Paul Taylor Dance Company

One of the world’s foremost dance companies, Paul Taylor Dance Company, is recognized for innovating and transforming modern dance. Under the artistic direction of Michael Novak and drawing from a history of multidisciplinary collaborations, the Company is known for a vast repertory that features work from the Founder’s canon, new works created by some of today’s most engaging choreographers, plus established and important historical dances from the 20th and 21st centuries.

PROGRAM:

Aureole (1962) - Paul Taylor (17 min)

Most of the American dance pioneers were rugged individualists, rebelling against classical ballet, a dance form associated with fairy tales and royalty. They were making dances to drum beats, and stark, sometimes, atonal music. They often made dances about social issues, war and Greek tragedies. When Aureole premiered in 1962, it caused a stir because people hadn’t seen barefoot dancers, in white flowing costumes, frolicking to baroque music. Through the art of simplicity, Taylor’s radiant Aureole is a celebration of space, joy and love. At 63 years old, It has survived multiple trends in the arts and is considered a timeless, iconic work.

Choreography: Paul Taylor

Music: George Frideric Handel

Costumes: George Tacet

Lighting: Thomas Skelton

Date First Performed: August 4, 1962

“Aureole, perhaps his first major success, was the first time Taylor combined his loping antelope style of movement with baroque music, and its grace and individuality instantly spun into orbit throughout the world of dance. There is an interestingly variegated luminosity of spirit that recalls fluffy clouds on Shakespeare’s summer’s day.” – Clive Barnes, New York Post

How Love Sounds (2025) - Hope Boykin (24 min)

“These very particular selections and songs have long been sitting close to me, my heart—let’s all do whatever it takes to be introduced, taught, or even reminded just how love can sound.” - Hope Boykin

Nine dancers perform boundary-pushing movements, all set to Boykin’s favorite songs that “sound like love.” You’ll hear the joyful timbre of Stevie Wonder, the shimmering pulse of Donna Summer, the heartbroken twang of Patsy Cline, and even the stirring music of Antonín Dvořák. Commissioned by the Kennedy Center, the work was developed as part of the Social Impact Office Hours residency program.

Music: Antonín Dvořák, Patsy Cline, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, and Donna Summer

Choreography: Hope Boykin

Costumes: Mark Eric

Lighting: Al Crawford

Date First Performed: February 27, 2025

Original text written and performed by Hope Boykin

“I could have imagined that modern dance set to disco rhythms would be engaging, but the perfect blend of precision, play, and glamor is a composition one must see to appreciate in fullness. With thoughtful musicality as a backbone, the fun the dancers were having was infectious.” -Michela Dwyer, broadwayworld.com

Brandenburgs (1988) - Paul Taylor (24 min)

Elegant and virtuosic, this is choreographic grandeur at its finest, married flawlessly within the joyous atmosphere of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Brandenburgs is part of Mr. Taylor’s acclaimed series of dances set to music by J.S. Bach.

Music: Johann Sebastian Bach

Set and Costumes: Santo Loquasto

Lighting: Jennifer Tipton

Date First Performed: April 5, 1988

“Beauty is the only word for Brandenburgs…[which] celebrates the good things in life. Such a radiant, seamless flow of invention that the choreography seems an entirely natural way of moving to this music.” – Mary Clarke, The Manchester [UK] Guardian