PHOTO BY TOM CARAVAGLIA

Paul Taylor Dance Company

PREVIEW Leave it to Paul Taylor. The grand old man of modern dance, who has been choreographing for more than 50 years, is going where others fear to tread. One of the most depressing things about the current antiwar movement is the timidity of its voices. The Vietnam War generated dozens of songs, plays, and films that spoke loudly and clearly about where their makers stood and helped shape the thoughts of an entire generation. Cynics say that was only because of the draft and because the war directly affected middle-class, college-educated kids. I have a hard time believing that. Yet how are today's artists taking on the stuff that's being dished out by the White House? For all the sunny relationships celebrated in his dances, Taylor has an incredibly tough, sarcastic underside, and always has, even way back in 1965 with his hilarious From Sea to Shining Sea, which the company is reviving this season. The highlight of this week's six-day run, however, should come with the Bay Area premiere of Banquet of Vultures (Thurs. and Fri.), a not-so-subtle reference to Kurt Joos's The Green Table — a famous antiwar, antifascist ballet from 1932. The music is by Morton Feldman, another artist who went where no one else dared to go. (Rita Felciano)

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY Through April 2

Wed.–Sat., 8 p.m. (family matinee Sat/1, 2 p.m.); Sun/2, 2 p.m.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theatre, 700 Howard, SF

$27–$49. (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org