Legendary American dancer and choreographer has died

By Rodolfo Vieira

Aug 31, 2018

07:32 A.M.

Paul Tayor, the biggest figure in American modern dance and the man who helped shape the industry throughout 60 years, has passed away at the age of 88.

Lisa Labrador, his spokeswoman, shared that the choreographer drew his last breath on Wednesday, August 29, 2018, but the cause of death is yet to be revealed.

According to The Washington Post, Taylor died at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan and worked well into his 80s, choreographing two pieces a year for a total of 147.

Taylor was one of a kind and everyone knew it; he used to put his heart and soul into every project and was very passionate about the working process.

HE LIVED FOR HIS WORK

In fact, that was his favorite part of the job and, once it was done, he would just put everything out of his mind because he would rather forget about it and start something new.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world's most prestigious and accomplished contemporary troupes and it tours around the world all year while still able to perform at the Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater for three weeks.

A ROUGH YOUTH

Born in 1930, during the Great Depression, he spent most of his youth in Washington D.C. and was quite the troublemaker, having had run-ins with the law after stealing a baby stroller and digging up a coffin.

Taylor studied under the great modern choreographer Martha Graham and, years later, along with Merce Cunningham, they became the three most respected modern dance choreographers in the world.

A TRUE ARTIST

The late 88-year-old's work was notorious for the amount of effort and emotion in them, but Big Bertha is still considered to be one of his most famous projects due to its disturbing content, focusing on depravity, incest and several other taboo topics.