In the midst of the Paul Taylor Dance Company's three ADF performances, the company’s artistic director, Michael Novak, will bring a unique depth of experience with Taylor and his work to this conversation with dance writer and scholar Suzanne Carbonneau.
Michael Novak became the second artistic director in the history of the Taylor Foundation in 2018. He has been a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company since 2010; his first season earned a nomination for the Clive Barnes Foundation Dance Award. He has danced 56 roles in 50 Taylor dances—13 of which were made on him—and has had roles created on him by five Taylor Company Commission choreographers. He graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 2008. While there, he was artistic associate of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative.
Suzanne Carbonneau has written about dance for the Washington Post, the New York Times, and other publications. She directed the NEA Arts Journalism Institute and has been scholar-in-residence at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. She currently serves as artistic advisor to Paul Taylor American Modern Dance. Carbonneau holds a PhD from NYU and is a professor at George Mason University. She has been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Bogliasco, and she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her authorized biography of choreographer Paul Taylor is forthcoming from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
