Paul Taylor Dance Company Archive, 1890-2010 | Paul Taylor Dance Company Archive

The Paul Taylor Dance Archive contains documentation in a variety of formats which, combined, provide a record of dancer/choreographer, Paul Taylor, his work, and his Company, an internationally-celebrated ensemble.  Materials in the collection document even the earliest days of Mr. Taylor's career, the development of his choreography and Company, and the origins of affiliated organizations (including the Taylor School, Taylor 2 and the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, Inc.). They also offer a picture of the changing artistic climate for dance in the United States over the years.

Paul B. Taylor, Jr.: The Early Years and Syracuse University

Paul Taylor was born in 1930.  He admits that he spent his time “watching for the telling movement.”¹  Paul, known to family members as “Pete,” attended prep school at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, VA.² Because his mother wanted him to pursue a college degree, he attended Syracuse University, where he studied painting and joined the swim team.  His abilities in swimming earned him a full athletic scholarship.³

During his sophomore year at Syracuse, Taylor began to dance and partnered with classmate, Anita Dencks, then president of the University’s Modern Dance Club.  Mr. Taylor enjoyed the experience so much that he continued to explore dance by reading books about dance and attending performances of professional companies such as the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.  Like many young people of his generation, he attended movies, many featuring the popular Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.  These forms of popular entertainment added another dimension to his view of dance.⁴

Professional Training

In order to obtain some dance training, Paul Taylor applied for and received a scholarship at Black Mountain College for the 1953 summer dance session and, between his shifts as faculty chauffeur, took beginner’s class with Merce Cunningham.5  The next autumn, still eager to finish college according to his mother’s wishes, he enrolled in the newly organized dance department directed by Martha Hill at the Juilliard School in New York.  During the following summer he attended Connecticut College’s American Dance Festival, fulfilling a work scholarship by assisting Thomas Skelton, resident lighting designer.

At the Festival, he took advanced classes taught by various noted professionals including members of the Martha Graham Company.  Paul Taylor’s efforts were noticed and he made his debut in Doris Humphrey’s New Dance and Song of the West.  By the end of the session, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Jose Limon each offered him positions in their ensembles, none of which he accepted.  Taylor continued his studies at the Juilliard where he had been granted a dance scholarship.  In addition, he attended, evening classes at the Graham School and with Merce Cunningham, whose company he subsequently joined.

Early Performances: The Dance Associates 

In addition to working with Merce Cunningham, Mr. Taylor rehearsed with Martha Graham and Pearl Lang.  Taylor also did commercial work on Broadway and on television in his effort to obtain a broader range of experience.  Almost from the beginning, he made his own dances while working with established choreographers.  He worked with a group that became known as the Dance Associates, whose work was produced by fellow choreographer, James Waring.  Other artists associated with this group were Jasper Johns, John Herbert McDowell, Robert Rauschenberg, and Ruth Sabodka.⁶  These collaborators would work together on a number of projects over the years.  Paul Taylor’s first dance with the Dance Associates was Jack and the Beanstalk, a non-narrative fairy tale in six sections.⁷ 

Seeking additional performing experience, Taylor joined the cast of the musical Peter Pan as a pirate.  Although he broke his nose on opening night, smashing into the proscenium arch while executing a series of back flips, he continued to perform with the company.⁸

1954-1960: Graham, Epic and Episodes 

In 1955, Paul Taylor became a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company for a tour of Asia.⁹  Mr. Taylor danced with the Graham Company until 1962.  “Pablo,” as the choreographer had nicknamed him, assumed several important roles in the repertoire.  He performed in Graham’s new dances; he was the original Aegisthus in Clytemnestra (1958), the first known, evening-length modern dance work.  He danced roles in Acrobats of God, Alcestis, Visionary Recital, One More Gaudy Night, and Phaedra.¹⁰  His performances received reviews in which his talents as both a technician and an actor were recognized.¹¹ 

Mr. Taylor continued to create his own works.  He assembled a small company which included Anita Dencks, his early partner from Syracuse University, and began presenting his dances in New York.  Least Flycatcher, Tropes, Untitled Duet, The Tower, 3 Epitaphs, among other dances, formed the core of the early repertoire. 

After these dances Mr. Taylor began to experiment with paring down the movements he was using in his dances.  Epic, a twenty-minute solo, was performed to a recorded voice reciting the correct time and did not contain movement from modern dance.  It was performed with six other dances at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA on October 20, 1957 on a program entitled, “Seven New Dances.”  Paul Taylor and his company believed that they were recognized technically and could now experiment in this new venue.¹²  However, this confidence was not mirrored by total acceptance:  in his review of the evening, composer and dance critic Louis Horst submitted a two-column blank space, indicating that, in his opinion, there had been no dancing; hence there could be no review. 

Lincoln Kirstein’s interest in Paul Taylor’s work began in 1957 when Edwin Denby recommended Mr. Taylor’s dancing to him.  This resulted in Mr. Kirstein’s extending two invitations to Paul Taylor, neither of which was accepted.¹³  It was not until 1959 that Lincoln Kirstein made an offer, which brought George Balanchine and Paul Taylor together.  This was the result of an unusual “collaboration” between Graham and Balanchine, resulting in Episodes which was engineered by Kirstein. 

Mr. Taylor had danced with several modern companies and understood the workings but this was his first encounter with a ballet company.  Martha Graham staged movement on a group of New York City Ballet performers.  Balanchine created a solo for Mr. Taylor which was so successful that the ballet master asked him to perform with the company for the following two seasons.¹⁴ 

The Paul Taylor Dance Company:  The First Tour 

International audiences saw Paul Taylor’s dances for the first time in May 1960.  Lincoln Kristen had recommended the choreographer to composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, who engaged him for the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.¹⁵  This gave the European press an opportunity to review Paul Taylor’s work first-hand. 

The Paul Taylor Dance Company began its first international tour in the winter of 1961 performing in Milan, Rome, and Venice.  Taylor continued using designers he had worked with in earlier years, while introducing new collaborators into the mix.  Examples of this mixture included Alex Katz who created the costumes for Junction, and newcomer Rouben Ter-Arutunian who designed those for Insects and Heroes.  Thomas Skelton, Mr. Taylor’s boss from the American Dance Festival, acted as the company’s stage manager.¹⁶  During the tour, dancers mopped the stage floors and washed and mended their own costumes. 

After returning from Europe, Taylor continued dancing with the Graham Company while teaching his roles to others.  He danced beside newcomer, Bettie de Jong who soon would join Taylor’s Company and dance key roles in the Taylor repertoire.  The duo became acquainted during the sixth annual Theatre des Nations in Paris, France.  They forged their artistic partnership at the Festival where the Paul Taylor Dance Company was one of the groups there representing the twenty-three nations. 

In 1962, Mr. Taylor’s fortunes began to improve artistically, if not financially.  Edwin Denby, dance critic, came to watch the Company in rehearsal.  (Paul Taylor recalled in Private Domain Denby’s commenting on Aureole, which was to premier at the American Dance Festival)¹⁷  Paul Taylor was in demand as a modern dance instructor and taught at Adelphi University.  He received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Jerome Robbins Foundation (1962).  Lastly, Charles Reinhart, signed with the Company as its first full-time booking agent/manager. Reinhart booked his first tour for the group in 1963.

Ambassadors of Dance 

The Company was selected in 1965 to participate in the Cultural Exchange Program underwritten by the federal government.  The State Department tour took them to South America as artistic ambassadors to countries including Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.¹⁸  Back home, they continued to participate in touring programs such as that sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.  This domestic tour, with their ancillary lecture-demonstrations and master classes, fed what would become in the 1970’s a national “dance boom.”¹⁹ 

Mr. Taylor and his administrative staff took the unprecedented step of establishing an umbrella organization in 1966.  The Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, Inc. represented the first effort at placing the organization on a solid, self-sustaining financial footing.

Master Artist: The 1970’s and the 1980’s 

In his quest to reveal the ABCs of movement, Taylor created Esplanade in 1974.  This dance focused on and celebrated everyday movements.  And yet, walking, skipping, running and touching never looked quite like this.  Its success was immediate.  Dance critics hailed it as a masterpiece. 

Underlining the importance of Paul Taylor’s choreography and his approach to dance, Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov performed with the Company during its 1976 Broadway Season.  In 1977, Mr. Taylor was chosen to present his work as part of the semiannual “Dance in America” television series aired on PBS across the U.S.²⁰  Like other companies featured on “Dance in America”, the Paul Taylor Dance Company had burst the bounds of the proscenium arch by appearing on nationwide television.  Through this medium they reached many new audiences, including those who lived in areas that did not have theatres large enough to accommodate the Company.  According to dance critic, Deborah Jowitt, Mr. Taylor again had achieved his mission to “make modern dance accessible to a wide segment of the public.”²¹ 

During the 1980’s a number of dance companies worldwide staged Aureole (1962), Airs (1979), and Arden Court (1981).  Paul Taylor licensed his works to modern companies like that of Jacques Garnier.²²  In 1982, the Taylor School was formed.  The school provided the only location in the world where dancers could learn the Paul Taylor dance style from current and former members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. 

Also in the 1980’s, Paul Taylor was recognized by New York State with the Governor’s Arts Award (1987) and by New York City with the Major’s Award of Honor for Art and Culture (1989).  The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters elected him one of the honorary American members in February 1989.

The 1990’s and Beyond 

The 1990’s brought additional praise and recognition to Paul Taylor including an Emmy Award in 1992 for Speaking in Tongues which was produced by WNET/New York in 1991.  He was a recipient of the 1992 Kennedy Center Honors, in 1993 was awarded the National Medal of Arts in a ceremony at the White House, and in 1995 received the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts. 

The honors accorded Mr. Taylor have not slowed his own creativity, nor the Company’s Board of Directors, administrators and staff in their planning for the future.  In 1992, the Foundation submitted a proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts to fund the Paul Taylor Repertory Preservation Project.  Once it was received, the NEA funding made it possible to film and Labanotate a segment of the Taylor repertory.  Later, the Paul Taylor Dance Archives was established to preserve materials that document the history and achievements of the artist, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Taylor 2, the School and Foundation.²³ 

The new professional company, Taylor 2, was formed in 1993 to “bring Taylor dance to people who ordinarily would not get to see dance, especially children.”²⁴  Taylor 2, is a company of six dancers who perform choreography adapted by Paul Taylor from the main Company repertory.  Some of the many venues on their itinerary include the American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, India, and Africa.  The administration of the New Victory Theatre, part of the Times Square revitalization project, recognized this sincere commitment to young audiences when it chose Taylor 2 as its inaugural attraction.  Taylor 2 celebrated the tenth anniversary of its founding in 2003 with director Susan McQuire, a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1977 to 1989.

The 1990’s brought dances such as Company B (1991), Offenbach Overtures (1995) and Eventide (1996).  This period also brought Funny Papers (1994) which is the first example of Mr. Taylor and his dancers choreographing together.  In 1997, Paul Taylor commented at a Board of Directors meeting: “As far as I’m concerned, I have not created my best piece yet.”²⁵  In the same year, Paul Taylor choreographed Piazzolla Caldera, a runaway hit that had its creative process documented in the film Dancemaker.  It was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature film in 1998 and appeared on the PBS series, “American Masters” in 2000.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2004, and the Taylor Foundation presented Mr. Taylor's works in all 50 States between March 2004 and November 2005.  Mr. Taylor and his companies have created 134 works, given more than 6,000 performances, and danced on every continent except Antarctica.  Mr. Taylor has received honorary degrees (Duke University, Connecticut College, Syracuse University, SUNY Purchase, Juilliard, California Institute of the Arts, Skidmore College), three Guggenheim fellowships, a Scripps/American Dance Festival Sward, a MacArthur “genius grant,” Kennedy Center Honors and two honorary titles from the French government for his contributions to the art of dance.²⁶

In September 2010 The New York Times noted, "His last three creations... are not just excitingly unlike one another; they also suggest that Mr. Taylor is on a high.”  Taylor’s choreography continues to push the limits of his dancers and create inspirational dance that will be preserved for future generations through the Repertory Preservation Project.

1 See RG 03/Speeches, Writings and Interviews for Mr. Taylor’s autobiography Private Domain. 2 See RG 08/Photographs for images of his early years and of his family. 3 See RG 03/Biographical Files for PT’s athletic “letter” won while swimming for the Syracuse University team. 4 For more information on Paul Taylor’s dance education, see RG 03 Speeches, Writings and Interviews and his book Private Domain. 5 See RG 10/Memorabilia, Paul Taylor, Black Mountain College, 1953. 6 See RG 09/Reference & External Publications for the programs to these and other early concerts. 7 For images of the dance and other works from this period, See RG 08/Photographs. 8 The collection includes a copy of a Playbill, signed by cast members including its stars, Mary Martin and Cyril Richard.  See RG 03/Biographical Files. 9 See RG 09/Scrapbooks for memorabilia and reviews of this tour.  See RG 03/Biographical Files for Taylor’s payroll stubs with the Graham Company 1954-1960. 10 Information on the Graham Company chronology is from Donald McDonagh’s biography, Martha Graham, pp. 328-330.  Linda Hodes, who would become a central figure in future Taylor organizations including his Company and School, performed the role of “Gaudy” at the premier of One Gaudy Night. 11 For reviews of his work from this era, see RG 09/Scrapbooks for reviews of his performances. 12 See RG08/Photographs for images of the solo; RG 09/Reference and External Publications, Programs for a program of the event; and RG 09/Reference and External Publications, Articles and News Clippings for reviews of this dance and other early concerts. 13 For correspondence between the two men, see RG 03/Correspondence & Subject Files. 14 See RG 08/Photographs for images of the dance; see also RG03/Speeches, Writings and Interviews for Taylor’s choreographic notes on the solo.  Also, Taylor wrote about the Episodes experience in Private Domain, pp. 88-95 15 See RG 08/Artwork and Posters for posters of these and other events. 16 See RG 08/Artwork for actual designs by Taylor’s collaborators; for lighting designs, see RG 05/Tours Domestic, International, as well as RG 05/New York Seasons. 17 See RG 09/Reference and External Publications, Non-Periodic Publications for Labanotation scores for this and other Taylor works.  18 See RG 09/Printed Material, Reference & External Publications, Programs, Tours, May and June 1965. 19 See RG 05/Productions, Tours, Domestic, for information about tours the Company completed in the U.S. 20 Although filmed in 1977, the initial air date of the program featuring “Esplanade” and “Runes” was January 4, 1978.  For a video tape of this production, See RG 08/Film and Video. 21 Deborah Jowitt, The Dance in Mind (David R. Goding, Publisher, 1985), p 50. 22 At the time, Garnier was director of Groupe Recherche Choreographique de l’Opera de Paris (GRCOP), the modern ensemble based at the Paris Opera.  See RG 09/Reference & External Publications, Subjects for programs of other companies’ performances of Taylor works (From Nureyev and Friends to the Juilliard Dance Ensemble). 23 See RG 02/Grants, NEA Filings and NYSCA Filings for various grant proposal information ranging from the narrative sections to the financial aspects of these awards. 24 Linda Hodes, June 25, 1997.  See RG 08/Photographs, Taylor 2 for images of the company, its repertoire and its dancers. 25 SEE RG 10/Awards for the Kennedy Center Honors Award and other honors bestowed on Taylor and the Company. 26 SEE RG10/Awards for the Kennedy Center Honors Award and other honors bestowed on Taylor and the Company.