Legendary Dancer Turned Choreographer, Paul Taylor Dies Of Renal Failure
- A dancer who later became the one of the world's finest choreographer, Paul Taylor died at the age of 88.
- The Paul Taylor Dance Foundation announced he died of kidney failure on Wednesday, 29th August.
- He started working as a dancer in the fifties and later started his own dance academy after retiring from dancing in 1974.
- His last work, Concertiana which premiered at the David H Koch Theater this past spring.
Famous and one of the influential choreographers, Paul Taylor died at the age of 88 on Wednesday, 29 August. The Paul Taylor Dance Foundation announced his death and confirmed he died of renal failure.
Taylor was considered as one of the few 20th century's great dancers. He was an honoree at Kennedy Center Honors in 1992 and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts.
Taylor began his career in dancing in the 50s when he formed a small dance troupe that performed his own works. Later, he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company as a soloist and worked there for seven long years.
Taylor's breakthrough performance came in 1962 where his Aureole saw a change of pace with modern movements set to baroque scores.
Taylor retired as a dancer in 1974 and started his own dance academy under the name the Paul Taylor Dance Company which have been serving steadily for five decades. His 147th work, Concertiana premiered this past spring at the David H Koch which happens to be his last work.
A doc u mentary on Taylor's life, Paul Taylor: Creative Domain was released in 2015 which focused on the choreographer's notoriously elusive creative process and his interactions with his dancers. The doc u mentary was based on his autobiography that was published in 1988.
In the autobiography, Taylor had written about his childhood, which he spent in Pennsylvania, and about his masterworks and his working relationship with fellow dance mentorMartha Graham, George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, and Merce Cunningham.
