Paul Taylor
Paul offers a variety of workshops, residencies and performances online for adults and youth. Please contact Susan for more details and to discuss your needs. For an example of some of the offerings that are available, please view this pdf. Here is a short demo of a virtual performance for young audiences.
Fabulous week-long all school residency at Manor Heights Elementary in Casper WY!
Adelaide-native Paul Taylor celebrates the culture of his Australian homeland in shows and workshops for all ages, sharing stories, multi-media images, and music of Aboriginal and European Australia. He is an authentic player of Aboriginal percussion and didgeridoo, having learned from Yidumduma Bill Harney, the last male custodian of the Wardaman culture in Australia's Northern Territory who also made Paul an honorary member of the clan. Paul trained in theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, UK and worked professionally as an actor and stage manager in Australia's regional theatres as well as a circus clown performing throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
Recipient of the 2015 Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award, Paul travels the US, performing and conducting hands-on interactive sessions for schools, colleges, performing arts centers, festivals, museums, libraries and community centers but still makes time to go to the Outback bush each summer. His performances combine Australian storytelling with Aboriginal culture and legends, instrumental music on didgeridoo and other traditional instruments, and traditional European/Australian songs laced with drama and dance. Several of the performance offerings include multimedia presentations of rock art paintings and the land. His performance credits include The New Orleans Jazz Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, the Disney Music Center, The National Storytelling Festival, Festivale Internationale de Louisiane, and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra among many others
Paul's educational concerts present Australian culture both of the cities and of the bush with equal reverence - and a good dash of humor. Residencies in a community include performances and various immersion workshops for all ages. Taylor is well known for his mural residencies adapting the Aboriginal dot painting technique to tell a painted story of and designed by the community.
Paul has recorded award-winning albums of Australian song and story, honored with Parents' Choice Gold, NAPPA Gold Awards, Storytelling World awards and Best Educational and Best Spoken Word Recording awards from Children's Music. In 2013, Paul was chosen as a regional finalist for Australian of the Year for his work documenting and representing the Wardaman and Australian culture. Paul Taylor is the Director of the Yubulyawan Dreaming Project documenting and recording Wardaman culture and rock art and honoring his mentor, Yidumduma Bill Harney.
Aboriginal Skies: In the Land of the Lightning People is a planetarium show presented by Paul Taylor, often in conjunction with a local Planetarium Educator
Aboriginal Skies is a 60 to 90 minute planetarium performance presentation adaptable to all ages with the full-length show developed for high school/university and general adult audiences. The performance is a unique illumination of the world's oldest living culture in story, song, dance and didgeridoo with stunning rock art and land that links directly to the wondrous southern night sky. You will hear the Wardaman Creation Story and Songs of the Dreaming, and how they link to the Songlines in the night sky with photo galleries of rock art, land, animals, culture, video clips of Yidumduma Bill Harney, and night sky projections, amassed by dedicated research over many years.
Aboriginal Skies Video
This show celebrates the vast Star Law of Australian Wardaman Aboriginal Elder, Yidumduma Bill Harney, and his groundbreaking work with Dr. Hugh Cairns in their 2003 publication of Dark Sparklers. This presentation was conceived in the US by Yidumduma's student of 27 years, Adelaide born Paul Taylor, in collaboration with Colorado University Astronomy Professor, Dr. John Stocke. Presented for over 12 years at Colorado's Fiske Planetarium, this show has been endorsed and co-presented with both Yidumduma and Dr. Cairns.
Aboriginal Skies further information
