Opus 131

Above: Paul Taylor’s take on songs from the Great Depression

What is the secret of conductors and choreographers? Dancers retire young, actors lose roles as they age, and singers generally peak around 50-60. But conductors wave the baton into their 80s, and choreographers make dances seemingly as long as they have breath. Witness Paul Taylor, 79, who started his own company in 1954 and swiftly established himself as one of the true greats of modern dance.

Since that beginning 55 years ago Taylor has created 131 dances. The 131st, Brief Encounters, will be performed Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts as part of the first-night program of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The company will dance a second, totally different program Thursday night. For complete info, go here.

Taylor’s work was an early inspiration to me in my discovery of modern dance. His Arden Court showed that nonstop energy onstage might, given the right artistry, amount to a lot more than just nonstop energy. His astounding gangland take on Rite of Spring – complete with Tommy guns – made it radically clear that a score’s gestures, and not its sensibility, are a choreographer’s most essential musical requirement.

Of Brief Encounters, premiered earlier this month in New York, The New York Times says:

“The dancers, beautifully adult and near naked in trim black underwear (by Santo Loquasto), passed through transient scenes of sexual desire, emotional perplexity and more…. I wanted Brief Encounters to last twice as long; certainly I am impatient to see it a second time…. An essay in the very stuff of theater poetry.”

I suspect we will be seeing Paul Taylor’s 155th work ten years from now.