special guest appearance. Attire is “Formal & Fabulous”; black-tie is not required.

Capitalizing on PTDC’s decade-long partnership with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Novak will present a Family Matinee on Saturday, November 4, at 2:00 p.m. The program features the return of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” performed by OSL and narrated by multiple Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominee Vanessa Williams. Paul Taylor’s Book of Beastsand Cloven Kingdom round out the family-friendly program from last Season. Special ticketed opportunities will be available for this performance: children and families can join a Taylor dancer live on the Lincoln Center stage and visit the Koch Theater’s Promenade for face painting, photos, movement tutorials, fairy hair, autographs, and refreshments.

PTDC’s 2023 Season includes unique ticketing opportunities such as “$20 Under 40,” Arnhold Tier 3, and Polaris Project, which all underscore Novak’s commitment to breaking down barriers and making exceptional dance experiences accessible to the widest possible audience with an emphasis on younger generations.
 

The Season will feature the "$20 Under 40" ticket program. Dance lovers age 40 and under can attend PTDC’s 2023 performances at Lincoln Center for $20 after registering online. Paultaylordance.org/20under40
Central to the annual New York Season is the Arnhold Tier 3 Dance Education & Audience Development Initiative (Arnhold Tier 3), launched in 2015 with leadership support from Jody and John Arnhold. Arnhold Tier 3 offers New York City Public School students a dance education experience that includes FREE tickets for students and their parents, teachers, and school administrators. The program inspires and provokes the curiosity of thousands of New York City and New York State public school children through exposure to some of the world’s greatest dances and dancers. For more information, visit paultaylordance.org/arnhold-tier-3.

The Polaris Project offers affordable access to live performances, workshops and artist Q&As, to a wide range of community organizations. Past participants have described the experience as transformative, inspiring, and inclusive. For more information call 646-214-5807.

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At a glance:

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY 
2023 FALL SEASON | OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 12
DAVID H. KOCH THEATER AT LINCOLN CENTER 
WITH ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S

Dances By:
Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, Larry Keigwin, Lauren Lovette, and Paul Taylor 

Special Guests:
Time for Three, Vanessa Williams and William Catanzaro with CHAIN

Tuesday, October 31 | 7pm
Cloven Kingdom (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Last Look (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Piazzolla Caldera (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Wednesday, November 1 | 7pm 
Dreamachine New York Premiere (Choreography by Lauren Lovette)
Eventide (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 
Esplanade (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 

Thursday, November 2 | 7pm - GALA Performance
Echo World Premiere (Choreography by Lauren Lovette) 
Mercuric Tidings (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Friday, November 3 | 8pm
Mercuric Tidings (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 
Drum Circle World Premiere (Choreography by Larry Keigwin)
Esplanade (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Saturday, November 4 | 2pm -- Family Matinee
Book of Beasts (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Peter and the Wolf (Music by Sergei Prokofiev; Narrated by Vanessa Williams)*
Cloven Kingdom (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
*No dancing--music and narration only

Saturday, November 4 | 8pm
Echo World Premiere (Choreography by Lauren Lovette) 
Vespers (Choreography by Ulysses Dove)
Piazzolla Caldera (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Sunday, November 5 | 2pm
Cloven Kingdom (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Eventide (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Piazzolla Caldera (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Tuesday, November 7 | 7pm
Somewhere in the Middle (Choreography by Amy Hall Garner)
Last Look (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Mercuric Tidings (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 

Wednesday, November 8 | 7pm 
Book of Beasts (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Black Tuesday (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Thursday, November 9 | 7pm
Echo World Premiere (Choreography by Lauren Lovette) 
Vespers (Choreography by Ulysses Dove)
Piazzolla Caldera (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Friday, November 10 | 8pm
Black Tuesday (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Dreamachine New York Premiere (Choreography by Larry Keigwin) 
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 

Saturday, November 11 | 2pm
Mercuric Tidings (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 
Last Look (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Esplanade (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Saturday, November 11 | 8pm
Black Tuesday (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Drum Circle World Premiere (Choreography by Larry Keigwin)
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal) (Choreography by Paul Taylor)

Sunday, November 12 | 2pm
Somewhere in the Middle (Choreography by Amy Hall Garner)
Eventide (Choreography by Paul Taylor)
Esplanade (Choreography by Paul Taylor) 

Programs subject to change. 
 
Lincoln Center Season is made possible by Marjorie S. Isaac. Leadership funding is provided by Stephen Kroll Reidy. Major support provided by The SHS Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and an anonymous donor. Additional major funding provided by S&P Global, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional public support for the creation of Somewhere in the Middle was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Paul Taylor Dance Company gratefully acknowledges the estates of Harlan Morse Blake and Mary J. Osborn for their transformational gifts.
 
One of the most iconic and dynamic modern dance ensembles of our time, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has been innovating and transforming the artform of modern dance since 1954. With a history of multidisciplinary collaborations, passionate expression and thrilling athleticism, the Company is known worldwide for its vast repertory, performing work from the Founder’s canon; new works created by some of today’s most engaging and established choreographers; and important historical dance from the 20th and 21st centuries. Dedicated to sharing modern dance with the broadest possible audience, the Company tours annually, both domestically and internationally, with performances and a variety of educational programs and engagement offerings. paultaylordance.org
 
William Catanzaro is an eclectic composer and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Buenos Aires and based in New York, his style is an amalgam of sources where classic meets contemporary, jazz and world music. His expertise as a performer and composer has led him to write scores for many renowned choreographers such as Anna Sokolow, Steve Paxton, Viola Farber, Motoko Hirayama, Sara Rudner, Milton Myers, and Larry Keigwin. His work has been presented nationally and internationally with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New Danish Dance Theater Denmark, TanzFabrik Berlin, Amsterdam Theatreschool, Cyprus Festival, Irish Modern Dance Theater, Architanz Tokyo, Kyoto Arts Center, Teatro San Martin Buenos Aires, Institute for Contemporary Art Boston, Philadanco, Player’s Project, Dallas Black Theater, Jacob’s Pillow and more. He has been associated with Victor See Yuen and Michael Mustafa Ulmer since 2022 and together they perform as CHAIN, a unique power trio whose music infuses the cultural diversity of their ancestors.

Ulysses Dove (1947—1996) born in Columbus, South Carolina, began studying dance at Boggs Academy in Georgia. During his college years, he continued studying modern dance and ballet while a pre-med student at Howard University. After receiving his B.A. in dance from Bennington College, Dove moved to New York City where he performed with the companies of Mary Anthony and Pearl Lang.  In 1970, he received a scholarship at the Merce Cunningham School. Two weeks later, he joined the Cunningham Company. Shortly thereafter, Anna Sokolow asked him to perform her classic Rooms. Alvin Ailey then invited him to join his company. He quickly rose to principal dancer for his commanding presence, bright clarity of movement, and truthful dramatic intensity. In 1979 he made his professional choreographic debut, at Ailey’s request, creating the 1980 solo Inside for Judith Jamison. He left the Ailey Company to begin a significant freelance career choreographing dances for the Royal Swedish Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, and the Choreographic Research Group of the Paris Opera, where he spent three years as assistant director. He was also the choreographer for the 1986 Robert Wilson-Philip Glass opera ''The Civil Wars.'' Several Dove ballets have found their definitive interpretations in performances by the Ailey Company, including Night Shade (1982) Bad Blood (1984), Vespers (1986), and Episodes(1987). Dove’s choreography was marked by its relentless speed, violent force, and daring eroticism. His work was the subject of ''Dance in America: Two by Dove,'' honored with an Emmy Award in 1995. The legacy of Ulysses Dove’s philosophy on dance and work ethics remain the driving force for The Dove Art Programs (DAP), directed by his brother Alfred L. Dove. Ulysses Dove died on June 11, 1996, at the age of 49 of an AIDS-related illness.

Amy Hall Garner is a native of Huntsville, Alabama, and a graduate of The Juilliard School. Her work has been praised internationally and commissioned by Ailey II, ABT Studio Company, Collage Dance Collective, The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Barnard College, The University of the Arts, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Point Park University, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Recently, she has received virtual commissions from BalletX, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process Digital Series, ABT Studio Company, Boulder Ballet and a virtual collaboration between Miami City Ballet and Paul Taylor American Modern Dance. She personally coached Grammy Award winner Beyoncé, providing additional choreography for The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. Theatrical choreography credits include: The Color Purple (Milwaukee Repertory Theater) and Invisible Thread, associate choreographer (Second Stage Theater, NYC). In 2018, she was selected to participate in Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab supported by the Ford Foundation. Garner was one of the first recipients of the Joffrey Ballet’s Choreography of Color Award (now titled Winning Works). She is an adjunct professor at New York University’s New Studio on Broadway at Tisch School of the Arts.  Currently, Ms. Garner is a Virginia B. Toulmin Fellow at The Center for Ballet and the Arts.

Larry Keigwin is a native New Yorker, choreographer, and curator who has danced his way from the Metropolitan Opera to Broadway and back. Keigwin is the Artistic Director of KEIGWIN + COMPANY, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2023. He has created 30 works for his dance company, in addition to the large-scale community project, Bolero, which has been commissioned in 16 cities nationwide. Commissions include Paul Taylor Dance Company, Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Martha Graham Dance Company, among others. His work in musical theater includes off-Broadway’s Rent, for which he received the 2011 Joe A. Callaway Award. In 2013, Keigwin choreographed Broadway’s If/Then. Throughout 20/21, Keigwin created acclaimed virtual works for The Juilliard School, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, and more. Keigwin is the Director of Dance and a co-founder of the Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, CO and is also the Dance Editor of ArtDesk magazine. Larry and his husband, Chris Keesee, live on the Upper East Side with their three dogs. He is on the Board of Hudson River Park Friends. 
 
Maestro David LaMarche has been working as a conductor in the dance field for more than thirty-eight years.  He served as Music Director for the Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1993 to 1998 and conducted many of the company’s premieres. In addition, he composed and arranged several scores for the repertory.  As a guest, he has conducted for New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Limón Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, L’Opera di Roma, Het National Ballet and Ballet West. The orchestras he has directed include the Houston Symphony, the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago, the Pacific Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Paris Opera Orchestra, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio Orchestra, the Tivoli Festival Orchestra, and the Orchestre Lamoreux. Maestro LaMarche is currently in his twenty-third year on the staff of American Ballet Theatre.  He is a Guest Faculty Member of The Juilliard School and a regular contributor to New York Concert Review.  
 
Lauren Lovette is the first Resident Choreographer selected by Taylor Artistic Director Michael Novak for the Taylor Company. As a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, Lovette choreographed for the 2016 Fall Fashion Gala. She was awarded the Virginia B. Toulmin Fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU in 2018, and a year later created a second work for the Fashion Gala. In addition to Paul Taylor and NYC Ballet, her work has been commissioned and performed by American Ballet Theatre, Vail International Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Oregon Ballet Theatre and showcased in a self-produced evening, Why It Matters. Lovette received the Clive Barnes Award for dance in December 2012 and was the 2012-2013 recipient of the City Ballet Janice Levin Award. In 2021, she stepped down from her position there to embark on a career devoted to more equal measures. In 2023, Lovette joined the Nantucket Dance Festival as Co-Artistic Director.
 
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) is an independent orchestra and performing arts organization based in New York City. Founded in 1974 as St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble and expanded into an Orchestra in 1979, OSL has become a “a mainstay of New York’s classical scene” (New Yorker). Today, OSL appears throughout the season at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Principal Conductor Bernard Labadie, a celebrated specialist in 18th[1]century music. OSL performs and produces in a variety of formats including three signature concert series curated expressly for each of Carnegie Hall’s iconic venues, programs focused on contemporary composers presented throughout the five boroughs, collaborations with Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center, a composition institute, and much more. The orchestra has commissioned more than 50 new works and has given more than 175 world, U.S., and New York City premieres, while also participating in 118 recordings, four of which have been recognized with Grammy Awards. OSL’s education and community engagement programs bring classical music learning and inspiration to tens of thousands of students and families each year through school-time and community concerts and the over 100-student strong Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s. In 2011, OSL opened The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York City’s only rehearsal, recording, and performance space expressly dedicated to classical music, serving thousands of local and international musicians each year. Learn more at OSLmusic.org or @OSLmusic on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and more.
 
Bonded by an uncommon blend of instruments and vocals, Charles Yang (violin), Nick Kendall (violin), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass), have found a unique voice of expression. To experience Time For Three live is to hear the various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music fold in on themselves and emerge anew. Earning praise from NPR, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Time for Three is renowned for their charismatic and energetic performances in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Royal Albert Hall.  In 2020, the band partnered with cellist and composer Ben Sollee to put together the soundtrack to the new Focus Features' film Land, starring and directed by Robin Wright. Time for Three have collaborated with artists as diverse as Ben Folds, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Bell, and have premiered original works by composers Chris Brubeck and Pulitzer Prize-winners Jennifer Higdon and William Bolcom. Their most recent commission by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts, Contact, premiered with the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra in summer 2022. This concerto is featured on their new album, Letters for the Future, alongside Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3, released on June 10th, 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon. The album was recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Xian Zhang and has been on Billboard top 10 Classical Recordings charts,  was nominated for an Opus Klassik award and won a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category.
 
Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today, selling millions of records worldwide.  Her work in music, film, television, and the Broadway stage has been recognized with four Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, three SAG award nominations and seven NAACP Image Awards. Her platinum single, "Colors of the Wind," from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Her 2012 autobiography, You Have No Idea, co-written with her mother Helen Williams, was a New York Times Best Seller and she released Bubble Kisses, her first picture book for children, in 2020.  In 2022, Vanessa starred in the World Premiere of Selina Fillinger’s new Broadway comedy, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, directed by Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman.  Most recently, she returned for a second season as part of the star-studded panel of judges for RuPaul’s Paramount+ competition series, Queen of the Universe, which debuted in June 2023.

Photo by Rachel Neville