Depression-era Dance Contests

Paul Taylor's "Sunset" in performance.

There is something brutalizing about those depression-era dance marathons. The contestants are equal parts hopeful and downtrodden. Paul Taylor captures the essence in his latest creation "Marathon Cadenzas," on view in the penultimate PTDC performance of the Spring 2014 season, just completed at David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center. 

Taylor's 140th dance in a 60 year span is as vital and entertaining as any in his repertoire."Marathon Cadenzas" is set to music by Raymond Scott with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls. The company are all standouts in this heartbreaking dance.

More PTDC Spring Ahead: Sotheby's auction to benefit PTDC on May 14th

Paul Taylor Dancers with Tracer in 1962 Photograph by Martha Swope, New York City © 2014 Robert Rauschenberg Foundation /Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY 

On May 14th, the Taylor "Spring" extends to an auction at Sotheby's where works by Robert Rauschenberg, a friend and frequent collaborator of Paul Taylor's.The two met in 1954 after Taylor left Merce Cunningham's dance company to set off on his own  Rauschenberg designed the sets and costumes for a number of Paul Taylor productions including: Jack and the Beanstalk (1954), the solo dance performance Circus Polka (1955), Three Epitaphs (1956), The Least Flycatcher, The Tower (1957), Seven New Dances (1957), Rebus (1958), Images and Reflections (1958), and Tracer (1962), for which he also 

created a work of the same title that will be offered in May.

To learn more about the May 14th auction event, click here.

To keep apprised of PTDC performances, visit www.ptdc.org.