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Dancemaker

1999, Movie, NR, 98 mins

Dancemaker: Review

DANCEMAKER
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Matthew Diamond's Oscar-nominated documentary uncovers sweat, dedication and personal drama behind the scenes with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, a world-famous modern dance troupe. A legend among dance lovers, Paul Taylor emerged in the '50s from the Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham companies as a performer of rare power and presence. Taylor's muscular, unaffected physicality and down-to-earth origins belied popular stereotypes of male dancers as effete and mannered: Born in 1930 and raised on a farm by paid foster parents (a bit of personal history that resonates throughout his dances), the tall, solidly-built Taylor nevertheless moved with singular grace and fluidity. Diamond films Taylor -- still graceful in his 60s -- and his New York-based company as they rehearse, tour, and talk about why they persevere despite the hardships a career in dance entails: Dancers don't make much money, endure frequent injuries and often find their careers over when they're still in the prime of their lives. Choreographers must find inspiration on a deadline, accept a large measure of responsibility for their dancers' fragile dreams, and attend to the business of running a company: There are always donors to be wooed, unions to be dealt with, contracts to be negotiated, dancers to be hired and fired. Diamond, who heads up the Taylor company's video and film projects, gives Taylor's personal history a once over lightly, focusing instead on the daily give and take of making dances, and the creation of a new piece, the tango-based Piazzolla Caldera, gives the documentary shape. Interviews with several noted New York Dance critics help situate Taylor's work within the larger history of American dance. Dance lovers should be fascinated by this look behind the curtain, and those who want to know more about Taylor himself can turn to his autobiography, Private Domain. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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