Program features three works never before performed in Philadelphia
The 2010/11 Dance Celebration season presented by Dance Affiliates and the Annenberg Center opens with one of the world’s most honored dance companies – Paul Taylor Dance Company – in performance October 21-23, 2010, at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Two of Taylor’s classic pieces new to Philadelphia audiences, Arden Court and Cloven Kingdom, open and close the program. A new work, Phantasmagoria, will also be performed. For tickets or for more information, please visit AnnenbergCenter.org or call 215.898.3900. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Annenberg Center Box Office located at 3680 Walnut Street.
Under the artistic direction of Randy Swartz, Dance Celebration maintains its tradition of bringing Philadelphia audiences the world’s best contemporary touring dance companies. This season, Superstars of Dance, Today and Tomorrow, pays homage to the great masters of dance while exploring new voices who challenge the status quo and reflect the style, taste and beat of the 21st century. Notes Mr. Swartz about Paul Taylor Dance Company, “Taylor represents the best in American dance and I can’t think of a better way to kick off our 29th season. With a program featuring three Philadelphia premiers including two Taylor classics, it is a dance enthusiast’s dream come true.”
The program opens with Arden Court, set to the music of 18th-century English composer William Boyce. First performed in 1981, the piece became an instant hit with both audiences and critics. Twisting torsos and sweeping, upraised arms, forming an excited stream of X’s and Y’s, Arden Court showcases the beauty and athleticism of the body in motion.
Phantasmagoria, Taylor’s newest work commissioned in honor of the choreographer’s 80th birthday, was given its official premiere this past summer at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina. Featuring an eclectic cast of characters – a Byzantine nun, Irish step dancer and a Bowery bum, to name a few – and set to Renaissance
Dance Celebration presents Paul Taylor Dance Company Page 2 music, Phantasmagoria is a series of witty, surreal vignettes. The painting “Wedding Dance in the Open Air” by Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder served as inspiration for the piece. In Bruegel’s painting, every figure is frozen in a moment of action.
Featuring men in tuxedos and women in evening gowns, Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom is an original and stirringly honest piece about mankind’s human instinct and the primal beast hidden behind a sophisticated exterior. Animalistic rhythms and beats are interspersed with classical music. The piece originally premiered in 1976.
At 80 – an age when most artists’ best work is behind them – Paul Taylor continues to be acclaimed for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his current dances as well as his classics. Having choreographed his first dance in 1954, he has amassed an enormous repertoire of dances, now numbering 133. His company, now in its 56th year, has performed in more than 520 cities in 62 countries, and continues to be a major force in the advancement of contemporary dance.
In addition to performances, Paul Taylor Dance Company will offer outreach activities including a master class on Friday, October 22 at the University of the Arts as part of the Artist to Artist Series and a special school performance as part of the Annenberg Center’s Student Discovery Series. For more information about the Artist to Artist Series call 215.636.9000 ext. 110 or visit www.danceaffiliates.org. For more information about the Student Discovery Series, call 215.898.6789 or visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org/studentdiscovery.
Dance Celebration
Founded by Artistic Director Randolph F. Swartz, Dance Celebration is the Greater Philadelphia region’s major contemporary dance series and a nationally-recognized leader in its field. For the past 28 seasons, Dance Celebration has been a collaboration between Dance Affiliates and Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The 2010/11 season, titled “Superstars of Dance, Today and Tomorrow,” juxtaposes blockbuster dance companies with hot, new talent emerging on the dance scene.
Throughout its illustrious history, Dance Celebration has had ancillary series including the edgy NextMove Festival (1987-2003), the groundbreaking Monday Night Series (1986-1998), and numerous special events (1987-2006). Nikolais Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pilobolus Dance Theater and Murray Louis Dance Company launched the inaugural season at Annenberg Center in 1983, followed in subsequent years by modern dance legends Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Bella Lewitsky and Jose Limón.
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Thursday, October 21 at 7:30 PM
Friday, October 22 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, October 23 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, October 23 at 8:00 PM
Zellerbach Theatre at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
