Janie Taylor is an American ballet dancer, répétiteur and costume designer. After a short time as an apprentice with New York City Ballet, at the age of 18 Taylor performed the principal role in George Balanchine’s La Valse. She was promoted to soloist in 2001 and principal dancer in 2005 performing lead roles by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Benjamin Millepied, and Justin Peck.
After sixteen years with NYC Ballet, Taylor and her husband Sébastien Marcovici, also a principal dancer with NYC Ballet, ended their tenure with the company by performing two works that they were most noted for. “I hope that, 40 years from now, Ms. Taylor will return to the minds of young dancegoers as the sleepwalking heroine of Balanchine’s “La Sonnambula,” a role for which she seemed destined, and that Mr. Marcovici will be remembered for his performances in Balanchine’s “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” (a Bonnefoux role). The other roles on which they leave imprints include the leads in Jerome Robbins’ “Afternoon of a Faun” and Balanchine’s “La Valse”…...” – Alastair Macaulay, New York Times (2014).
Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici in “Orpheus” by George Balanchine – photo by Paul Kolnik.
The couple then visited Los Angeles at the invitation of Benjamin Millepied, the founder and artistic director of L.A. Dance Project (LADP). Taylor and Marcovici knew Millepied from when he had danced with NYC Ballet and he was one of Taylor’s partners. Marcovici joined LADP as the Rehearsal Director, and is now also the Associate Artistic Director, sharing the role of Rehearsal Director with Janie. Their stay in LA was brief, however, as they relocated to Paris, France when Millepied, now artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet, hired Marcovici to work as ballet master. During the two years that they lived in Paris, Taylor staged works created by Peck and Millepied for ballet companies in Europe and the U.S.
LADP dancers Daisy Jacobson and David Adrian Freeland Jr. in Janie Taylor’s work Adagio in B Minor – Photo by Erin Baiano.
After Millepied left the Paris Opera Ballet, Taylor and her husband returned to LA to work with LADP, and Taylor made her choreographic debut in 2019 with a work titled Adagio in B Minor. She also appeared in the 2000 film Center Stage and as a motion capture dancer for Barbie of Swan Lake. Her talents do not stop there, however, Taylor has also designed costumes for Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go, Christopher Wheeldon’s American Rhapsody and Joshua Beamish’s Surface Properties, three works performed by NYC Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Having seen Taylor perform, it is very clear why she was in such demand. When onstage, it is difficult to look at anyone else. This is not simply because of dance technique, but because she is one of those rare performers who possesses a personal and artistic presence that is a gift one is born with and that can not be taught.
Janie Taylor in rehearsal for Benjamin Millepied’s “Romeo & Juliet” – Photo by Josh Rose.
Taylor graciously agreed to a short interview for LA Dance Chronicle. She was in the backyard of her home in LA and I learned that she and her husband are the proud parents of a two year old son. “My husband and I once thought that we could not live anywhere but in New York,” she said. But now that she has a small child Taylor is very happy to have a house with a backyard where he can safely play, as well as the beautiful weather.
LADP dancers Daisy Jacobson and Nayomi Van Brunt in Janie Taylor’s work “Night Bloom” – Photo by Steven Pisano.
As part of its SPRING DANCES, on Thursday, May 2, 2024, LADP will present the world premiere of Taylor’s new work Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia. SPRING DANCES runs for two consecutive weekends May 2 –5 and May 10-12. This is the fourth work she has choreographed for the company, but one was only performed during their 2022 residency in Qatar.
Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia was set to several different pieces of music and will be performed in front of a very large mural created by Boston based artist Benjamin Styer. I asked Taylor how she became aware of Styer’s work, if Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia was inspired by this painting and if the two worked together on the work.
“I used to put out a small art newspaper and he (Styer) was one of the artists that were recommended to me to look at his work,” she said. Taylor immediately connected with Styer’s work and when I told her that some of his work reminds me of beautiful Persian rugs, she said, “Yes, but when you look closer, there are many stories within each piece,” she said. “That is why I connected so much with his work. I felt like each of those stories were about different parts of my life.”
LADP dancers Janie Taylor with David Adrian Freeland Jr in “I fall, I flow, I melt” by Benjamin Millepied – Photo courtesy of LADP.
When asked if she and Styer collaborated on Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia, Taylor said that they did discuss different ideas about the work and the lighting but added “I actually wish that we had collaborated even more.”
When asked how large Styer’s painting is, Taylor explained that it covers the entire back wall of LADP’s performance space and reaches from the floor almost to the area where the stage masking (black curtains) begins. This is indeed a large painting.
Janie Taylor with David Adrian Freeland Jr. in Taylor’s “Adagio in B Minor” – Photo by Josh Rose.
In order to see some of the “stories” that she mentioned earlier were in Styer’s painting, Taylor described how she asked the Lighting Designer, Brandon Stirling Baker, to focus in on different parts of it throughout the dance. “I want the audience to see these smaller details,” she said.
Always curious about how choreographers choose titles for their works, I asked Taylor about her very intriguing title Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia. “Sleepwalker fits my time with City Ballet,” she explained. “I was often dancing the ghostly types of roles and sleepwalker seemed an appropriate description of that.”
The word Encyclopedia was chosen because Taylor’s work is not narrative in nature, but each section is an entity upon itself. “That is why I loved Balanchine’s work so much,” Taylor said. “It was not narrative and I like to create works where the audience can take from it what they will.” Because there are multiple sections in this work, Taylor explained that it was like picking up an encyclopedia or dictionary and randomly opening it up to a page and pointing at a subject or word. Thus the title Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia.
Sierra Hererra and David Adrian Freeland Jr. in “Athem” by Janie Taylor at 2023 Festival in Motion in Qatar – Photo by Josh S. Rose.
There are ten dancers in Taylor’s Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia. When I asked if there was anything that we had not discussed that she wanted our readers to know, she said. “Normally I would say no because I don’t like talking about myself,” she answered with a slight smile and side glance. “But here, because I am also the rehearsal director for LADP, I know these dancers extremely well. I know their bodies and how they move and I enjoyed making work that suited them. And perhaps, I made movement that they didn’t know that their body could do.”
Sleepwalker’s Encyclopedia was commissioned by L.A. Dance Project; Choreography by Janie Taylor; Costume Design by Janie Taylor with construction by Annie Ulrich; Set Design by Benjamin Styer; and Lighting Design by Brandon Stirling Baker.
SPRING DANCES runs May 2-12, 2024 at L.A. Dance Project Studios located at 2245 E Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021. The program also includes three works by Benjamin Millepied: Me.You.We.They. (2024), Moving Parts (2012), and Triade (2008).
For more information about L.A. Dance Project and to purchase tickets for SPRING DANCES, please visit their website.
This article was edited on 5/2/24 to correct the title of a dancer.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: LADP – Janie Taylor and David Adrian Freeland, Jr. in “I fall, I flow, I melt” by Benjamin Millepied – Photo by Daniel Beres for Zegna Sartori .
