{{Short description|American dancer and choreographer (born 1948)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} '''Lila York''' (born 29 November 1948) is an American dancer and choreographer from New York City. She studied English literature at Skidmore College before studying ballet and modern dance at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance with Paul Sanasardo. York joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1973, where she danced for more than a decade. After leaving the company, she left the "very heart of American modern dance" to become one of "ballet's most sought-after choreographers," working with many of the world's foremost ballet companies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-56369645.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117164216/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-56369645.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 November 2018|title=Dancing for 'Joy' - Everything comes together in choreographer Lila York's 'Ode' for Boston Ballet.|newspaper=Boston Herald|date=16 March 1998|author=Karen Campbell|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref><ref name="DM1">{{cite news|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lila+York%3A+barnstorming+America+for+dance.-a018424622|title=Lila York: Barnstorming America for Dance|author=Elizabeth Zimmer|date=1 July 1996|newspaper=Dance Magazine|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref>
==Early life and training== York was born on 29 November 1948 in Syracuse, New York.<ref name="ODD">{{cite book|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2010|author1=Debra Craine |author2=Judith Mackrell |isbn=978-0199563449|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199563449.001.0001|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000crai_a8h2}}</ref> She began taking classical ballet classes recreationally at the age of thirteen from Gertrude Hallenbeck.<ref name="DM1" /> She graduated as an English literature major from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, with aspirations of becoming a writer.<ref name="DM1" /><ref name="JD!">{{Cite magazine|url=https://issuu.com/justdancemagazine/docs/jd_magazinesept2013_lr/10|title=A Handmaid's Tale|author=Susan Ouellette|magazine=Just Dance!|issue=I|volume=2|date=September 2013|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref> Shortly after, York had a change of heart and decided to pursue ballet and modern dance at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and received a two-year scholarship to train under Paul Sanasardo.<ref name="ODD" /><ref name="JD!" /> She also took classes with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.<ref name="DM1" /> She was the editorial assistant at ''Grove Press'' and a waitress while training as a dancer in New York.<ref name="DM1" />
==Career== ''New York'' magazine called York "the finest [dancer] by far" to have belonged to the Paul Taylor Dance Company.<ref name="NYM">{{Cite magazine|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/dance/reviews/328/|title=Lila York|author=Tobi Tobias|date=15 March 1999|magazine=New York magazine|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref> She joined the company in 1973 where she created numerous roles in many of Paul Taylor's works.<ref name="ODD" /> At {{convert|5|ft|0|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} tall, Taylor said to York, "I'm not taking you because of your height; I'm taking you in spite of your height."<ref name="DM1" /> Critics have often referred to York as the long time muse of Taylor.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Paul's Women: Motivator, Matriarch, Muse|journal=Dance Magazine|author=Joseph Mazo|date=October 1991|issn=0011-6009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedancecurrent.com/feature/audience-lila-york-0|title=An Audience with Lila York|author=Holly Harris|date=23 September 2013|newspaper=The Dance Current|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theculturalvoyager.com/royal-winnipeg-ballet-premieres-the-handmaids-tale.html|title=Royal Winnipeg Ballet Premieres 'The Handmaid's Tale'|date=30 September 2013|author=Peter Morrell|newspaper=The Cultural Voyager|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=2017-02-28 |title=In Lila York’s Genes: The Paul Taylor Family |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/arts/dance/lila-york-continuum-paul-taylor-american-modern-dance.html |access-date=2024-04-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her first piece at the dance company was ''Esplanade''; the first piece Taylor choreographed after retiring as a dancer.<ref name="DN">{{cite news|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635177677/-Dance-captures-everyday-moves.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105180621/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635177677/-Dance-captures-everyday-moves.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2017|title=Dance captures everyday moves|author=Scott Iwasaki|date=22 January 2006|newspaper=Deseret News|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> York called the piece "one of his most important works".<ref name="DN" />
York left the company in 1985 and collaborated with Martha Clarke on ''Vienna: Lusthaus'' and the play ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' which won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.<ref name="ODD" /> York's signature piece, ''Rapture'', was created in 1995 for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble.<ref name="NYM" /><ref name="WFP">{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2952366921.html|title=Atwood's 'Powerful Story' Inspires RWB Season Opener|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=24 April 2013|author=Kevin Prokosh|accessdate=2017-01-05}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> She created the piece in memory of two colleagues, Clark Tippett and Christopher Gillis, who died from AIDS complications during the 80s AIDS epidemic.<ref name="DM1" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-160765516.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116062730/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-160765516.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 November 2018|title=Past kicks in for choreographer 'Celts' creator found her own Irish heritage dancing in her head.(Spotlight)|author=Marc Shulgold|date=15 March 2007|newspaper=Rocky Mountain News|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> ''Rapture'' is set to excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev's No. 3 and No. 5 piano concertos and was widely critically acclaimed.<ref name="DM1" /><ref name="NYM" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18984541.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119101408/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18984541.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 November 2018|title=Looking to; the afterlife|author=Jackie McGlone|date=11 April 1999|newspaper=Sunday Herald|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> Bruce Marks, the director of Boston Ballet, was at the premiere performance and said, "I was just knocked out. I was struck by her ability to bring out the quality of each dancer, and the energy and originality in music I knew very well. I went because Lila was staging Taylor's Company B for us, and then I was on my feet with everyone else."<ref name="DM1" />
In 1996, Boston Ballet commissioned York to create ''Celts''.<ref name="DM1" /> Her motivations behind the piece were to celebrate her heritage and also, in part, her parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.<ref name="DM1" /> Christine Temin from ''The Boston Globe'' called the work "an astonishing array of dance images of Ireland, a piece that is both profound and thrilling."<ref name="BG">{{cite news|title='Hot & Cool': A risk pays off|author=Christine Temin|date=22 March 1996|newspaper=The Boston Globe|accessdate=}}</ref> An excerpt from the piece previewed during halftime at a Boston Celtics basketball game in November 1996.<ref name="DM1" />
In 2013, York adapted Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel ''The Handmaid's Tale'' into a full-length ballet for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LccRAwAAQBAJ&q=%22lila+york%22+choreographer&pg=PA297 |title=Britannica Book of the Year 2014|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=2014|isbn=978-1625131713|url-access=limited|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/performing-art-Year-In-Review-2013/Dance|title=Performing Arts: Year In Review 2013|date=30 January 2014|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref> It was remounted and performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2015 for the 30th anniversary of the novel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/8356|title=Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet|date=2015|publisher=National Arts Centre|accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> Holly Harris from the ''Winnipeg Free Press'' said "York's vision breathes new life into a venerable Canadian classic while literally embodying the story's dark forces, with its sobering message as timely -- and relevant -- as ever."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3101755611.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117175416/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3101755611.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 November 2018|title=Brave New Work|date=18 October 2013|author=Holly Harris|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press |accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> York has expressed that she is "interested in ballet taking on story ballets that speak to our time and our issues".<ref>{{cite news|title=Timely Tale|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=12 October 2013|author=Jen Zoratti }}</ref>
Tobi Tobias from ''New York'' magazine said, "her choreographic technique is wonderfully able" and that "York knows how to calibrate her movement vocabulary, how to keep her stage picture compelling, how to work solo or paired figures against large, spontaneous-looking ensemble formations, how to establish mood without lapsing into portentousness or sentimentality."<ref name="ODD" />
She has choreographed works for such companies as Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Ballet West, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Houston Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the Scottish Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and Washington Ballet.<ref name="ODD" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-arts/q-and-a-with-lila-york-in-the-mind-of-the-handmaid|title=Q and A with Lila York: In the mind of The Handmaid|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|date=19 January 2015|author=Natasha Gauthier|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milwaukeeballet.org/performances/2011-12-overview/spring-series-2012/lila-york|title=Lila York|publisher=Milwaukee Ballet|date=2016|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref>
==Personal life== York was married to Donald York, a composer, for much of her dancing career.<ref name="SH1">{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18692584.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120123017/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18692584.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 November 2018|title=York takes a rapturous step back to her roots|author=Jackie McGlone|date=8 April 1999|newspaper=The Scotsman |accessdate=2017-01-05}}</ref> They had been long-time friends and dated in middle school.<ref name="SH1" /> She introduced him to Taylor and Donald York became the musical director, conductor, pianist, composer, and arranger for the Paul Taylor Dance Company.<ref name="SH1" /> In an interview with ''Dance Magazine'', she stated she's "half-Irish, half-Scot".<ref name="DM1" />
==Works== ===Choreographed works===
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em| * ''All American'' (2001) * ''Breathless'' (2002) * ''Celts'' (1996) * ''Concerto 488 Sense of Spring'' (2000) * ''Concerto in Pieces'' (2000) * ''Continuum'' (2017) * ''Coronach'' (2013) * ''Echoes of the Jazz Ag''e (2000) * ''El Grito'' (1997) * ''Gloria'' (1999) * ''Memoir 2'' (2000) * ''Millions of Instructions Per Second'' (2004) * ''Ode to Joy'' (1998) * ''Postcards from Home'' (2004) * ''Psalms'' (1992) * ''Rapture'' (1995) * ''Rules of the Game'' (1999) * ''Sanctum'' (1997) * ''Shoot the Moon'' (2003) * ''Strays'' (1991) * ''The America Variations'' (1995) * ''The Handmaid’s Tale'' (2014) * ''The Ring'' (1985) * ''Windhover'' (1995) }}
===Chamber works===
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em| * ''Beloved'' (1991) * ''L’Histoire du Soldat'' (1988) * ''Memoir'' (1998) * ''Pilgrim’s Song'' (2005) * ''Requiem'' (1990) * ''Sharehi'' (1989) * ''Solo'' (1986) * ''Sostenuto'' (2008) * ''Widow’s Walk'' (2004) }}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{officialwebsite|http://lilayorkdance.com/}} * {{officialwebsite|http://lilayorkdance.com/repertory/|lilayorkdance.com}} - List of repertory
{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Lila}} Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:American ballerinas Category:American contemporary dancers Category:American women choreographers Category:American choreographers Category:21st-century American women Category:Entertainers from New York City Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:Skidmore College alumni