11/28/25 O&A NYC DANCE REVIEW BY WALTER RUTLEDGE: Robert Battle’s Under the Rhythm – Paul Taylor Dance Company

By Walter Rutledge

When Robert Battle discussed Under the Rhythm prior to the Paul Taylor Dance Company New York season the poignant story of his upbringing was inspiring. Dessie Williams, his mother by choice, introduced him to the arts and encouraged his terpsichorean journey. The nonagenarian still plays the piano at the same church little Robert attended. Continue reading

11/10/25 O&A NYC DANCE REVIEW BY WALTER RUTLEDGE: Hope Boykin – How Love Sounds – Paul Taylor Dance Company

The Paul Taylor Dance Company‘s New York City season opened on Tuesday November 4 at the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center for 20 performances through November 23.  The opening night performance presented Paul Taylor’s Concertiana and Cascade, and the New York premiere of Hope Boykin’s How Love Sounds. That evening Boykin’s work programmatically felt like a culinary intermezzo, a refreshing palette cleanser between two Taylor classics; but on Thursday’s program How Love Sounds proved to also be a versatile audience pleasing closer. Continue reading