“Living legend” is used so frequently, some elevated version of the phrase seems necessary to capture the full stature of modern-dance giant Paul Taylor. It's been a decade since L.A.'s last visit from Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the troupe arrives celebrating its 60th anniversary with a trio of works emblematic of its founder's varied interests – love, war, bugs and great music. Handel's baroque formality supports the magnificent dancers in Taylor's luminous Airs (1978), while Morton Feldman's minimalism was Taylor's choice for his war commentary in Banquet of Vultures (2005). Smetana provides an exuberant musical backdrop as the dancers don antennae and wings for bug-themed mating rituals in Gossamer Gallants (2011). Like another legend, Merce Cunningham, Taylor danced with Martha Graham's company before establishing his own company in 1954, and what began with Taylor and five friends grew into a major force in modern dance. Taylor appreciates his elder-statesman status but isn't ready to rest on his laurels. Next year, the company will become Paul Taylor's American Modern Dance Company; it will no longer exclusively showcase its founder's choreography, instead reviving works by other modern dance icons and cultivate new talents. For now, it's an all-Taylor program. Music Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Fri.-Sat., April 11-12, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 13, 2 p.m.; $34-$125. (213) 972-0711, musiccenter.org.

April 11-12, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 13, 2 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 04/13/14)

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