Private Domain: An Autobiography / Edition 1

by Paul Taylor

Overview

Taylor explores aspects of himself that have affected his work. He delves into the creation of Aureole and From Sea to Shining Sea, from their initial inception to the ways in which specific dancers influenced the choreography, including such notables as Pina Bausch, Laura Dean, David Parsons, Twyla Tharp, Dan Wagoner, Senta Driver—all of whom went on to form their own companies—and others—Bettie de Jong, Nicholas Gunn, and Carolyn Adams—who remained as much a part of the Taylor style as the choreography itself. Taylor writes with sincerity, wit, and charm of his associations with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, Anthony Tudor, George Balanchine, and many others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822956990
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	04/29/1999
Edition description:	1
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Paul Taylor, a dominant force in dance for four decades, is the recipient of more than forty awards, including three Guggenheim fellowships, six honorary doctor of fine arts degrees; a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and the Samuel H. Scripps ADF AwardÑboth for lifetime achievement. Other awards include the New York State Governor's Arts Award, the New York City Mayor's Award of Honor for Art and Culture, an Emmy Award, a 1992 Kennedy Center Honors award, a 1993 National Medal of Arts, the 1995 Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts, and one of six recipients of the 1998 Doris Duke Awards for New Work.

Editorial Reviews

One of the best and most candid theater books to appear in a long time.

Time

An exceptionally virtuoso performance as a writer—controlled, textured, elegant, funny, and at all times fascinating. It's one of the best dance books I've ever read.

Washington Post Book World

An unexpected tale, written with candor.

The New York Review of Books

An exceptionally virtuoso performance as a writer—controlled, textured, elegant, funny, and at all times fascinating. It’s one of the best dance books I’ve ever read.”
—Washington Post Book World

From the Publisher

Knowing that their career days and minutes on stage are numbered, dancers should live moment to moment. Heeding his own advice, Taylor writes his autobiography in the present tense. Explaining the longevity of his well-known dance troupe as a mixture of luck and hard work, he recreates his early struggling years when often he couldn't afford to buy food. He describes in depth his work with Merce Cunningham, Pearl Lang, George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp and others in a footloose career that took him from Burma to Mexico. Dance, for Taylor, is above all a means of communicating, whether a performer shares private dreams or mimics daily gestures. This lyrical autobiography conveys the joys and frustrations of a life in dance, culminating in Taylor's wrenching decision to abandon performance for choreography when his body failed him. Photos. (April 21)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly