Directed by Kate Geis • Documentary • With Paul Taylor • 2015 • 82 minutes

From Emmy-award-winning director Kate Geis and Emmy-award-winning cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, Paul Taylor: Creative Domain is an inside look at a master at work – creating something metaphysical from emotion, inspiration and bodies in action.

Among the most acclaimed choreographers in American history, Paul Taylor reinvented the roles of music, movement and theme in dance for nearly 60 years. In that time he offered only glimpses into his creative process. Paul Taylor: Creative Domain is a rare in-depth documentation of how he creates a single dance – and the last documentary made with him before his death in 2018.

Beginning with Paul dancing in his youth, describing the nature of dance ("you learn to live day to day, hour to hour") the film features Paul, in his 80’s, still living his life in the moment, with his mind intently focused on his next dance. His new work is a Rashomon-inspired exploration of memory; three characters entangled in a tragic relationship, each believing only in their own dark memory.

Through the lens of legendary dance cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, viewers see Paul’s distinctive non-verbal communication with his dancers up-close. Below the surface of this dance and the many works that came before is Paul’s power of acute observation, revealing a side to his choreography that is strangely prophetic. The dominant voice guiding the film is Paul’s, and between guarded and unguarded moments we view him with new eyes and new understanding.

"CRITIC'S PICK! Absorbing…approaches the mystical." —The New York Times