Meet Pat Taylor, our fourth feature of the seven choreographers of RS 2016:
Pat Taylor is the founding artistic director of the Los Angeles-based JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, a concert jazz dance company dedicated to celebrating the jazz tradition as a vital thread in the cultural fabric of African American history and heritage, and a defining element of the American experience. Her roots in Katherine Dunham and Lester Horton techniques, West African dance, American vernacular and classic jazz dance, along with her love of jazz and blues music, visual art, spoken word and the collage nature of improvisation, meld to form her distinctive style and approach to telling stories through jazz. She has taught and choreographed across Europe (Sweden, Finland, Germany, England) and most recently in Brazil. Her work in the US has been presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Lehman Performing Arts Center (New York), Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, South Coast Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas), Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California African American Museum, Barclay Theatre (University of California, Irvine), Dance Mission Theatre (San Francisco), Mesa Performing Arts Center (Arizona), and many other venues. Taylor is the recipient of a Brody Arts Fund Choreography Fellowship and grants from the Doolittle Foundation, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, California Arts Council and The Center for Cultural Innovation, along with finalist awards for the Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival and the Leo’s Choreography Competition (Jazz Dance World Congress).
Rhythmically Speaking 