"A clear-eyed portrait of a great artist at work."

"Extraordinary...one of the most scrupulous records of the dance world ever committed to film..."

Paul Taylor has been hailed as the world's greatest living choreographer, having created a stunning body of dance work over the last forty years. When the curtain opens on the Paul Taylor Dance Company, audiences see a troupe of dancers soaring through the works of this formidable genius. However, behind the scenes lies a complex world of ambition, emotion, creation, and hard-nosed decisions.

Dancemaker is a film that tells the tale of this extraordinary, peculiarly American company. Cutting from stage to backstage, the film looks at the rise of Taylor from solitary child to star dancer to master choreographer. It is filled with both historic and contemporary footage of Taylor's remarkable creations and the wonderful dancers who have performed them. Interviews with current and past members of the company give the audience glimpses of the pain, joy, obsession and love that motivate the artists. The film travels with Taylor and Company from the rehearsal studio to an embassy-sponsored tour of India through a strike-threatened Broadway season. And finally, it gets to the core of Taylor's talent, as he wrestles with the making of a new dance that is the centerpiece of his company's season and of the film.

About the Production

Dancemaker is the result of collaboration between the members of the award-winning team representing Producer/Director Matthew Diamond, Producer Jerry Kupfer and renowned Cinematographer Tom Hurwitz and Editor Pam Wise. The film's Executive Producer, Walter Scheuer, is also the producer of the Oscar-winning From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.

Director Matthew Diamond has an ability to frame dance simply because he was once a dancer himself. He brings viewers inside the dance from the dancer's perspective instead of relegating them to watching from the audience. Prior to becoming a director, Mr. Diamond choreographed for many dance companies including The Washington Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company and Bat-Dor Dance Company of Israel. His work has been featured at Carnegie Hall, Jacob's Pillow and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As a director, Mr. Diamond has won two Emmy Awards; the Director's Guild Award, and the Humanitas Award. Specials directed for television include The Balanchine Celebration, Paul Taylor's The Wrecker's Ball, Garth Fagan's Griot: New York, Some Enchanted Evening: Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein as well as the television production of the Broadway play Victor, Victoria.

His credits include numerous episodes of prime time television including: Naked Truth, Golden Girls, Designing Women, Family Ties, The Preston Episodes, Doogie Howser, M.D., and Anything But Love. Recently, Mr. Diamond directed In Performance at The White House featuring CeCe Winans, Savion Glover, and Bebe Neuwirth.

Executive Producer Walter Scheuer began his involvement in film in 1979 when he produced the Academy Award-winning From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. Since then his major commitment to non-profit feature length documentaries has produced a number of films including Fiddlefest, released by Miramax Films as Small Wonders, A Hungry Feeling - The life and death of Brendan Behan, High Fidelity - The Adventures of the Guarneri String Quartet, November's Children...Revolution in Prague and most recently, Dancemaker. Scheuer's latest project, The Making of Turandot, is a film about the Zhang Yimou production of Puccini's "Turandot," conducted by Zubin Mehta and is currently in production. Walter Scheuer also devotes a great deal of time as a member of the Board of Directors of Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, as well as other public and private foundations.

Producer Jerry Kupfer began his career producing live music and comedy programs for the Apollo Theatre and Black Entertainment Television. He then won an Emmy Award for TV Nation, an offbeat satirical magazine program hosted by Michael (Roger and Me) Moore. His additional major network credits include ABC's New Passages and CBS's People Yearbook '95 . He co-produced New School Order, a PBS documentary about the dismantling of a school system in Pennsylvania, which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Currently, Kupfer is producing a 20-episode children's series for Jim Henson Television to be aired on Nickelodeon and entitled The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. Dancemaker marks his first foray into the world of dance.

"Dancemaker captures the brilliance of this legendary artist."

"This may be the finest examination of a great artist and the creative process of dance ever made. Don't miss it!"

"It is an exceptional film not only because it successfully documents the creative process of a different art form and the extraordinary impulse that propels the creation, but also because it offers insight into the creative genius of the subjects and the flaws that make them human."

"This may be the finest examination of a great artist and the creative process of dance ever made. Don't miss it!"

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