Michael Novak & Suzanne Carbonneau

Last year, the thirty-six-year-old dancer Michael Novak had an unexpectedly short amount of time—less than two months—between being chosen in July to succeed legendary choreographer Paul Taylor and taking up the mantle when Taylor died in August. In his eight years with Taylor, a relatively brief tenure at a company where dancers spend whole careers, Novak has danced more than fifty roles, thirteen of which were created for him, in Taylor’s vast repertoire. Dance historian Suzanne Carbonneau (who recently worked on The Chaperone, an independent film about Louise Brooks) is Paul Taylor Dance Company’s artistic advisor and literally wrote the book on him, in her forthcoming authorized biography. In the midst of the company’s run of ADF shows at Reynolds Theater this week (June 27–29), Novak and Carbonneau discuss their lives with Taylor and his work in this installment of Ruby Fridays, Duke’s series of free, public conversations in The Rubenstein Arts Center’s lounge, with lunch provided.