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Fall preview 2004.

Article Excerpt
You may have heard a rumor that dance tours are in peril, that halls are scarce, Euros are up, dollars are down, and entry visas for foreign artists are expensive and subject to political whim. So? The reality is that, all over the map, this tall season brims with prospects for great dance experiences--from the serenely classical to the confrontationally postmodern to the vibrantly multicultural. During the next four months, dance will rock and rule across the American landscape.

For some of the giants in the dance world, the year 2004 is a round number year, and the major anniversaries will prompt major tours in the coming months. Let's start with New York City Ballet. Because of home season commitments to Lincoln Center, the company's performances in the United States are customarily restricted to the Eastern seaboard. But this is the centennial of co-founder George Balanchine, and NYC Ballet will celebrate by traveling to the West Coast for full-week engagements at both the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Los Angeles Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. They're bringing primo dances: Balanchine's complete Jewels, Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, and Serenade, plus Christopher Wheeldon's acclaimed Polyphonia, make up the Orange County menu. Los Angeles will see Balanchine's Agon, Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, in addition to Wheeldon's Carnival of the Animals (with narrator John Lithgow) and Jerome Robbins' suave I'm Old Fashioned.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company, one of the world's most exhilarating, is marking its fiftieth anniversary with an ambitious, eighteen month project--to perform at least once in all fifty, states. The troupe will add ten more, from Idaho to Alabama, to the list this fall. The repertoire features recent works, including the ominous, ritualistic Dante Variations and the choreographer's mordant version of Petrushka, which he calls Le Grand Puppetier. Expect, too, a substantial helping of Taylor classics, like Esplanade, Aureole, and Company B.

Mention Paul Taylor and it leads logically to Martha Graham, in whose troupe the ex-college swimmer got his professional start. With copyright squabbles resolved, the Martha Graham Dance Company is again touring the land. The repertoire this fall is choice Graham--Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Errand Into the Maze, Lamentation, Cave of the Heart, and El Penitente--which means a crash course in American modern dance. In some cities (Davis, CA, for one), live music will accompany the movement (Graham commissioned several enduring scores).

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