Paul Taylor @ State Theatre 5/14

"The world's greatest living choreographer" is not the kind of phrase we'd choose to saddle anyone with but now that it's out there, we won't quarrel with it. On Saturday, May 14 Paul Taylor Dance Company brings to Cleveland Taylor's newest and, some say, his best work.

Klezmerbluegrass (2004) was commissioned by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture as part of a yearlong celebration of Jewish life in America. As its title suggests, its music is a mix of traditional klezmer and bluegrass tunes as arranged by Margot Leverett and recorded by the Klezmer Mountain Boys. Wailing clarinets happily sashay up to plunking banjos and Taylor's choreography does much the same, with do-si-dos juxtaposed with a wealth of traditional Jewish (hora, for one) and eastern European dances (think Cossack squat jumps). Santo Loquasto's costumes are perhaps the brightest he's ever done for the Taylor company with red tights under a blue mesh. Plumbing beneath the jolly surface, Taylor manages, as usual, to bring out melancholy undertones. Taylor's newest, but no critic's favorite, it seems. Since its Taylor we're discussing, that still leaves plenty of room for Klezmerbluegrass to be very, very good.

Critical opinion is more favorable for Black Tuesday (2001) and Promethean Fire (2002). Both are frequently cited as among Taylor's best works, though they span Taylor's enormous reach from low to high culture.

Black Tuesday starts with the cheerful surface of tin pan alley tunes from the Great Depression and proceeds to allude to the enormous stresses of the time. Loquasto's costumes are a fashion show of decaying finery in black and brown with hats, spats and even a cigar.

Promethean Fire earned critical praise for exactly the opposite approach. The music of J.S. Bach as orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski furnished Taylor with an elegant structure through which human rage and frustration are ultimately transformed.

Our only complaint is not some snarky attempt to puncture the balloon of an acknowledged "world's greatest;" rather, it is an attempt to get Playhouse Square to extract more from national tours of notable companies. Cleveland gets Taylor for one night and three dances; San Francisco gets three nights of Paul Taylor Dance Company on this tour with nine dances in all. We suppose the reason for that is our vastly lower population density and our inability to provide even nationally recognized companies with a full house; still, one yearns.

Opening night is Sat 5/14 starting 8PM at the State Theatre. Call 241-6000 or 800 766-6048. Purchase tickets at the Playhouse Square Box Office, 1519 Euclid Avenue or online at http://www.tickets.com. For info visit http://www.ptdc.org

from Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas vicnelsa@earthlink.net

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