NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bruce C. MacPherson
972.744.4600

Paul Taylor Dance Company
to Present World Premiere of "Dream Girls" at
Richardson's Charles W. Eisemann Center

 
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, September 30, 2002 – The Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations will be presenting America’s foremost modern dance company the Paul Taylor Dance Company for two performances on Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, 2002 at 8:00 PM.  This esteemed American dance company will be performing the world premiere of a new work entitled Dream Girls, commissioned by the City of Richardson and the Eisemann Center in honor of the Center’s inaugural season. 

Paul Taylor has riveted audiences with matchless inventiveness and astonishing poignancy for 48 years.  Taylor turns everyday movement into breathtaking art of heart-wrenching beauty and now nearly five decades after he made his first dance, he is regarded as a living legend and one of history’s creative giants.  At 71 Paul Taylor is as prolific as ever and Dream Girls will be his 118th dance work. 

Dream Girls will be danced by nine members of the Company (4 men, 5 women) and performed to barbershop quartet songs, ten in all, recorded by the legendary The Buffalo Bills.  It is a full work lasting approximately twenty-five minutes.  “When I first took the job as Managing Director of the Eisemann Center over two years ago and began looking for artists to present during our first season, the Paul Taylor Dance Company was at the top of my list,” stated Bruce C. MacPherson.  “The stage of the Hill Performance Hall is an ideal setting for dance with its wood sprung floor and I am delighted that we were able to not only get this outstanding company, but to commission a new work and bring to Dallas/Ft. Worth the world premiere of this new piece.” 

In addition to the new work, Eisemann Center audiences will also enjoy the Texas premiere of Taylor’s other most recent work, Promethean Fire, that received its world premiere to critical acclaim this past June at the American Dance Festival’s summer season at Duke University in Durham, N.C.  Rounding out the program will be Images an earlier piece created by Paul Taylor that was first performed in 1977.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world’s most exquisite ensembles.  The Company has performed Mr. Taylor’s works in over 60 countries and more than 450 cities.  While continuing to garner international acclaim, the Paul Taylor Dance Company performs more than half of each touring season in cities throughout the United States.  The Company also performs an annual two-week season at City Center Theatre in New York City.  Their performances at the Eisemann Center will be the Company’s first appearance in the area since 1998.

Since 1968, when his Aureole first entered the repertory of the Royal Danish Ballet, Taylor’s works have been licensed for performance by more than 75 companies worldwide.  They include American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet. 

Paul Taylor is the recipient of dozens of awards and honors including the National Medal of Arts presented to him by President Clinton in 1993.  In 1995 he came to Dallas to receive the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts for work that “endures as some of the most innovative and important the world has ever seen.”  Taylor and his Company are the subject of Dancemaker, Matthew Diamond’s award-winning, Oscar-nominated film, hailed by Time Magazine as “perhaps the best dance documentary ever.” 

Tickets for Paul Taylor Dance Company are priced from $20 - $70 with a 10% discount available for students and groups of 10 or more.  For further information or to order tickets call the Eisemann Center Ticket Office at 972.744.4650 or stop in during regular business hours Monday – Friday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM and on Saturday 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM.  The Eisemann Center is located at 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, Texas 75082.  Information may also be found by visiting the Center’s website at www.eisemanncenter.com