Corbin moves on.

In a way Patrick Corbin, who has retired from the Paul Taylor Dance Company in order to pursue a career of teaching (he already teaches at the Taylor School) and choreography, is as W.S. Gilbert might have put it, "the very model of a modern major dancer." Born in Potomac, Maryland, he is the epitome of what we are beginning to think of as a thirdstream dancer. He was classically trained, and he danced first with ABT II, then with Joffrey II. In 1985 he graduated into the Joffrey Ballet and was building a formidable reputation as a classical soloist. Then, in 1989, he switched allegiances, shucked off his ballet slippers and joined Paul Taylor for what was to become the most brilliant part of his career. Corbin, who won a Bessie in 2001, created many roles for Taylor, including the wonderful guy who had his pants made too long in Dream Girls and the leading role, alongside Lisa Viola, with whom he was frequently paired, in the magisterial Promethean Fire.

In his last season this spring at City Center, he appeared in fire title role of Taylor's wonderful but horrendous Big Bertha, the first male ever to dance the implacable drum-majorette puppet. Corbin was magnificent, giving a final flip to a career notable for its kinetic physicality, high-flying and swift-turning, but also for its sure partnering and innate sense of character.