Tag: Company B (dance)

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Paul Taylor Dance

Don’t miss Paul Taylor Dance, at the Lincoln Center until November 17!!!

Three wonderful performances this evening.

“Brief Encounters” is lively, at times structured but more often random, as if walking through the streets of Manhattan. “Scudorama” is eccentric and strange. Yet, it’s so weird that it captured my full attention, lest I blink and miss the next surprise.

I had wanted to see the show tonight because of “Company B”, one of my favorite Paul Taylor choreographies. With the changing of the guard, several of the roles are now danced by different company members, and the piece is just as amazing as I had remembered it.

The social dancer inside of me just LOOOVE the polka by Kristin Draucker and Michael Apuzzo. I enjoyed the playfulness in “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” by Lee Duveneck and the cast women, and “Rum and Coca-Cola” by Eran Bugge and the cast men. I also love the emotional scenes “I Can Dream, Can’t I” by Parisa Khobdeh and “There Will Never Be Another You” by Heather McGinley.

Also, a big thank you to Michelle Fleet for a fun backstage tour!

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Piazzolla Caldera

Completely in love with “Piazzolla Caldera” by @paultaylordancecompany tonight!!! 😍😍😍

A gorgeous tango (and waltz!) that blends beautifully with modern movements, this choreography is going right up there with my other all-time favorites!

On Sunday, I wrote about Esplanade, a stunning piece of work about the joy of dance. Paul Taylor dancers moved with so much spirit, so much heart, and so much energy. Even from the audience’s seats, we could feel the dancers’ passion, welcoming us onto the stage, inviting us to join the celebration. I didn’t think another choreography could possibly live up to the expectations of Esplanade. Yet, Piazzolla Caldera did tonight.

I’ve always enjoyed how Paul Taylor seamlessly merges concert dance with vernacular dance forms — bringing out not just the best of both worlds, but creating something unique, remarkable, and extraordinary in the process.

His group movements often remind me of contra dance patterns (on crack!). There are the polka mazurka steps in Eventide, lindy hop and polka in Company B, swing in Black Tuesday, disco in Changes, and so on.

Piazzolla Caldera is the most exquisite of such a fusion that I’ve seen so far.

The tango was absolutely beautiful, including the 12-person movements in the opening scene, the subsequent solos and duets. I never imagined that tango could be danced in such a manner. The piece retained the intensity, attitude, and connection traditionally associated with tango. Staying true to the dance form’s roots, two men even had chest-to-chest lead-follows!

Yet, the work inserted even more energy, dynamic, and theatricality into tango (as if tango needed any, but apparently it could!!!) with leaps, turns, upper body gestures, and more.

My favorite part, you ask?

Back in 1913 and 1914, when Argentine tango was first introduced to the US, New Yorkers used to dance tango to triple-time waltz music, creating a tango-waltz fusion known as “Hesitation Waltz.” Midway through Piazzolla Caldera, the music transitioned from 4/4 tango music to 3/4 waltz music. Replacing the hesitation step with by modern movements, Paul Taylor created a new modern-tango-waltz fusion. Mind blown! WOW!!!

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Bei Mir Bist du Schön (Reprise)

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

“Company B” ended where it began with a reprise of “Bei Mir Bist du Schön.” However, underneath all the jumps and jives, was America really the same after everything that took place?

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang

#lcoutofdoors #paultaylordancecompany #ptdc #ptamd #moderndance

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There Will Never Be Another You

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

As the stories of “Company B” continued and as America became further drawn into World War II, we once again were confronted with the realities of the war. Here are Heather McGinley and Sean Mahoney with the sorrows of losing a loved one in “There Will Never Be Another You.”

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Heather McGinley, Sean Mahoney, and the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang

#lcoutofdoors #paultaylordancecompany #ptdc #ptamd #moderndance

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Rum and Coca-Cola

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

We were treated to hit songs of the 1940s including “Rum and Coca-Cola” by the Andrews Sisters. The song lyrics, based on a calypso (not the jump but a style of Afro-Caribbean poetry), tell the stories of American G.I.s in Trinidad. Accompanied by the Duchess‘s singing, here’s the amazing Eran Bugge and the boys!

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Eran Bugge and the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang







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Oh Johnny Oh Johnny Oh!

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

More of the 1940s American life. Here is “Oh Johnny Oh Johnny Oh!” by the Andrews Sisters where every girl in town is crazy about a certain little lad… featuring James Samson as Johnny and the Duchess on the mic.

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: James Samson and the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang





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I Can Dream, Can’t I?

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

The optimism of the American youths in the early 1940s was soon overshadowed by the realities of the World War, as millions were sent into battle. In “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” Parisa Khobdeh bid goodbye to her sweetheart, uncertain of when (or if) they would reunite.

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Parisa Khobdeh and the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang

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Tico-Tico

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

With a touch of Latin American rhythm, Francisco Graciano danced all out — from his handsome entrance to leaps, barrel rolls, and floor slide — to the Brazilian choro “Tico Tico” made popular in America by the Andrews Sisters in 1944.

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Francisco Graciano
Photography: Jason Chuang

#lcoutofdoors #paultaylordancecompany#ptdc #ptamd #moderndance

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Bei Mir Bist du Schön

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B” at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival.

Company B is the story of America in the 1940s. Jubilant youths were high in spirit as the nation began to emerge from the Great Depression.

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Paul Taylor Dance Compnay
Photography: Jason Chuang

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Company B

The Paul Taylor Dance Company accompanied by the Duchess at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival on Friday.

With the Duchess performing songs of the Andrews Sisters, the Paul Taylor Dance Company put on “Company B,” a choreography set in the 1940s swing era as the United States emerged from the Great Depression and drawn into World War II.

Comprised of ten parts, each section of “Company B” tells a different story of the nation. Starting with youths jubilantly dancing the lindy hop, jitterbug, and polkas… we were then treated to hit songs of the era (“Tico Tico” and “Rum and Coca-Cola”)… before the storyline moved onto young lovers separated by war (“I Can Dream, Can’t I?”) and the heartbreak of losing a loved one (“There Will Never Be Another You”). As we watched Heather McGinley mourn on stage, we couldn’t help but feel for what the 1940s generation had gone through in a turbulent era.

“Company B – Bei Mir Bist du Schön”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Robert Kleinedorst, James Samson, Parisa Khobdeh, Sean Mahoney, Eran Bugge, Francisco Graciano, Laura Halzack, Michael Apuzzo, Michael Novak, Heather McGinley, George Smallwood, Christina Lynch Markham, Madelyn Ho, Kristin Draucker
Photography: Jason Chuang