(Posted March 24, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform a new dance, "De Suenos" as part of a performance that also includes the dances "Cloven Kingdom" and "Antique Valentine" at Juniata College at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 3 in Rosenberger Auditorium on the Juniata campus.

For tickets and information about the Juniata College Presents series, please call (814) 641-3608. General admission tickets for single performances are $20, except where otherwise noted. Single-show tickets for seniors over age 65 and children age 18 and under are $12. Juniata College students are admitted free with a student ID.

The dance company performs the Latin-influenced modern dance to the music of the Kronos Quartet, a string quartet noted for playing a vast variety of musical styles. The dances are set to the Kronos album "Nuevo."

The Paul Taylor Dance Company was founded in 1954 and now has two touring troupes that perform Taylor's still-groundbreaking choreography nationally and internationally. He has created more than 120 dances and often allows ballet companies to perform his works beyond the repertoire of his company.

"De Suenos," which means "of dreams," is set to the music of Mexican composers such as Agustin Lara, Juan Garcia Esquivel, Osvaldo Golijov, B. Garcia de Jesus and Ariel Guzik. The dance company performs the Latin-influenced modern dance to the music of the Kronos Quartet, a string quartet noted for playing a vast variety of musical styles. The dances are set to the Kronos album "Nuevo."

"De Suenos" uses dream imagery to create a romantic atmosphere that features images from Mexican fiestas, folklore and Indian culture.

"Antique Valentine" is set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Maria von Weber, Joseph Haydn, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. The score for the dance is played on music boxes, player piano and mechanical organ. The choreography plays off images of music-box figurines and traditional dances.

"Cloven Kingdom" is set to the music of modernist composers Arcangelo Correlli, Henry Cowell and Malloy Miller. The dance mirrors the dissonance of the music, as the choreography swings between anarchy and order.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company has performed in more than 60 countries and has toured throughout the world sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The company has been featured on several PBS programs, including "Speaking in Tongues' and "A Field of Grass." The PBS "American Masters" series also aired a documentary on Taylor and the company called "Dancemaker," which will be shown at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 1 at the Clifton 5 movie theatre in Huntingdon.

The Paul Taylor Company tour in Pennsylvania is part of "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius," a major initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from the NEA and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency. To experience more of the choreographic genius of Paul Taylor and the PTC through the unprecedented variety of PTC repertory being presented in this unique tour, visit www.ptdc.org for a complete listing of all of the PTC dates in Pennsylvania.


Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.