Lisa Viola

Dance Magazine, June, 2008 by Susan Yung

At this season's closing City Center performance, Lisa Viola ended Paul Taylor's sublime Esplanade as usual, by saying goodbye to the audience with a port de bras and a warm smile. But this time, it meant more than ever--it was her final company appearance. Taylor gave her an armload of roses and a bearhug, followed by a torrent of bouquets and tears from fans. This dancer of amazing range is retiring from Paul Taylor Dance Company after 15 years, leaving behind a dazzling array of roles: anchor solos in Musical Offering and Esplanade, and masterful comic turns in Troilus and Cressida (Reduced) and Le Grand Puppetier, to name a few. One moment Viola can have the audience guffawing with an expertly timed blink; the next, she'll personify a world of grief with her compact, expressive line and ability to intuit the essence of Taylor's choreography.

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Then there are her many tender and fierce duets, in particular with Michael Trusnovec, in Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal), Promethean Fire, and Lines of Loss (both with duets created on them), and numerous others. Trusnovec says he'll miss "her command of the Taylor style and the ease and strength of her presence; her chameleon qualities--the way she can disappear into a role; and the physical extremes she goes to that seem so second nature."

Of Taylor's repertory, Viola says, "I love the work. From the minute I took my first class here, I said, 'I don't know what I'm doing, but I love it.' " Despite her tenure, she felt intimidated by roles created on earlier company members like Ruth Andrien and Lila York. But she finds great reward in "the things that I've made with him that I feel I was a part of, and I have that comfort. There've been so many."

Viola will continue in various capacities with Taylor, like organizing rehearsals and teaching dances. She assists rehearsal director Bettie de Jong, and will also set Taylor's work on other companies. Viola says she will "hopefully continue dancing just a little longer. I'm studying Labanotation ... but setting Paul's work will be great." Viola's brilliant comedic expressions, her lyrical fluidity, and her fierce intelligence will be missed.