Ii. Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor worked with various dance teachers and companies in New York during the 1950s while also exploring his own choreographic ideas: in pre-Judson, postmodern solos; in collaboration with artist Robert Rauschenberg; and with a small, frequently changing group of dancers. In 1962, he committed himself exclusively to his own choreography and to a full-time company, and through continued performance, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has preserved a repertory of works spanning Taylor's entire career. It includes his oldest surviving work, Three Epitaphs (1956); early ensemble works such as Junction (1961) and Aureole (1962); a diverse range of 1970s works-from Big Bertha (1970), Esplanade and Runes (both 1975) to Profiles (1979); and an equally eclectic combination of recent dances. Many of his works have been staged for other companies and, in its prolificacy and international popularity, Taylor's choreography constitutes one of the most-performed repertories of the late-20th century. His choreography has received critical consideration since the mid-1950s and many of his works have been documented on film and in Labanotation. Yet, in 1991, when I began my research, no composite history or catalogue of Taylor's choreography had been completed, either by the Paul Taylor Dance Company or an independent researcher. Even Taylor's autobiography, Private Domain'-a source of important historical information and philosophical musings-ends its account in 1974 and, thus, is 'silent' about subsequent developments. (Significantly, this was the year of Taylor's last stage performances. In the period which followed, he made the transition from creating works essentially for himself as the central protagonist, to choreographing larger ensemble works in which prominent male and female roles were more numerous and equal.) I have attempted to locate and analyze Taylor's choreography

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