So what are the talking points and hot tickets in your neck of the woods?<P>In London the Paul Taylor Company are visiting for the first time in a long while and for many including myself it will be the first chance to see this legendary Company.<P>

Stuart...great news about Paul Taylor!!what is the program they're doing? I love PT, but I must confess...I prefer his older works to his newer ones....works like AIRS, CLOVEN KINGDOM, ESPLANADE, BIG BERTHA, SUNSET and RUNES are just absolutely wonderful. His works cover such a breadth of the human experience....humor, the macabre, bizarre behavior, Jungian and primitive imagery (RUNES) pure physicality (MERCURIC TIDINGS, ESPLANADE)....I'm also so attached to specific dancers in specific roles, that it's difficult to see newer folks. For example, a former dancer named Ruth Andrien did a central part in Esplanade...a very athletic part in a very athletic dance. Apparently, when she left the company, her particluar part was so difficult that it had to be distributed to 2 other dancers..no ONE other dancer could fulfill her role!<p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited October 29, 2000).]

<P>Trina, here are some details of the Paul Taylor season from the Sadler's Wells website:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Paul Taylor, one of the 20th Century's most influential choreographers, brings his highly acclaimed company to Sadler's Wells with three UK premieres. <P>Paul Taylor's 'Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal)' is a radical interpretation of the Nijinsky-Stravinsky production which scandalized Paris in 1913. Taylor transports the original scenario of a pagan Russian sacrifice to 20th Century America. The action moves back and forth between a rehearsal studio and a series of Chinatown locations in which a detective story about a jewel heist and a kidnapped baby unfolds. <P>In 'Cascade' Taylor re-visits music of the Baroque period with three of J.S. Bach's concerti arranged for piano and orchestra - setting the trills and cadences of the piano against the richness of Bach's orchestration. Curlicues of movement meld with the sweep and weave of the music to create a lustrous, lyrical work. <P>Seductive, sultry, smoldering - 'Piazzolla Caldera' evokes the smoke-filled, sexually-charged dance halls of South America. The excitement, passion and stylistic nuances of the tango permeate every shoulder-swagger, foot-stamp and lunge. Alluding to the exploitation and struggle of an underclass and to the battle of the sexes, the dancers stalk and circle one another as a prelude to aggressive, risqué partnering. <P>Celebrating its 45th Anniversary this year, Paul Taylor Dance Company continues to combine the classical and the contemporary, presenting some of the most exciting and accessible performances in the history of dance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Do you know any of these ones, trina? I saw the Rambert Dance Company in 'Airs' and enjoyed the exuberant and elegant style of the work. <P>Criticaldance readers, we're still very keen to hear from you about the talked about shows in your area.<P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited October 30, 2000).]

The Taylor works listed for London were all done here in Seattle as part of the company's national tour last season. I think that you will find this to be a highly enjoyable program.

I saw "Sacre" many years ago when it was first premeired at City Center in NYC...it was really great..sort of a cartoon-ish, Keystone cops dance about a kidnapped baby,and many bizarre caricturish-characters. Nothing to do with the original libretto, except there is a dance of the sacrificial maiden, oddly enough..a very fast, quirky, angular,aerobic type of solo thing...very "Taylorish". Very fun...Piazzola Caldera I've also seen...I like that music..very sultry and earthy..I don't think I've seen Cascade....the dancers in the photo are Patrick Corbin and the gal, I can't remember her name, but she's a real virtuosa.....the recent" star" of the company, if I might be so bold...I think her name is Lisa....I'm not sure.

Thanks for that Francis and trina. Kevin has also made it clear that this is a must-see show.<P>Looking forward to it muchly.<P>So, what else is HOT around the modern dance world?<p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited October 31, 2000).]

well, continuing in the vein of 'oldies but goodies', the talk in perth over the next 6 months is likely to be about merce cunningham co - coming to australia for the first time in 25 years (for the perth festival). although i can't imagine that there's much left to say....so no doubt all the old stuff will get repeated!<P>apparently they will be performing 6 works (all australian premieres, rather obviously) over 3 nights in february 2001. i heard something vague about a free appearance, on a local beach, but haven't heard more of that yet. the festival programme was just launched here this week.

For those who have joined us recently here is the link to the discussion on the Merce Cunningham London season. for my money the recent 'Biped' is one of his best pieces and the images are beautiful. both in themselves and the way that they interact with the dancers.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000218.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000218.html</A> <P><BR>Forgive me for being pushy, but are we to take it that there is no hot modern dance happening anywhere in the entire USA. Has modern dance shut down already for the Nutcracker season?

In Hong Kong, it was announced yesterday that Baryshnikov's White Oak Project will definitely be performing in our annual Arts Festival next Feb.; there had been some doubt earlier on that it might be cancelled as the company's Asian tour was still uncertain. However the programme details haven't been announced yet.<P>Also there may be another modern dance company to replace the National Ballet of China who has unexpectedly cancelled its appearances at the Hong Kong Arts Festival. (I've recommended the Festival to try for Paul Taylor Dance Company!)<p>[This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited November 09, 2000).]

In Seattle this weekend, 33 Fainting Spells (yes, that's the name of the troupe) is performing. They're premeiring (Seattle Premiere) "September, September" ...a dance theatre work. It sounds, from preview articles, very "pina Bausch-esque". I'll miss it because I'll be in Canada..I'd like to hear a report from anyone who attends the show!! <BR>This group is touring a lot, both in Europe and in US--has anyone out there seen them recently?

Momix is hitting Anchorage in December. There's sometimes a chance of our getting to have a class with them, I'm not familiar enough with the group to know which "them" that means exactly. Regardless - at least I'll get to see the show. <P>Stuart - you mentioned somewhere you took a class with Momix, didn't you - can you maybe address that experience somewhere? A new thread in Studio maybe?<P>Anyway - I just noticed this was supposed to be about October. Hm. Well, consider it a preview...<P>Far as I'm concerned, the hottest thing in Modern Dance this month is the busy rehearsal schedule we've been working with. Been cramming with visiting guest artists from XSIGHT! Performance Group (Brian Jeffrey and Pete Carpenter) on work for concerts in January and February, and it's been a pretty exciting ride - both the schedule and the beautiful (and nice to dance!) stuff we've all worked on. <P>Nice to be so busy with fun stuff to not even bother being jealous about exciting dance stuff happening around the world. Plus, I guess we've been pretty lucky around here lately - White Oak, Momix, SDC, etc...<P>Long post for being so off topic. I'm sure Grace'll straighten me out if I've veered too far. Put it in a special thread called "Priscilla's ramblings".