World-renowned Paul Taylor Dance Company brings breathtaking performances of iconic dances to Vernon for an exclusive engagement. On Tuesday, November 10^th at 7:30, this stunning New York troupe will be performing at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre as part of their 2015 tour and the season opener for the Society’s 2015/16 Dance Series.

Choreographer Paul Taylor is the last living member of the pantheon that created America’s art of modern dance.  He is considered by many to be America’s greatest living choreographer.

Prior to founding his own company in 1954, Mr. Taylor was as student of Juilliard School in New York, and performed in the company of modern dance greats such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine.

He found his own great success over the next 60 years, creating 140 dances including such masterworks as Aureole, Esplanade, Company B, Promethean Fire andBeloved Renegade.  At 84, Mr. Taylor continues to create at least two new works a year for his 16-member company.  His creations are still winning public and critical acclaim for their vibrancy, relevance and power.  Taylor’s ideas are still a heavy influence for art of the 21^st century.

Taylor’s accolades include creating his own school for young artists, releasing his own autobiography [Private Domain – 1987], Bill Clinton awarded him the 1993 Nation Medal of Arts, he was presented with the 1992 Kennedy Center Honors, he won an Emmy for the 1992 PBS program Speaking in Tongues, and Matthew Diamond’s 1998 documentary Dancemaker, based on Taylor’s autobiography, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Paul Taylor Dance Company was one of the early touring companies of American modern dance, and has performed in more than 567 cities in 65 countries and still spends more than half of each performance season touring.  The company’s performance in Vernon will include masterworks Esplanade, Company B and Promethean Fire.

“The dances we’re performing at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre showcase the brilliance of Paul Taylor in a variety of dance styles and themes,” said John Tomlinson, Executive Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation.  “These dances- a combination of classics and recent masterworks – are a marriage of some of the world’s greatest choreography – performed by some the world’s finest dancers.”

Mr. Taylor’s dances cover a wide range of topics, such as love, sexual orientation, feminism, war and religion.  While he may propel his dancers through space for the sheer beauty of it, he more frequently uses them to illuminate such profound issues as war, piety, spirituality, sexuality, morality and mortality.

“I make dances because I believe in the power of contemporary dance, its immediacy, its potency, its universality,” Taylor says.   I make dances because that’s what I’ve spent many years teaching myself to do and it’s become what I’m best at.”

Tickets for Paul Taylor Dance Company’s November 10^th performance are $47 for adults, $44 for seniors and $42 for students and are on sale now through the Ticket Seller Box Office by calling 250-549-SHOW (7469) or online at www.ticketseller.ca. This show can also be purchased as part of our 2015/16 Dance Series subscription package. At $150 for adults, $140 for seniors and $130 for students, these five-show bundles give you more of what you love, for less! Contact the box office for more information.

And on October 24^th, there is a special screening of the documentary film Paul Taylor: Creative Domain. This feature length film is a rare documentation of the creative process of Paul Taylor. It follows Mr. Taylor during his creative period choreographing Three Dubious Memories, his 133^rd dance. The film screening starts at 3pm on Saturday, October 24^th and admission is free.

The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Society thanks the following sponsors for their generous support: The Best Western Vernon Lodge, Okanagan Spirits, the Vernon Morning Star, the Okanagan Advertiser, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Regional District of the North Okanagan.