The Geniuses of America...

The world of dance, ballet and free forms gave to the world unsurpassed geniuses like Serge Lifar,  George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Joffrey, Janusz Jozefowicz, Rambert, Bella Lewitzky, Carolyn Dorfman,  Esmeralda Enrique,  Kenneth McMillian, Marcia Haydee, Rosela Hightower, Bronislava Nijinska, Richard Alston,  Christopher Hampson,  Mikhail Baryshnikov, Isadora Duncan, the River Dance Company, etc...Through their magic and poetry in motion, we explore and discover a new world, a multi-dimensional cosmos. Here is a tribute to some of them.

PAUL TAYLOR

Paul Taylor been called a genius; a legend; a cultural icon. Time calls him "the reigning master of modern dance," and the New York Daily News declares him to be "the best choreographer in the world." But Paul Taylor considers himself, above all, a reporter whose job is to observe us and record his impressions. Twice a year, he dutifully leaves behind his shore-front cottage, his scarabs and butterflies, his wildflowers and the furniture he's made solely from driftwood, to enter a dance studio and "report." Whether investing everyday movement with breathtaking beauty or reminding us that we are not as removed from our prehistoric ancestors as we like to think, he rivets us with astonishing inventiveness, poignancy and wit. As prolific as ever after 49 years, he recently completed his 119th work . Paul Taylor grew up near Washington, DC.

He was a swimmer and a student of art at Syracuse University in the late 1940s until he discovered dance, which he then studied at Juilliard. By 1954 he had assembled a small company of dancers and presented his own choreography. A commanding performer, he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1955 for the first of seven seasons as a soloist while continuing to make dances on his own troupe. In 1959 he danced with New York City Ballet as guest artist in George Balanchine's Episodes. Having created the masterful 3 Epitaphs in 1956, he captivated dancegoers in 1962 with his virile grace in the landmark Aureole. After retiring as a performer in 1975, Mr. Taylor devoted himself fully to choreography, and classics poured forth: Esplanade... Cloven Kingdom... Airs... Arden Court... Lost, Found and Lost... Last Look... Roses... Musical Offering... Company B... Piazzolla Caldera...Promethean Fire... and dozens more. Celebrated for uncommon musicality, he has set dances to Ragtime and reggae, tango and Tin Pan Alley, time recordings and loon calls; turned elevator music and novelty tunes into high art; and found particularly cooperative collaborators in J.S. Bach and his Baroque brethren.

The Geniuses of America...

In January 2000 he was awarded France's highest honor, the Légion d'Honneur, for exceptional contributions to French culture. He is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and has received honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from California Institute of the Arts, Connecticut College, Duke University, Juilliard, Skidmore College, the State University of New York at Purchase, and Syracuse University. Awards for lifetime achievement include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship - often called the "genius award" - and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. Other awards include the New York State Governor's Arts Award and the New York City Mayor's Award of Honor for Art and Culture. In 1989 Mr. Taylor was elected one of ten honorary American members of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Since 1968, when Aureole first entered the repertory of the Royal Danish Ballet, Mr. Taylor's works have been licensed for performance by more than 75 companies worldwide. 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, San Francisco Ballet and Teatro alla Scala of Milan. In 1993 Mr. Taylor formed Taylor 2, a company of six dancers who bring many of the choreographer's masterworks to smaller venues around the world. Taylor 2 also teaches the Taylor style in schools and workplaces and at community gatherings. Paul Taylor's autobiography, Private Domain, originally published by Alfred A. Knopf and re-released by the University of Pittsburgh Press, was nominated by the National Book Critics Circle as the most distinguished biography of 1987. Mr. Taylor and his Company are the subject of Dancemaker, Matthew Diamond's award-winning, Oscar-nominated film, hailed by Time as "perhaps the best dance documentary ever." (Official biography).

The Paul Taylor Dance Company, now in its 49th year, is one of the world's most exquisite and impressive ensembles. Few artists, choreographers and dancers can rival the excellence and pure magic of Paul Taylor's Company, for this magnificent ensemble redefined quality standards and the highest standards in contemporary dance.

The Company has performed Mr. Taylor's works in over 60 countries and more than 450 cities. It has represented the United States at arts festivals in more than 40 countries and has toured extensively under the aegis of the U.S. Department of State. In June 1999 the Company launched a two-year Cultural Capitals of the World Tour, which took it to Santiago, Cologne, Auckland, Macau, Jakarta, Paris, Frankfurt, Kingston, Santo Domingo, Stockholm, Bergen, Lyon, London, Rome, Montreal, Beijing and Shanghai, among other cities. The engagement in Chile was named the Best International Dance Event of 1999 by the country's Art Critic's Circle. In the summer of 2001 the Company toured in The People's Republic of China and performed in six cities, four of which had never seen American modern dance before. In the spring of 2003 the Company mounted a four-week, seven-city tour of the United Kingdom. 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. Boston and Durham host annual engagements during which audiences have the opportunity to see Mr. Taylor's newest works. The Company also presents annual two-week seasons at City Center in New York and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Beginning with its first television appearance for the Dance in America series in 1978, the Company has appeared on PBS in eight different programs, including the 1991 Emmy Award-winning Speaking in Tongues. More recently, the Company worked with WNET/New York to create a new Dance in America special, The Wrecker's Ball, which includes Company B, Funny Papers, and A Field of Grass. Broadcast nationally on PBS, The Wrecker's Ball was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997. In 1999 the PBS American Masters series aired Dancemaker, the Academy Award nominated documentary about Paul Taylor and his Company. Dancemaker,

The Geniuses of America...

The Geniuses of America  America's Dream Dancers...

Among the most outstanding contemporary dancers in the United States, we recognize Silvia Nevjinsky, Heather Berest, Caryn Heilman and Annamaria Mazzini.

Photo from L to R: Nevjinsky, Berest, Mazzini.

SILVIA NEVJINSKY  is a pure magic on stage. A blend of grace, class and sublime harmony. She was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, and she received her early dance training from Rui Horta and at the Ballet Gulbenkian School.  From 1984 to 1989, she was a principal dancer with the Lisbon Dance Company, a  repertory company. 

She moved to New York in 1989 and danced with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company for four and a half years, as well as appearing as a guest artist with several dance companies, including the Empire State Ballet, the New American Ballet Ensemble, and David Storey Dance Works. In addition to performing Ms. Nevjinsky has taught intensive workshops and master classes in Brazil, Europe, and the USA. The October 1995 City Center Season marked her debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

HEATHER BEREST: Powerful, graceful and  divinely enchanting. She was born in Manhasset, New York.  She began her training with her mother, Olga Berest, and studied with Linda Zoffer and Ali Pourfarrokh.  She went on to earn a B.F.A. at the North Carolina School of the Arts and continues to study with Jocelyn Lorenz and Christine Wright.  Before joining the Taylor Company, Ms. Berest danced with Neo Labos Dance Theatre, Momix, Peter Pucci, Robert Wood Dance ASC, and Martita Goshen.  The 1996 season marked her debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company

ANNMARIA MAZZINI: The beauty of poetic motion. First class. Ms. Mazzini began studying with Frances Evers in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  After graduating from Southern Methodist University, she came to New York and studied at The Taylor School, and joined Taylor 2 in 1995.  She has appeared in the works of Karla Wolfangle,  Hernando Cortez and reconstructed dances of Isadora Duncan, in addition to creating and performing her own work.  In 1997 she created the dances for the Off-Broadway production of Men on the Verge of a His-panic Breakdown, an Outer Critics Circle Award winner.  She made her debut the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the 1999 American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

Photo: The magnificent Caryn Heilman in Polaris.  She symbolizes the exquisite elegance, finesse and unsurpassed esthetic techniques of the American contemporary dance. A world-class dancer. Simply superb. Photo by lois Greenfield.

The Dream Dancers of America...

Photos from L to R: 1-Rachel Berman, Thomas Patrick, Caryn Heilman, Heather Berest, Patrick Corbin. Photo by Lois Greenfield.  2. Heather Berest, Caryn Heilman, Terry Pexton, Rachel Berman, Patrick Corbin in Polaris. POLARIS: Music  specially composed by Donald York. Choreography by Paul Taylor. Set and Costumes by Alex Katz. Lighting by Jennifer Tipton. (First performed in 1976). Photos by Lois Greenfield.

Photos from L to R: 1. Jared Wootan, Shanti Guirao, Joseph Gallerizzo, Susan Dodge, Michelle Fleet in Piazzolla Caldera, Photo by Eduardo Patino. 2.Lisa Viola, Patrick Corbin, Francie Huber in Piazzolla Caldera. Photo by Howard Schatz.

Bella Lewitzky

In 1966 she formed the Lewitzky Dance Company, for which she continues to create dances. Under her artistic guidance, the company has become one of the leading international modern dance companies, performing to critical acclaim in 43 states across the U.S. as well as 20 countries on five continents. The originality, humanity and unconventional qualities for which Lewitzky's dances are famous have often found their way into the management of her company. At a time when it is fashionable for dance companies to be based in New York -- and dangerous not to be -- she has kept her company operating out of her native Los Angeles for thirty years. It also led to a controversial episode in 1990, when she crossed out the anti-obscenity clause on the acceptance form of a $72,000 NEA grant. She eventually had to sue NEA-chairman John E. Frohnmayer to have the grant reinstated. The New York Times quoted her as saying in response, "I've been struggling in dance for 28 years. To exist merely to exist is stupidity. To exist to make art is a pretty grand act." Although she no longer performs, her creative energy continues unabated, with each year seeing the creation of at least one eagerly awaited new dance. She has not stopped caring about her art form, a fact borne out by the numerous awards she has received for service to dance and the advisory and honorary positions she holds on boards and councils of prestigious arts institutions across the nation. Bella Lewitzky is Los Angeles's own gifted artist, extraordinary educator, caring, humanitarian and champion of freedom of expression. Taken largely from Lewitzky Dance Company press materials.

Bella...And Bella She Was

When new music was needed he often wrote it himself.  He taught his dancers to design costumes, to make masks, to experiment with make-up and lighting.  One student, Newell Reynolds, began courting Bella and a year later they married. While Bella rose to become principal soloist of the Horton troupe, Newell grew interested in theatrical architecture, studied, and eventually worked with R. M. Schindler and Welton Becket.  Their union produced a lovely dancer, Nora. Dreams often need to be realized, and in 1966 Bella formed the Lewitzky Dance Company.  At first it was just women but soon men necessitated their inclusion and now  over 30 years later, the Company has become one of the leading modern dance companies in the world, performing to critical acclaim in 20 countries on five continents and 43 of our United States.  Chronologically the above seems a relatively simple through line.  Not so!  It would be remiss not to mention a few fascinating distractions like dancing in WHITE SAVAGE, assisting Agnes DeMille on the film OKLAHOMA, assisting Hanya Holm on THE VAGABOND KING, understudying Janet Collins in OUT OF THIS WORLD (NY).  "I even danced at the Follies Bergere... (pause)... and I hated every minute of it." says Bella with a wry smile. (The PageTemp Cliping)

 Photo, right : Terese Capucilli was deeply influenced by Bella.