all Paul Taylor reviews

Just in from Paul Taylor at SW, and I cannot adequately describe my delight and exhiliaration. All I can urge you to do is GO - we don't often get dance of this quality.

The three ballets on view are all utterly individual and whole in themselves, and all are brilliantly entertaining in their different ways. 'Cascade' to JS Bach music is a joyously lyrical piece, and as it's title suggests there is a liquid quality to to the running and leaping movements of the dancers. The patterns in this piece are wonderous and made me wish I was sitting higher. 'Rite of Spring' danced to a piano treatment of Stravinsky's score, is a scarily strange, though thrilling, piece; it's all about a kidnapped baby and clumsily obvious killers with knives. The dance movement here is mostly staccato and sideways on; it's as if the dancers are posing against black screens to outline their movements. Sometimes one was slyly reminded of Nijinksy's 'L'Apres Midi d'une Faune', and I thought I caught passing hints of both Balanchine's 'Prodigal Son' and Nijinska's 'Les Noces'. The final ballet was 'Piazzolla Caldera', a gorgeously bold group treatment of the tango which had the woman in the seat next to me oohing and aahing in satisfaction.

On reflection, the thing about Taylor's choreography is that it owes absolutely nothing to anyone - it is entirely original; any references are deliberate (and delicious).