Paul Taylor Dance Firm Gala: Dance human emotion

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David H. Koch Theater, New York, NY.
November 6, 2024.

“Love, resilience, guts, generosity and expansion” were the themes of the night at the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC) gala performance on Wednesday, November 6, at New York’s majestic David H. Koch Theater. With the Orchestra of St George and two world premiere choreographies, the theatre was vivid with energy.

The evening immediately followed the presidential election results, and a slightly nervous sentiment was echoed by Artistic Director Michael Novak in his address. The spirit of expansion, he added, reflects the physical expansion of the PTDC studios as well as the company’s expansive legacy in dance education, something he said is “so vital in the world right now.” The programme for the evening was a tribute to director of education (and former dancer) Carolyn Adams, with a new solo by her former student, Robert Battle.

The piece was bookmarked by a new commission by Lauren Lovette and a restaging of Paul Taylor’s classic, Promethean Fire. It was a sparkling triple bill, celebrating the old and the new and, as Novak declared, reinstating the vitality and importance of dance as a collective artistic endeavor in uncertain times.

Lovette’s piece, Chaconne in Winter, was a delicately beautiful duet of snowfall, accompanied by a live string triplet, Time For Three. The dancers, Madelyn Ho and John Harnage, in sparkling unitards, shimmered and spun across the stage leaning into each other’s orbit and floating away. Their arms were gorgeously wavy, emulating the breeze while waltzes and fan-like jumps guided the dance into hypnotic territory. There was a gentle chemistry between the dancers and a drawing in warmth from each other in bleakness. The elevation and extension of Lovette’s ballet background sparkled through the movement.

The second piece of the evening, For You, choreographed by Robert Battle, was a solo for Jada Pearman. She wore a panel-cut electric blue dress, swirling playfully as her expressive arm gestures embraced the audience in a watery whirl of excitement. The bluesy feel of the piece was accentuated by the sensual gestures, as her hands quivered and she loosened her hair. She moved from athletic leaping and spinning, to rhythmic floor rolls and joyful waltzes. There was audible joy in the audience as the stage plunged from blue to green, like a bayou in late summer, and Pearman danced with breezy delight.

The final work programmed, Promethean Fire, Novak announced, was an original Taylor choreography and emblematic of his “craft… to display the human condition through movement.” The organs of JS. Bach announced the start as the dancers stood poised with black striated one-pieces (designed by Santo Loquasto) in pyramid formation. They fell out of formation and rolled back into it at several points during the work, rather like a flock of birds, magnetized by each other. The duets were charged with flexion, athleticism and passion.

The tale of Prometheus seemed a fitting theme for the close of the evening, with its commentary on rivalry, chaos and hubris. The evening was a striking, contrasting triple bill celebrating the skill of dance in portraying human emotion and creating energetic connection in seemingly disconsolate times.

By Leila Lois of Dance Informa.

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