Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY’s 2026 fall season at Lincoln Center: From company premieres to indisputable Taylor classics

• By drediman
• November 9, 2026
• No Comments

Over the past few days, I was able to immerse myself in a pair of programs from Paul Taylor Dance Company’s three-week fall season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Like Martha Graham Dance Company, another longstanding American dance company, Taylor has been working towards a more ambitious artistic stance to expand its repertoire beyond the works of its namesake choreographer — namely by appointing resident choreographers Lauren Lovette and Robert Battle — thereby keeping its performances fresh and relevant on a sustainable basis. Ideally, this has resulted in programs that are well balanced between fascinating new works and indisputable Taylor classics. Here are my thoughts on what I’ve seen so far this autumn.

In terms of premieres, this first week I’ve already encountered a New York premiere, a company premiere, and a world premiere. The New York premiere was Pam Tanowitz’s Messengers, Maidens and the End of Something Else, which is set to selections from Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14. Over the course of the piece, the contemporary choreographer — ever the bold deconstructionist — arranges and re-arranges thematic movement, characters outlines, and visual vistas, conjuring a liminal realm where the abstract and concrete ideas meet tantalizingly. Tanowitz’s classical ballet-informed work vaguely suggests a pastorale setting from ancient times, one where a stylized horse sculpture also doubles as a dance barre. With her austere and rigorous aesthetic, Messengers provides a pleasing contrast to the effusive and athletic kind of dancing that Taylor is known for. Then there’s this fall’s company premiere in the form of Battle’s No Longer Silent (the piece was originally choreographed in 2007 for Julliard). Set to a tense, all-but-forgotten ballet score by Jewish composer Erwin Schulhoff, this somber spectacle for the entire company favorably calls to mind the staccato savagery and desperation of Nijinsky’s seminal The Rite of Spring and a bit of Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, even if its concentration camp-like setting is a little on the nose (Schulhoff would perish under Nazi rule). The world premiere I caught was another Battle piece entitled A Starling (note that I’ve yet to see Lovette’s world premiere, which I’ll be seeing later in the season). Despite its crowd-pleasing package and the enthusiastic ovation it elicited, the work is also the least interesting of the three premieres — both its eye-catching set by Anne Patterson and cinematic new score by John Mackey are derivative of other new works I’ve seen over the years (namely Justin Peck’s Partita and Everywhere We Go, respectively), and Battle’s choreography ultimately becomes repetitious and prone to posing with little meaning.

Then there were the Taylor staples Airs, Esplanade, and Brandenburgs, which provided a welcome contrast to — and a comfortable, familiar respite from — the aforementioned additions to the company repertoire. Before I proceed with my assessment, I must say that it’s been such a coup for Taylor to call upon the great Orchestra of St. Luke’s to provide the musical accompaniment for its fall seasons. Indeed, hearing Handel and Bach sumptuously played by such a world class music ensemble only elevated the dancers’ performances of these beloved classics. Indeed, Airs came across as, well, airier and more sprightly than usual, Esplanade more exciting in its kinetic sense of abandon, and Brandenburgs more energetic and sweeping in its modern interpretation of the baroque. Although small issues related to unison and alignment were evident every now and again, overall the dancers have been really coming into their own, both in terms of their individual style and personality (watching truly exceptional dancers like Madelyn Ho, who also happens to be an accomplished MD, really take their dancing to a whole new level has been thrilling to watch over the last few seasons), as well as their sense of trust in each other and general like-mindedness as a company.