An Interview with Michael Trusnovec, Dancer at Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Michael Trusnovec and a partner in Arden Court. Photo: Paul B. Goode
Paul Taylor Dance Company is a contemporary dance company founded in 1954. Paul Taylor, the founder of the company, has been regarded as one of the most avant-garde choreographers of the 20th century, whose work has explored such topics like war, rape, and religious zealotry. In 1992, he was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton the following year, and was given France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur, for exceptional contributions to French culture, in 2000.
As a new season opens at the Lincoln Center on Friday, we sat down with Michael Trusnovec, the company’s most senior member, who has been dancing with Paul Taylor for close to twenty years.
YAHOO STYLE: How did you first get interested in dancing?
Michael Trusnovec: When I was growing up, my sister used to take dance lessons. So even before I was 6 years old, I would follow her and her friend to the dance studio, which was just a few doors down from the ice cream shop that my parents ran. I think I was just picking up the moves just from standing in the hallway, watching the class, and finally the teacher was just like “this kid needs to be in here taking the class.” I was always moved and drawn by music, and eventually my sister left, her friend left, and I was the last man standing. Actually, I was often the only man standing in most of the dance classes when I was kid, but I just fell in love with it right away.
YS: And your parents were always supportive?
MT: They have always been really great about it. I think they saw something in me, they saw my dedication, and how I was really taking responsibility for what I wanted to do. I’m sure they had reservations, as any parent would, when their child wants to be an artist, “this is insane! How is he going to make a living?” But over the years, they’ve seen me putting in all the hard work, going to school, getting an education, you know, I’ve been working since I was 16 years old, so I think they stopped worrying about me.
Michael Trusnovec, center, in Esplanade. Photo: Paul B. Goode
YS: You’ve talked about how you were teased growing up, do you think like So You Think You Can Dance are maybe changing the attitudes a little?
MT: I think the fact that shows like So You Think You Can Dance are at least putting dancing in the mainstream, and captivating audiences. But the truth is, any kid is going to feel uncomfortable you know, dancing in tights, or touching a girl when you are dancing with a partner —all of those things are so awkward and different when you are growing up.
YS: What attracted you to the Paul Taylor Dance Company?
MT: I think it captures a lot of what I like about movies and musicals; that theatricality, and that meeting point of the physical aspects of a dancer, with the emotional aspects of a character part. I love that. I love that I am not only executing steps, I am inhabiting a character or becoming something else. I’m trying to find something in me and to be able to present it in a theatrical away.
I’m also obsessed with the music that Paul often chooses for his dances. I love the way he chooses to move to that music. It speaks to me and I think that’s also why I’m at home here.
Michael Trusnovec, far left, in Aureole. Photo: Paul B. Goode
YS: What is your favorite piece to perform?
MT: I think my favorite piece is the one I am doing at that very moment. It has to be! It’s the only way I can completely invest myself in the performance.
YS: Do the costumes ever affect the way that you approach the piece, or are they completely secondary?
MT: The costume can definitely change the way you portray a character or dance a piece. Sometimes they can be very restrictive, you know, in a good or bad way. For one of the new pieces, the costumes are very sexy and provocative, so I feel like it’s adding another layer to the character and affecting the way we move. Like, if I am wearing these tight black pants and a motorcycle jacket with bright zippers, I am going to move in a way that reflects what I am wearing. There have been times where we have rehearsed and learned a dance and we have no idea what we are wearing, and then we see the costumes and it totally changes the idea of the work.
YS: What’s your advice for aspiring choreographers and dancers?
MT: Trust yourself and trust your instincts and don’t let anyone homogenize your movements. I think that is a great thing about Paul’s work: we are all different dancers and we are allowed to showcase that difference in our work.
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