In the month of May The Music Center ushered in the return of in-person dance performances with the Dance at Dusk Outdoor Performance Series beginning with The Super Villainz: A Tap Dance Act for the Modern Age, followed by American Ballet Theatre. The series continues June 16 – 18, 2021 with the return of the Paul Taylor Dance Company offering five in-person performances on the Jerry Moss Plaza. Under the Artistic Direction of Michael Novak, part of this return to in-person concert experience will include the West Coast premiere of Kyle Abraham’s critically-acclaimed 2019 work, Only the Lonely, set to the music of Shirley Horn, and the beloved and iconic Taylor work, Promethean Fire created in 2002 after 9/11, which suggests that even after cataclysmic events, the human spirit finds renewal and emerges triumphant.
The Paul Taylor Dance Company residency will feature a live interactive experience each night, culminating with a free livestream performance of Sunday night’s performance for views at home.
“As part of this dance residency, The Music Center is celebrating art as social engagement—between those who perform and those who witness performance—through an innovative digital experience. In a technological first for both The Music Center and Paul Taylor Dance Company, the public, both in person and at home, will participate in a one-of-a-kind interactive experience called The Music Center’s Body Language. Via question prompts, the public as well as Paul Taylor Dance Company members will contribute their thoughts about dance, plus meaningful moments and memories of live performances that inspire and move them. These contributions will become visual scapes depicting signature and iconic Paul Taylor movements.” – The Music Center press release
Paul Taylor Dance Company in Taylor’s “Promethean Fire” – Photo by Paul B. Goode
After performing with the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Paul Taylor began his own journey as a choreographer and Artistic Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1954. He soon became one of the choreographers that paved the way between the pioneering dance legends such as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham and others with those of the 21st Century. Taylor’s company performed around the world winning the hearts of not only the public but accolades from the critics as well. Taylor retired from performing in 1974 but continued to choreography new works until his death in 2018. The company is currently under the Artistic Direction of Michael Novak who performed with the Taylor company from 2010 to 2019. To read more about Paul Taylor, Michael Novak and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, click HERE.
Paul Taylor (1961)
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WHAT:
The Paul Taylor Dance Company
WHEN:
June 16–20, 2021 @7:30 p.m.
*Free livestream on Sunday, June 20, 2021
WHERE:
Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
*Free livestream on musiccenter.org
TICKETS:
Limited tickets for The Music Center’s Dance at Dusk outdoor series are sold as a pod of four ticket. To purchase ticket pods and for information, call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org. Advance sales only; tickets will not be available for purchase on-site. Sunday evening performances will be streamed free at musiccenter.org. *Programs and artists subject to change.
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July 14 – 18, 2021, the Dance at Dusk Outdoor Dance Series concludes with Alonzo King LINES Ballet featuring special guests Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia.
To visit The Music Center website, click HERE.
To visit the Paul Taylor Dance Company website, click HERE.
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton from The Music Center press release.
Featured image: Paul Taylor Dance Company – Photo by Paul B. Goode
