Latest news with #PaulTaylor
New York Times
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Churchyard' and ‘Tablet' Review: Irreverence and Resurrection
Paul Taylor isn't commonly discussed as a religious choreographer, but religious themes run through the nearly 150 dances he made across six decades. That his perspective was usually irreverent doesn't mean it was unserious. William Blake, explaining why Satan has the best lines in John Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' wrote that Milton was 'of the Devil's party without knowing it.' Taylor's dances often seem to suggest that we're all of the devil's party and that it would be hypocritical to pretend otherwise, but also that the implications of that truth could be very dark. Take 'Churchyard' (1969), one of the two works that the Paul Taylor Dance Company has reconstructed for its run at the Joyce Theater this week. It starts with a woman wearing what looks like a nun's wimple, her palms pressed together in prayer. The accompanying music sounds medieval, and the actions of the dancers who soon join her are both prayerful and pastoral, almost Edenic. Halfway through the dance, though, these images are replaced with the cavorting of devils or maybe the damned. Now with bulges like tumors in their costumes, the dancers fling themselves around in gnarled, twisted positions, jumping like frogs and scratching themselves. The men carry the women upside down, and the woman from the beginning, now a siren-like figure in a cape, swings her head to slap the ground with her braid. It's like a Hieronymus Bosch painting with touches of go-go dancing. Taylor called the work's two sections 'Sacred' and 'Profane.' But the sacred half isn't pure. The score — by the semi-forgotten avant-gardist Andrew Sarchiapone, who called himself Cosmos Savage — mixes in sounds of storms, which could also be a bowling alley next door. The innocent interactions between men and women are so chivalrous that they're arch, with hints of lust and trouble in paradise. The perversity of the choreographer-god seeps in with impossible-to-hold balances (set to fast music) and cruelly slow descents to the floor. The profane section is more fun, with naughty bits. But it is fun for us, not for the lost souls. There's desperation in their frantic activity. They seem compelled. And if their fate is ours, this memento mori of a dance is a nightmare. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Climate
- NZ Herald
Hawke's Bay's beach fires set to blaze again for Matariki despite winter fire ban
Fires lit on Napier's Marine Parade beach at the Matariki Mahuika event in 2023. Photo / Paul Taylor Born as a way to clean up excess driftwood after Cyclone Gabrielle, Matariki Mahuika Ahi's bonfires along the Hawke's Bay coast to mark the Māori New Year will continue. The event will happen again on Saturday from 6pm to 9pm, despite the region being under a
New York Times
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Raw and Untamed, a Paul Taylor Dance Gets a Second Chance
Bringing a dance back to life is detective work. Just what was on Paul Taylor's mind when he was choreographing 'Churchyard,' a work of angelic beauty and distorted horror, more than 50 years ago? Separated into two sections, 'Sacred' and 'Profane,' 'Churchyard' reflects Taylor's unsettling way of weaving together dark and light. Set to medieval-inspired music by Cosmos Savage, the dance becomes increasingly sinister, so much so that by the time 'Profane' rolls around, the dancers' unitards are filled with lumps. The Black Death is coming. Michael Novak, the artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, is determined to get the reconstruction of 'Churchyard' right. Or at least as right as he can make it. Part of the company's season at the Joyce Theater, which begins June 17, 'Churchyard' (1969) will return with another early revival, 'Tablet' (1960), a duet with design by the artist Ellsworth Kelly. Taylor, who died in 2018, had discussed reviving 'Churchyard,' but there was a problem: memory. Bettie de Jong, the statuesque centerpiece of the dance (and later, the company's rehearsal director), insisted that Nicholas Gunn, who joined the Taylor company the year 'Churchyard' was made, needed to be involved. 'Now I know why,' Novak said. 'Nick is kind of the key. It was the first dance he was ever in, and usually I have found, the first dance you go into, you remember it so well because you're so scared. You want to do a good job.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
08-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Pioneering device could help patients with Parkinson's, which affects 150,000 people in the UK, to walk again
A pioneering device could help patients with the incurable neurological disease Parkinson's walk again, researchers suggest. Nearly 150,000 people in the UK suffer from Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition that can cause tremors, muscle stiffness and slowness of movement as nerve cells in the brain die. As the disease progresses, patients tend to develop difficulty walking, as automatic movements like picking up and landing each foot become harder. This can lead to slower, shuffling steps that increase the risk of falls – often leading to hospitalisation. Now medics say a new device – which uses tiny electrical shocks to contract muscles in the foot and help raise the toes during each step – could help those with Parkinson's to regain their stride. Researchers at Salisbury District Hospital, in partnership with the University of Southampton, are conducting the first large-scale trial of the technology for Parkinson's patients, called a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) device. It is already used by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and those who have had a stroke, to improve their walking. Previous studies have shown its effectiveness at increasing walking speed and reducing falls in Parkinson's patients – even after participants stopped using the device. Participants also reported important wider benefits to their overall wellbeing, independence and family life. Professor Paul Taylor, consultant clinical scientist at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and leader of the trial, hopes the FES device can soon be used for Parkinson's patients in the UK. 'Nearly four in ten people with Parkinson's disease are recurrent fallers, experiencing an average of 21 falls a year,' he said. 'This can lead to a reduction in overall activity, fitness, health and social participation. 'FES is already recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as an assistive device for people with dropped foot due to a stroke or MS, and we believe it could offer similar benefits to those with Parkinson's disease.'
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Nottingham Forest Q&A: Nuno press conference, Champions League hopes
May 23, 2025 at 9:30 AM EDT Nottingham Forest have one final opportunity to achieve their Champions League dreams when Chelsea visit the City Ground on Sunday. Nuno Espirito Santo's side know a win over their rivals for a top-five finish will likely secure Europa League football next season. If they get the three points and either Newcastle or Aston Villa fail to win, it would also be enough to sneak Forest back into Champions League qualification. Victory at West Ham last weekend saw Forest perform more like the side that had established themselves in the top five for much of the second half of the season. They are already the first Premier League side to double their points tally from one season to the next. Can they go one step further on the final day? Nuno has just faced the media in his final pre-match press conference of the campaign and Paul Taylor will be here to answer your questions on all things Forest related from 2.30pm. Paul Taylor
