Standard-Examine- r Friday April 20 2001 Paul Taylor troupe leaps in for By KAREN ANNE WEBB show PREVIEW Standard Examiner correspondent on the heels of a by Taylor 2 Puul Taylor Following 3-p- art 23 arrives in Ogden this weekend The company will perform a three-worbill at the Browning k Center Now in his early 70s the reclusive Taylor continues to light up the dance stage with his works An ulumnus of both the Mercc Cunningham and Martha Craham companies Taylor has created a body of work that many find more accessible than the works of contemporaries like Alwin Nikoluis und Cunningham himself Ilis success with dunce enthusiasts and cusual concert-goer- s alike relies on the Taylor whole being greater thun the sum of the Taylor parts lumor his choice of music a balletic flair in many pluces und his ability to touch and speuk to the humun condition all figure into his appeal "Ilis success was not immediate" observes Duve Grecnke rehearsal director for Taylor 2 “Puul hus always been interested In the simplest of actions people do 'Esplanade' which we performed in Ogden is one of the company’s signature works and is1n excellent example of his ability to choreograph a beautiful dance bused on the common actions of wulking running and falling "The first piece in which he tried to exploru these common movements though was not a success In 1955 when the company was just forming and he was still performing as a member of the Martha Graham company he choreographed a piece called simply 'Seven New Dunces’ For the first dunce he hud recorded a sequence of those WHO: Paul Taylor Dance Company WHEN: 7:30 p m Saturday WHERE: Austad Auditorium Browning Center Weber State University 3750 Harrison Blvd Ogden TICKETS: $20 with discounts tor seniors and students through the Doe Events Center at or The full complement of the Paul Taylor Dance Company will be In Ogden 626-850- old recordings thut you would diul on the telephone to find out the correct time i le used that us his ‘score’ "Every minute the voice would unnouncc the time and he would chunge his position - not a dunce position but more of a body stuncc - and hold thut pose for the entire minute until the voice spoke again As he went from position to position he wus awurc thut the members of the audience were leaving one by one till at the end he wus the only person left In the theater “The next duy the dunce critic for one of the newspapers run his review - which consisted of a headline stating the title of Paul's work his own name and then an entire box of blank space which communicated his opinion of the work "Paul retained his interest in exploring everyday movements in his work but knew it was time to change his approach I" lie did and now his works not only form the basis of the repertory of the company thut bears his name but also have entered the repertories of bullet companies like American Bullet Theatre and the English National Bullet and modern dunce companies like Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dunce Theatre and Chinu's for a three-wor- k performance at 73CTp m Saturday at Weber State University's Browning Center Company which recently appeared at Peery's Egyptian Theater in Ogden The dancers Another aspect of his company’s success arises from his choice of dunccrs Although his most recent hire was a young mun who had just graduated from high schixil that's an unusual move Most of the v dunccrs he chixises he picks for maturity and style as well as technical ability - and those qualities tend to come with more seasoning in the art of dunce He also likes to look at his See TAYLOR26 Guangdong Modern Dunce Dance company takes chances and stays at the front edge of trends Patrick Corbin that Puul Taylor to have a gift Dancer initiating dunce trends or jumping on the bandwagon of a trend at just the point it takes off An example is "IMazzolla Caldera” a steamy tango piece to the music of tango master Astor Piazzolla which was tentatively on the bill for the Ogden performance "I guess you don't think of a reclusive man like Paul jumping on a bandwagon though” Corbin elaborated "It's more a case of his leading the trends or striking while the trend is at the height of its popularity” Taylor In this case may have predicted from afar: The tango is certainly enjoying a renaissance in this area Repertory Dance Theatre which offered an intensive weekend course in the art last season has been forced to repeat its tango workshop several times due to its overwhelming popularity Elsewhere says Corbin the popularity of the tango is definitely on the rise - especially since Taylor entered the arena “This is definitely a departure for Puul" Corbin says "It's steumy to the point of being overtly sexual Its other oddity is that while he created it as a piece for a large cast - we do it that way and so does AUT (American Ballet Theatre) - he It for the wus able to n Taylor 2 1 never thought this big a piece could work for only six people but he found a way” Also on the program is "Fiends Angelical" which Corbin " but a describes as gixid piece to put in the middle of a program like this one which features three works "angst-ridden- Taylor according to Corbin likes to muke his first und lust pieces on a bill brighter and more engaging For the middle third he saves the pieces thut ' stretch an audience or give it something on which to ruminate The third piece "Dandelion Wine” sits at the opposite end of the Taylor spectrum from "Fiends Angelical" "It’s to the music of Metro liocutelli" says Corbin "and so hus something in common with ‘Esplanade which is danced to the music of Bach unother Baroque composer In fuct that's what people have been comparing it to "Structurally though it is different - it's not just a suite of dunces like some of his other Buroquc pieces It's done largely in happy trios rather than in confrontational duos as in ‘Fiends Angelical' and It hus a dramatic through-line”