EXTREME VALUE
Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to the Joyce Theater with Extreme Taylor, bringing back some of the Maestro’s classic works. The program I saw included Private Domain (1969), Duet (1964), Big Bertha (1970), and Airs (1978), four among his most acclaimed works. Private Domain opens the show and sets Taylor’s clever vision of light and dark. The music, “Atrees” by Iannis Xenakis, fits the straightforward movements like a glove, and reminds us that we are watching an avant-garde performance created by trailblazers. Xenakis was a composer, architect, and mathematician who originated musique stochastique, compositions based on mathematical probability systems, modeling processes that appear random but nothing is random in this elegant, and precise choreography.
Private Domain
Dancers Eran Bugge, Madelyn Ho, John Harnage, Maria Ambrose, Lisa Borres, Jada Pearman, Shawn Lesniak and Kenny Corrigan enter and exit stage with feline ease, and when they stop to interact with each other or themselves they contract and expand, closely controlled then free, like flowing, living statues, and they make every small movement matter. Set and costumes, by renowned artist Alex Katz, bring a voyeuristic touch to an already sensual dance; daring black slats in front of the stage cover and reveal what is happening behind them, permitting no two audience members the same view, challenging our vision, making the piece intimate and vast at the same time.
Duet (Steven Pisano)
Duet, one of the most romantic pas de deux I have ever seen, brought us to a different Taylor, the crafty poet who can show his knowledge of classical technique through his own inventive, simple, organic movements. Devon Louis and Maria Ambrose acted as one, branches of the same tree, connecting even when they were briefly separated, harmoniously switching roles during the dance. Set to the music of Franz Josef Haydn, with costumes by George Tacet, Ph.D., Taylor’s pseudonym, it screams ‘love’ without ever being too sentimental.
Big Bertha (Steven Pisano)
Big Bertha broke the magic spell by introducing an evil coin-operated automaton, a life-size music doll named Bertha, dressed as a creepy drum majorette, played with perfunctory precision by Christina Lynch Markham. It’s a sinister tale; a young, ordinary Midwestern family, played by Kristin Draucker, Lee Duveneck and Eran Bugge as their innocent daughter, walk around a fairground and find Bertha’s stand. Duveneck puts a coin in, the music starts, and Bertha’s mechanical dancing engages the wholesome family, all falling under a spell that forces them to keep inserting coins and dancing.
The music crescendo turns into pure madness; the couple splits up, the man, under Bertha’s authoritative spell, becomes an abuser and a pedophile, the young girl runs around covered with blood, the mother improvises a burlesque routine, all unexpected, macabre, and ultimately brilliant. Set and costumes, by Alec Sutherland, and the cheerful yet scary music from the St. Louis Melody Museum collection of band machines, follow the crescendo, opening with the alluring charm of a carnival in the early 60s, a mix between a Norman Rockwell illustration and a Fellinesque situation, ending in a frantic, horrific setting. After all, Martha Graham called Taylor a “naughty boy.”
Madelyn Ho, Alex Clayton in Airs (Danica Paulos)
John Harnage, Jada Pearman, Jessica Ferretti in Airs (Danica Paulos)
Alex Clayton, Jada Pearman, John Harnage, Maria Ambrose, Jake Vincent, Madelyn Ho in Airs (Jamie Halbritter)
Airs, a mainstay in the repertoire of American Ballet Theatre, closed the show. It is a dynamic, poignant, ensemble dance created by Taylor after he retired as a performer in 1974. The dancing and acting of Madelyn Ho, Alex Clayton, Maria Ambrose, Jada Pearman, Jake Vincent, Jessica Ferretti, and Austin Kelly were splendid, their quick shifts in direction, contractions and releases, lopsided runs, acrobatic jumps, pas de Bouree, to mention a few of the constants, were all connected and clear-cut representing the best of Taylor’s elegant sculpture style. Music by G. F. Handel and Costumes by Gene Moore did rest, adding to the lyrical nature of the piece. The light designs for all the dances were created by the great Jennifer Tipton, historic designer of the Paul Taylor Company. Artistic Director Michael Novak put together a great ensemble of dancers and he stays true to his Maestro; don’t miss Extreme Taylor, it is more than a modern dance classic, it is a true experience and a rare opportunity.
Extreme Taylor
Paul Taylor Dance Company
The Joyce Theater in Chelsea, 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street
remaining performances:
Wednesday, June 26 at 7:30 Runes, Post Meridian, Brandenburgs
Thursday, June 27 at 8: Private Domain, Duet, Big Bertha, Airs
Friday, June 28 at 8: Private Domain, Duet, Big Bertha, Airs
Saturday, June 29 at 2: Runes, Post Meridian, Brandenburgs
Saturday, June 29 at 8: Private Domain, Duet, Big Bertha, Airs
Sunday, June 30 at 2: Runes, Post Meridian, Brandenburgs
for tickets, call 212-242-0800 or visit Joyce
photos from Program II:
Post Meridian (Louis Thiele)
Runes (Steven Pisano)
John Harnage in Brandenburgs (Whitney Browne)