Category: dance

Paul Taylor At 80

“Paul Taylor laughs out loud when he sums up how critics responded to his early, out-there choreography: ‘This terrible boy has ruined our evening!’ He can well afford to laugh. The Paul Taylor Dance Company is now 56 years old, a stable, permanent exception in the seat-of-the-pants world of modern dance.”

The Moulin Rouge Meets Versailles: Making New Dances With Baroque Movement

“Austin McCormick – choreographer and director of Company XIV – is a specialist of the European dance styles from around the 17th century, when it experienced its second major phase of development in France. He draws on this tradition to create new works for the contemporary stage that mix the older techniques with a more modern sensibility.”

Alastair Macaulay On The Reward And Risk In Ailey’s Choice Of Director

“When it came to picking an artistic director to succeed Judith Jamison, the Ailey company could have easily chosen to turn itself into a heritage troupe – or into one yet more heritage-oriented than it already is. … By naming Robert Battle, however, the company is allowing the recipe to change. … [But can] Mr. Battle – can anyone – emanate positive energy in the industrial quantities that Ms. Jamison delivers?”

In Leeds, Ballet Company Becomes Football In Election Campaign

“The [temporary] Leeds home of the Northern Ballet Theatre has found itself at the centre of a political row. The Labour candidate for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves, has begun a campaign to protect the West Park Centre which she says is under threat from developers. The site’s suitability for housing is being considered by the [city] council. However, the Conservatives have called Ms Reeve’s claims ‘scaremongering’ and the Liberal Democrats said she was ‘electioneering’.”