Paul Taylor Dance Company
Who is choreographer Paul Taylor? A question I asked myself for all twenty plus years we worked with him. “Be prepared” became my self-protective mantra. Turning photo shoots upside down was a Taylor specialty. Tilting them sideways was another. There was the time he showed up at the dress rehearsal/photo shoot at City Center with his own small camera. With the covert grace and gottcha (triumphant) grin of a giant cat who just swallowed the cream, he moved among the aisles, snapping away at the photographers as they photographed. There was the New Yorker photo shoot, when I phoned Paul to say that the photographer had suggested the dancers remain in their glamorous satin Alex Katz costumes, but that Patrick Corbin wear only his jockey shorts. “Oh!” Paul responded drowsily, though it was 4pm. “That’s ok,” he said in his soft melodic voice. Pause. “But why doesn’t he just go naked?” “Naked? Like with no clothes?” I gulped. “Yup!” His voice grew energized by the idea. “Yeah, I think that would look swell.” The photographer was shocked. Patrick was gleeful, and the resulting full page, black and white photo, shot with Patrick running butt naked past the satin-clad dancers glued against the wall of in the La Guardia High School hall, was one of the most memorable I’ve seen in the magazine.
Country: USA
Years: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Art form: Dance
