TAYLOR MADE

During his 64-year career, Paul Taylor helped lead, define, and shape American modern dance. Out of his 147 works, the Paul Taylor Dance Company opened its three-week Lincoln Center season last night with one of his final creations, Concertiana, which premiered in 2018—the year of his passing.

 Paul Taylor’s Concertiana

Eleven dancers, clad in reptilian unitards by William Ivey Long, entered in silhouette before a cyclorama awash in green. Their repeated crossings—walking, jumping, frolicking—suggested both ritual and release, the ensemble moving with the poise and agility of antelopes. When soloists, duets, and trios broke from the line, James F. Ingalls’s lighting shifted the background to yellow, the mood brightening as the dancers circled and glided in free-spirited counterpoint. The flourishing interplay of movement was enriched by violinist Krista Bennion Feeney and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, performing Eric Ewazen’s lush string score under David LaMarche’s direction.

Featured dancers included Kristin Draucker, Lee Duveneck, Alex Clayton, John Harnage, Jake Vincent, Gabrielle Barnes, Elizabeth Chapa, Payton Primer, Caleb Mansor, Yuniel Betancourt, and Patrick Gamble.

 Paul Taylor’s Concertiana

The program’s centerpiece, How Love Sounds—a New York premiere choreographed by Hope Boykin—offered a vivid departure from Taylor’s formality. The curtain rose on couples slow dancing before a red backdrop (lighting by Al Crawford), costumed by Marc Eric in nightclub-chic attire. Each dancer wore a different hue of the rainbow, setting a tone of nightlife energy. The soundscape ranged from Dvořák to Patsy Cline, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, and Donna Summer, interspersed with three choreopoems written and performed by Boykin herself. The shifts from classical to country to disco might have seemed incongruous, yet Boykin’s celebratory spirit and dance vocabulary, as well as the exceptional dancers, unified the piece. By the finale—when the company broke into exuberant freestyle—the stage felt transformed into a dance floor that I longed to join.

The dancers included Madelyn Ho, Lee Duveneck, Devon Louis, John Harnage, Lisa Borres Casey, Jada Pearman, Jessica Ferretti, Austin Kelly, Kenny Corrigan, and Emmy Wildermuth.

Madelyn Ho and Company in Hope Boykins' How Love Sounds
(photo by Ximena Brunette)

The evening closed with Taylor’s Cascade, set to Bach’s Concertos for Piano and Orchestra with Margaret Kampmeier at the piano. The color palette turned to browns with men in short-waisted vests and women in black and gold skirts opened in front, staged before a painted drop of a golden curtain, all designed by Santo Loquasto. Across six movements spanning three concertos, solos and duets intertwined with full-ensemble passages that brought the program to a sigh of elegance, a truly rewarding finish.

  Paul Taylor’s Cascade

The outstanding dancers featured Lee Duveneck, Alex Clayton, Devon Louis, John Harnage, Lisa Borres Casey, Jada Pearman, Jake Vincent, Jessica Ferretti, Austin Kelly, Gabrielle Barnes, Elizabeth Chapa, and Payton Primer.

 Paul Taylor’s Cascade

photos by Elyse Mertz

Paul Taylor Dance Company
live music performed by Orchestra of St. Luke’s
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center
reviewed on November 4, 2025
ends on November 23, 2025
for tickets (starting at $10), visit Paul Taylor Lincoln Center 2025

Gregory Fletcher is an author, theater professor, playwright, director, and stage manager. His publishing credits include a craft book on playwriting entitled Shorts and Briefs, as well as a collection entitled A Playwright’s Dozen: 13 short plays. Other publishing includes two YA novels (Other People’s Crazy, and Other People’s Drama), 2 novellas in the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories, 2 short stories in The Night Bazaar series, and five essays. Website, Facebook, Instagram.