Paul Taylor Dance Co.

At age 71, Paul Taylor is one of the most lauded choreographers in the country, having won the National Medal of Arts (during the Clinton administration), the Legion d'Honneur, a MacArthur Fellowship, three Guggenheim fellowships and a whopping seven Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from different colleges. His company, Paul Taylor Dance Co., is in its 47th season, and coming to Philadelphia with a piece Taylor premiered last year at The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Black Tuesday is choreographed to music from the Great Depression, with Taylor's company of international dancers strutting their stuff in period costume in front of changing backdrops. Taylor himself was born in 1930, and he blends the hardships of that decade with the sense of hope that people still felt in the worst of times. Along with Black Tuesday, Taylor's company will perform two other pieces: Images, from 1977, set to Claude DeBussy's music, and Esplanade, a 1975 piece featuring Bach's Violin Concertos. Students from the Curtis Institute will provide live music for the latter two pieces.

Thu.-Sat., Dec. 5-7, call for times, $28-$36, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900.

—Debra Auspitz