Paul Taylor Dance Company: Taylor 2 comes to The Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Sept. 26

 

Durango, CO – Taylor 2 brings internationally renowned modern dance to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Celebrated choreographer Paul Taylor, one of the founders of the art of modern dance in the 1950s, created the touring Taylor 2 dance ensemble in 1993 to ensure that his works could be enjoyed by audiences throughout the world. Back in the 1950s, when Taylor’s work was so cutting-edge that it often sent confused audience members flocking to the exits, Martha Graham dubbed him the “naughty boy” of dance.

Hailed for uncommon musicality, Taylor has set dances to an eclectic mix that includes ragtime, rock, tango, Tin Pan Alley and barbershop quartets, medieval masses, renaissance dances, baroque concertos, classical symphonies and scores by Debussy, Cage, Feldman, Handel and more. While he has covered a breathtaking range of topics, recurring themes include the natural world and man’s place within it; love and sexuality; life, death, and what may follow; and iconic moments in American history.

Taylor is said to set movement to music so memorably that for many people it becomes impossible to hear certain orchestral pieces and popular songs and not think of his works.

Taylor 2 features six dancers – Christina Lynch Markham, Alana Allende, Hank Bamberger, Manuel Sanchez, Lee Duveneck, and Rei Akazawa – who provide an intimate performance and reveal both structure and movement for an eye-opening appreciation of the master’s approach.

In selecting repertoire for Taylor 2, Paul Taylor chooses dances that span the broad spectrum of his work. For the Durango show, the company will perform, “Airs,” music by George Frideric Handel, excerpts from Concerti Grossi, Op. 3, Alcina, Ariodante, Berenice and Solomon; the original production “Dust,” with music by Francis Poulenc, Concert Champêtre; and “Company B,” songs (including “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Tico-Tico” and more) sung by the Andrews Sisters.

Wrote Carrie Click, The Aspen Times, “Taylor 2 is just as strong as the main company, in different ways. They’re really exciting and they bring a freshness to their work that can’t be duplicated. Taylor 2 is not preaching to the converted – wildly enthusiastic dance-world audiences. Rather, the company is bringing more people to the fold, helping them to appreciate dance and Taylor’s vision of it.”

The Official Tour Sponsor is the MetLife Foundation, with major funding provided by The SHS Foundation. View a video about Taylor 2 and its dancers at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kWRzQA3qH4.
Tickets for Taylor 2 – $25/$37 – are available by calling 970.247.7657, on the web at www.durangoconcerts.com, or visit the ticket office inside the Welcome Center at 8th St. and Main Ave. in Downtown Durango.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6:30 p.m.

The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, and through financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community