Paul Taylor is not a choreographer for the cynical. Then again, maybe he is exactly what a cynic needs. At the outset of his 1988 piece Brandenburgs, with the dancers in tight green velour beaming beatifically out at us, the hardened viewer may be thinking: this is a bit twee, a bit dated. Twenty-five minutes later, after a hurricane of leaping and spinning and tightly honed technique, you’re thinking how joyful it is to be alive.
Taylor was one of the most prominent and popular figures in American modern dance, leading his company for more than 60 years until his death in 2018. The company first visited the UK in 1964, but has not been to London in 20-odd years. (In this short run they’re also dancing a second programme, including Taylor’s final work Concertiana, from 2018.)
