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.'
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