Michael Novak, Artistic Director, Paul Taylor Dance Company: The Genius in the Room

Join host Joanne Carey as she chats with Special Guest: Michael Novak Artistic Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company

In this episode of "Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey , host Joanne Carey interviews Michael Novak, the artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Michael shares his journey into dance, overcoming personal challenges such as stuttering, and his transition from musical theater to ballet and modern dance. He discusses the importance of authenticity in dance, the role of resident choreographers, and the exciting new educational initiatives at the company's new space. The conversation also highlights the upcoming season at Lincoln Center, featuring a mix of new works and classic pieces, and Michael's vision for the future of the company.

Michael Novak: became the second Artistic Director in the history of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation in September 2018, having been selected by Mr. Taylor months earlier to succeed him upon his death. Novak was nominated for the Clive Barnes Foundation Dance Award for his debut Season. During his career with the Company, he performed fifty-six roles in fifty Taylor dances.

Raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Novak began studying dance at age ten and by age seventeen was offered a Presidential Scholarship to attend The University of the Arts in Philadelphia to pursue training in jazz and ballet. In 2005 Novak was admitted to Columbia University’s School of General Studies, where he was awarded scholarships for academic excellence. He became a member of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, the University’s critically acclaimed resident company, and was named Artistic Associate responsible for advising on the curation of resident choreographers and directing the group’s branding and promotion. At Columbia, Novak became immersed in the study of dance history, which ignited a passion for modern dance. He developed a keen interest in the work of François Delsarte, the 19th Century French movement theorist who codified the system linking emotion and gesture that would inspire the first generation of American modern dancers. At Columbia he performed Mr. Taylor’s solo in Aureole, which led him to embrace the Taylor repertoire. In a 2009 program celebrating Diaghilev at Columbia’s Miller Theatre, Novak embodied Vaslav Nijinsky’s role in L’Après-midi d’un faune with an authenticity that brought him to the attention of dance critics and scholars. Upon graduation, he received his BA in Dance magna cum laude with Departmental Honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. As a distinguished alumnus, he was the Keynote Speaker for the Class of 2020.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company continues to be one of the world’s premier dance companies. New York Times hailed his inaugural season as Artistic Director as “groundbreaking and inspirational.” In memory of Mr. Taylor, he launched “The Celebration Tour,” a multi-year international touring retrospective of the Taylor repertoire. He co-directed the Company’s first virtual live-streamed benefit, Modern is Now: Stories of our Future,. And during the height of the Covid pandemic, he brought the Taylor Company to sixteen venues in eleven American cities for a total of fifty-one performances, earning the designation “Best of Dance 2021” from The Washington Post. 2021 he selected Taylor alumna and dance educator Carolyn Adams to head the Taylor School showing his commitment to broadening the Foundation’s impact in arts education. 2022 Novak selected former New York City Ballet dancer Lauren Lovette to be the Taylor Company’s first Resident Choreographer.

https://paultaylordance.org/

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