Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present the legendary Paul Taylor Dance Company on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 13-14.
Taylor first presented his choreography with five other dancers in Manhattan on May 30, 1954. That modest performance marked the beginning of a half-century of unrivaled creativity. Since then, Taylor has made 140 dances, covering a breathtaking range of topics. Among the recurring themes in his works are life and death, the natural world and man's place within it, love and sexuality, and American history. Hailed for uncommon musicality and far-reaching interests, Taylor has set movement to an eclectic mix of music and sounds, from medieval masses and classical symphonies to popular songs and even loon calls and laughter.
The Paul Taylor Dance Company has traveled the globe many times over, bringing Taylor's ever-growing repertoire to theaters and venues of every size and description in cultural capitals, on college campuses and in rural communities - and often to places modern dance had never been before. The Company has performed in more than 520 cities in 62 countries.
While continuing to garner international acclaim, the Paul Taylor Dance Company performs more than half of each touring season in cities throughout the United States. In Scottsdale, the Company will perform three dances: Airs (1978), a classic work featuring music by G. F. Handel; To Make Crops Grow (2012) with villagers performing holdovers of an ancient ritual to the music of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite; and Black Tuesday (2001), a whimsical tribute to the enduring music of the Great Depression and America's can-do spirit.
ARTS-CONNECT EVENT
Paul Taylor Dance Company Rehearsal Director Bettie de Jong will give a pre-show talk, free for ticket holders, on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m.
SPONSORSHIP
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts' presentation of the Paul Taylor Dance Company is made possible by signature sponsor Quarles & Brady LLP and supporting sponsors Western States Arts Federation and National Endowment for the Arts.
LOCATION AND PARKING
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is located at 7380 E. Second St. in downtown Scottsdale, two blocks south of Indian School Road and three blocks east of Scottsdale Road. Free parking is available in the public parking garage located to the west of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Wells Fargo Avenue. Additional free parking is available at the Old Town Parking Corral at East Second Street and Brown Avenue and at the Civic Center Library parking garage located on Drinkwater Boulevard at East Second Street.
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