Paul Taylor, giant of modern dance, dead at 88
Paul Taylor, a towering figure in American modern dance who, in a career that spanned more than six decades, created a vast body of work that reflected both the giddy highs and the depraved lows of the human condition, has died. He was 88.
Spokeswoman Lisa Labrado tells The Associated Press that Taylor died Wednesday at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. The cause of death was not immediately available, but Labrado says Taylor was in hospice care. Taylor kept working well into his 80s, venturing into his company’s Manhattan studios from his Long Island home to choreograph two new pieces a year, and 147 in all.
“The works that satisfy me the most? They’re the ones I’m working on,” he told The Associated Press in a 2011 interview, while rehearsing “To Make Crops Grow,” his 137th dance. “It’s the work process that I like. Once it’s done, I want to put everything out of my mind. I’d rather forget it.”
The Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world’s most successful contemporary troupes, touring the globe yearround and able to pull off an annual three-week season at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater. Audiences often appreciated the newer pieces, but his signature work remained the 1975 piece “Esplanade,” an explosion of joy and athleticism, with Taylor’s limber dancers running, skipping, hurling themselves into each other’s arms like missiles and tumbling to the floor with abandon, all to two Bach concertos.
An all-star lineup of mourners filled a Detroit church with prayers and songs Friday for Aretha Franklin’s funeral, honouring her not just as the Queen of Soul but also as a lifelong friend, family member, churchgoer and activist.
Guests at the Greater Grace Temple included former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.
Robinson, the Motown great, remembered first hearing her play piano when he was just 8 and remaining close for the rest of her life, talking for hours at a time. “You’re so special,” he said, before crooning a few lines from his song “Really Gonna Miss You.”
“Really gonna miss you, really gonna be different without you,” he sang.
Expected to last several hours, the service encompassed many elements, emotions and grand entrances that were hallmarks of her more than six decades on sacred and secular stages. It was a send-off both grand and personal.
Ariana Grande sang one of the Queen of Soul’s biggest hits, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and Faith Hill performed “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” The Aretha Franklin Orchestra performed a medley featuring “I Say a Little Prayer,” ”Angel“and other songs the Queen of Soul was known for, along with gospel numbers ”I Love the Lord“and ”Walk in the Light.“
Barbara Sampson read a statement from former President George W. Bush, saying that Franklin would continue to inspire future generations. The Rev. Al Sharpton read a statement from former President Barack Obama, who wrote that Franklin’s “work reflected the very best of the American story.”
Franklin died Aug. 16 at age 76.