Two Taylors tour Wisconsin.

AMERY, Wisconsin--This month in Wisconsin, Paul Taylor Dance Company continues an in tandem tour which, if it succeeds, promises dividends for the company, dance audiences in big and small towns throughout Wisconsin, and possibly as a model for other companies and presenters. The journey began in April and also included Colorado and Wyoming.

By also using its six-member Taylor 2, the company is able to hit towns that are either too small to afford the main company, or whose stages are not big enough to accommodate the larger works being performed by the seventeen-member senior troupe. The junior company precedes the senior company in some towns, setting the stage and increasing awareness of Taylor's work, according to executive director Ross Kramberg. For example, on April 29 Taylor 2 conducted a lecture-demonstration at Viterbo College in La Crosse. On April 30 the main company arrived and held master classes, followed by an educational performance and a regular performance May 1.

By May 11, the first company will have appeared in ten cities across the state and the second troupe in seventeen. Lest audiences in smaller cities think they are getting the short shrift with Taylor 2, Kramberg points out that it is a paid professional troupe. "Three members of the first generation of the company have already moved into the first company, one has left to dance with David Parsons, and one with Momix."

It is not just the lower cost of the services of Taylor 2 that is making such a sweeping tour possible. Wisconsin Dance on Tour, a consortium funded by $103,000 from state presenters and $50,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, lets state presenters pool resources, making the endeavor cheaper for everybody. For example, the consortium paid for an advance trip by Taylor officials.

"The idea is to make dance affordable to communities regardless of their resources," says consortium director Gretchen Thomson. "If you live in Amery, Wisconsin, you shouldn't have to go to Milwaukee or New York for great dance--it can come to you." Amery's population is 2,808.

The consortium also coordinated tours by Feld Ballets NY, David Parsons, Ballet Hispanico, and Bill T. Jones. None, however, has been as thorough in covering the state as the Taylor tour.

Taylor 2 visits Amery May 1, Ashland May 3-4, River Falls May 6, Menomonee May 7, Sheboygan May 9, Delavan May 10, and Jefferson May 11. Activities at these sites include performances, lecture-demonstrations and, in Ashland, an open rehearsal. Taylor 2's repertoire for the tour includes Aureole, Book of Beasts, Arden Court, Airs, Duet, Profiles, Company B, Junction, and 3 Epitaphs.