As the renowned and distinguished Bethlehem Bach Festival celebrates its 109th year, The Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company (PT2) will perform with the Bach Festival Orchestra in a stunning series of dances set to Bach and Handel works.

PT2 returns to the festival for the first time since 2009 for the program, “Brimming Over,” bringing two luminous Bach Festival premieres, “Aureole,” performed to the movements of Handel’s Concert Grossi, and “Cascade,” performed to Bach’s harpsichord concertos with soloist Charlotte Mattax-Moersch.

PT2”s performance includes “Esplanade,” the masterpiece of choreographer Paul Taylor’s career, performed to Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with soloists Elizabeth Field and Claire Bright.

PT2 performs with the Bach Festival Orchestra on both festival weekends, 10:30 a.m. May 14 and 21, Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, 420 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem.

The New York Times calls PT2 “one of the most exciting, innovative and delightful dance companies in the entire world.”

Paul Taylor, whose choreography and dance career spans 60 years, established Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance. The critically-acclaimed artist has created vibrant, complex and relevant dances that illuminate socially-conscious issues. Taylor created Taylor 2 in 1993 to ensure that his works would be seen by audiences all over the world, unencumbered by economic or technical restraints.

PT2’s six professional dancers are gifted with the talent to portray Taylor’s exquisite style and repertoire. They are every bit as skilled and impressive as members of the senior company, while possessing the exuberance of youth and vitality. The smaller group allows for more intimate performances. The Lincoln Center-based company tours extensively, including international tours, and has had engagements in nearly 400 cities.

Lee Duvencheck, who has been with PT2 since 2012, hails from Texas, but now calls New York City his home. His fellow dancers are Alana Allende, Rei Akazawa, Amanda Stevenson, Princeton McCurtain and Johnny Vorsteg.

In a phone interview, Duvencheck says the three pieces to be performed at the Bach Festival are distinctive. “They’re very different pieces of Baroque music. Each has a different theme and a different world.

“We’re opening with ‘Aureole,’ originally performed in 1962. It has the spirit of the early Sixties. It’s really optimistic. It’s expansive.”

Duvencheck is featured soloist in the piece in what was Taylor’s own signature solo for many years. “It’s a tricky solo. [Taylor] gave himself a lot of challenges with it.”

The second piece, “Cascade,” is the newest work in the program. “It has a much more courtly aspect to it,” says Duvencheck. “The costumes invoke a medieval quality.

“The dance is about relationships between couples. There are two duets that happen simultaneously. There’s beautiful symmetry.

“The final dance, ‘Esplanade,’ first performed in 1975, is the masterpiece of Paul’s career,” says Duvencheck. “A really extraordinary dance.

“It keeps building in intensity and athleticism until the end where it becomes go-for-broke, wild and passionate.“

Duvencheck describes off-balance movements, and falling dives and leaps, including jumps that end in sliding-into-home-base culminations. He describes the piece glowingly as “wild abandon dancing, with mysterious, tender sections in between.”

Paul Taylor has always used the beauty of dance to connect with audiences on a visceral level, using visual emotion to bridge beliefs, ideas and cultures.

“We would hope that the audience enjoys the dancing for whatever emotional response they feel from it,” says Duvencheck, “and can draw on their own personal lives when watching it. Mr. Taylor never demands that an audience ‘get it.’ He trusts … that what they think the dance is about is valid.

“All three pieces leave you feeling joyful.”

Tickets: bach.org, 610-866-4382, ext. 110 or 115