Company B and Serenade Study Guide - San Francisco Ballet

The San Francisco Ballet Center for Dance Education
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor
Choreographer
biography
He has been called a genius, a legend, and
a cultural icon. These are huge accolades
for a man who was born July 29, 1930, in
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and grew up near
Washington DC. He trained as a swimmer, and
while studying art at Syracuse University, he
discovered dance by partnering a classmate
in the school’s modern dance club recital. He
began formal dance training, and was soon
awarded scholarships at Juilliard School of
Music Dance Department and Connecticut
College School of Dance. He then began
studying with Martha Graham and Antony
Tutor at the Martha Graham School and the
Metropolitan Opera Ballet School.
By 1954 he had assembled his own small
company of dancers and was presenting his
own choreography. Taylor was a dynamic
performer and in 1955 he joined the Martha
Graham Dance Company where he danced for
seven seasons as a Soloist while continuing
to choreograph for his own troupe. In 1956
Mr. Taylor created 3 Epitaphs, which was
considered his first masterwork. In 1959 he
danced with New York City Ballet as guest
artist in George Balanchine’s Episodes. In
1960 the Taylor Company went on their
first International tour to Spoleto, Italy, the
company has since performed in more than
450 cities in over 60 countries. In 1962
Taylor once again captivated dance lovers
with his Aureole, as a result of this dance he
firmly established himself in the spotlight as a
choreographer of extraordinary talent. Taylor
retired from the stage in 1975 to devote
himself to his choreography, and dances
that were to become classics began to pour
forth the following is a short list of some of
these dances: Cloven Kingdom, Airs, Arden
Court, Lost, Found and Lost, Last Look,
Roses, Musical Offering, Company, Piazzolla
Caldera, and Promethean Fire. Mr. Taylor’s
style is celebrated for his musicality and haled
for the diverse range of the musical styles
he has chosen for his choreography. He has
choreographed dances to popular songs,
ragtime, reggae, tango, calls of loons as well
as J.S. Bach and other Baroque composers.
To date Taylor has created over a hundred
dances.
Since 1968, more than 75 companies
worldwide have licensed Taylor’s works for
performance. They include American Ballet
Theatre, Ballet Rambert, Cloud Gate Dance
Theatre of Taiwan, English National Ballet,
Guangdong Modern Dance Company of
China, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet,
Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, San
Francisco Ballet and Teatro alla Scala of Milan.
He is the recipient of dozens of awards
and honors. In 1969 Taylor was elected to
knighthood by the French government as
Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
and has since been elevated to the ranks of
Officier (1984) and Commandeur (1990). In
1989 Taylor was elected one of ten honorary
American members of the American Academy
and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1992
he received an Emmy Award for Speaking in
Tongues, produced by WNET/New York. He
was a recipient of the 1992 Kennedy Center
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