An esplanade is an outdoor place to walk; in 1975 Paul Taylor, inspired by the sight of a girl running to catch a bus, created a masterwork based on pedestrian movement.
If contemporaries Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg could use ordinary “found objects” like Coke bottles and American flags in their art, Taylor would use such “found movements” as standing, walking, running, sliding and falling. The first of five sections that are set to two Bach violin concertos introduces a team of eight dancers brimming with Taylor’s signature youthful exuberance. An adagio for a family whose members never touch reflects life’s somber side. When three couples engage in romantic interplay, a woman standing tenderly atop her lover’s prone body suggests that love can hurt as well as soothe. The final section has dancers careening fearlessly across the stage like Kamikazes.
Esplanade- Paul Taylor
It’s Taylor Time! The Paul Taylor Dance Company began their New York City season on Tuesday November 3, 2026, at Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater. The three-week, 19 performance season will run through November 22, and feature 10 works by Taylor, new works by Resident Choreographers Lauren Lovette and Robert Battle, a New York premiere by Pam Tanowitz, and the revival of Alwin Nikolais’ Tensile Involvement. For more information and to purchase tickets visit https://www.davidhkochtheater.com/tickets-and-events/paul-taylor.
