The subject conference has been in the making for easily two years in conjunction with a two-week season of the Paul Taylor Company in San Francisco. If Saturday night's sold out performance is indicative, the Taylor Company will be invited to return. But I do believe this conference is one of its kind and unlikely to be repeated. We have Nancy Martino of S.F. Performances and a consultant to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to thank for the superb opportunity.

Deliberately small and unhappily minimally attended, "Last Looks and First Words" provided a dance lover with a range of videos to see, a company rehearsal, conversations with Paul Taylor, Bettie de Jong and Matthew Diamond, the producer-director of "Dancemaker", the documentary on Taylor and his company which was nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary division. It received a special screening and has been at one of the local specialty movie houses for approximately a two week engagement. This is an exciting film about the process of making, producing and performing dances in the Taylor company. Rather than describe it, I simply want to ask everyone to look out for its showing where ever you are. Diamond, a former dancer, choreographer and artistic director of his own dance company, has worked with the PBS "Dance in America" series and really knows what he's about when it comes to filming a record of a dance company. You're in for a treat.

In addition, after Sunday morning's video viewing Bob Tomlinson, Manager of Operations (for this read Company Manager) provided us with an expanded, informative and bracing view of some of the business problems in running a dance company. Interviews with dancers who have performed the Chosen Maiden role in "The Rehearsal" also expanded our understanding.

I arrived at the Conference after Taylor had spoken, but in time to hear Angela Kane, who published a "choreo chronicle" of Paul Taylor's works and currently Principal Lecturer in Dance at the Rochampton Institute, London. I think it can be safely stated she is to Paul Taylor what Nancy Reynolds has been to New York City Ballet with Reynold's "Repertory in Review."

Kane spoke of three dimensions of Taylor's choreography which is marked by enormous diversity of subject matter, quoting Jack Anderson's statement of "pluralism" relating to the themes of an American nature and not simply lauding American history or behavioral characteristics. Kane finds Taylor's explorations of the "darker" aspects of Americana such as "Big Bertha" just as "American" as Graham's "Appalachian Spring." She sees the light and dark works as a second dimension and the third perhaps as the contrast between "plotless" and the "non-story stories" which can be so vivid.

Kane showed examples to illustrate her points. We got to see some early, and bad, video clips of "Scudorama" and "From Sea to Shining Sea" which is an amazing parody on American patriotism and flag waving. Aided by a drapery which conveyed Plymouth Rock, a variety of historical and symbolic folk trod over it and ground under it the welcoming American Indian and even Miss Liberty Statue herself.

The rehearsal attended included Airs and Piazzolla Caldera. Even with semi-marking, the energy and intensity expended by the dancers was quite electric.

The Conference presented a panel of West Coast critics discussing Taylor's work from their perspective of first exposure; subsequently their impressions; favorite work. Three of the critics came from San Francisco: Rita Felciano (S.F. Bay Guardian, a weekly); Octavio Roca (S.F. Chronicle); Alan Ulrich (S.F. Examiner); Martha Ullman West (formerly Portland Oregonian), Dance Magazine. All write for dance journals. The panel was moderated by Janice Ross, currently lecturer in dance at Stanford University. Among the interesting words employed in the session, current in American dance writing, were "trajectory"; "conundrum"; "epiphany."

Saturday morning's video session enabled us to see the original cast of "The Rehearsal" which I will be seeing and reviewing later in the week and "Last Look." Some witty observations on Taylor's take on the Jerome Robbins' choreographer for "The King and I" were included in the comments.

Margaret Norton, executive director of the Performing Arts Library and Museum of San Francisco, known locally as PALM, interviewed Matthew Diamond. Like Bob Tomlinson, his perspective on the junction between business and the artist as he recorded it is singularly enlightening. These are the obvious business or performance conventions we come to assume as a norm and often do not remember how they shape the planning of content. A small for instance is the creation of a documentary which can fit into the time frames of television broadcasting, just as dances need to be created so that three dances with one or two intermissions make up the usual two to two and a half hour program.

Norton, who has been involved in projects designed to familiarize dancers, choreographers and videographers with the special requirements of dance, remarked how few tapes get identified by date, subject matter or venue. Diamond remarked on how few videographers and choreographers or company directors have a dialog before recording is undertaking.

Martha Ullman West and Susan Reiter, who is a contributing editor to Dance Magazine, discussed Taylor as a writer and as a proponent of utilizing baroque music. Both writers provided special perspectives on Taylor's accomplishments and led the participants in some cogent examinations of Taylor's richly complex artistic imagination.

Perhaps one of the Symposium's highlights was to have David Bernstein of Mills College's music faculty discuss the score of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" with specific examples of folk melodies, restructuring and rhythmic patterns played on two pianos by Julie Steinberg and Betty Woo of the Mills College musical staff. Bernstein, a particularly enthusiastic speaker, gave us a geo-political and anthropological background to the musical environment in which Stravinsky composed "Sacre du Printemps."

Saturday morning Bob Tomlinson provided tapes of "Spindrift" and "Syzygy," as an unintended prelude to his discussion of the pragmatics of company life and Bettie de Jong's interview by Rita Felciano.

This special type of Symposium does not occur frequently. I would hope that the talk on balletco.uk relating to Sir Frederick Ashton will provoke a similar gathering in the not too distant future. While Sir Fred did not dwell on the dark side with such idiosyncratic precision as Paul Taylor, they share subtlety of mind and a devastating wit, differently expressed.