Paul Taylor's Professional Lineage

(Picture Above: Paul Taylor and Martha Graham)

Many monumental choreographers and performers have greatly influenced Paul Taylor and his signature stylistic choices.

As we know Paul Taylor was first exposed to the modern dance world at age 21, soon after he began dancing with Martha Grahams Company, first studying dance at the Martha Graham School, then later, beginning his professional dance career with the company. While Graham took Taylor under her wing, he was not only exploring her technique and style, he was also finding out more of what he liked and what his movement style was. Minimalism/minimalist movement was a big influence that Taylor had grasped on to when he had founded and began working with his company in 1954. This exploration of minimalism lead to a piece titled, "Duet" where him and his partner remained still for four whole minutes. Taylor's works are notably recognized for the exploration of everyday movement, pedestrian gestures mixed with the fluidity of ballet and emotion conveyed in them. With the exploration process being very predominant in most of Taylor's works, he also enjoyed collaborating with musicians, whom also emphasized the style and emotion of Taylor's later works, some of these musicians included John Cage and Claude Debussy.

Some of Taylor's most famous works include:
Three Epitaphs (1956)
Duet (1957)
Aureole (1962)
Scudorama (1963)
Orbs (1966)
  

Citations:

http://www.abt.org/education/archive/choreographers/taylor_p.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/arts/dance/no-tiptoeing-around-his-opinions.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/584873/Paul-Taylor
http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/taylor_essay_wegmann.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_63g5TICeY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbhQYPxTmLo

Draper, Sarah