Opus Number: 116
Music: J.S. Bach, orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski
Set and Costumes: Santo Loquasto
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Date First Performed: June 6, 2002
Notes: Set to three keyboard works by Bach as richly orchestrated by Stokowski, Promethean Fire examines a kaleidoscope of emotional colors in the human condition. All 16 Taylor dancers, costumed in black, weave in and out of intricate patterns that mirror the way varied emotions weave themselves through life. A central duet depicts conflict and resolution following a cataclysmic event. But if destruction has been at the root of this dance, renewal of the spirit is its overriding message. A program note quotes Shakespeare, from Othello: Promethean fire “that can thy light relume.”“It has grandeur, majesty and a spiritual dimension. It is also quite simply one of the best dance works choreographed by Paul Taylor. …[The dancers] are building blocks in the human cathedral that Mr. Taylor constructs uncannily and perfectly with such powerful emotional resonance.” – Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
Michael Novak, Eran Bugge, and Company, photo by Paul B. Goode
