Pam Tanowitz’s latest dance, Be in the Gray with Me, glancingly alludes to dance history. But she took a most up-to-the-minute approach in selecting one of the composers for her score. Seeking an additional contemporary Russian composer to complement a piece she had selected by Vladimir Martynov, she identified Pavel Karmanov through a Google search, downloaded some compositions and then e-mailed him through Facebook.
“When I heard his string quartet, it made sense with some of the movement I’d already created. It’s minimalist in one way, but there are clear rhythms, and it gets more elaborate as it goes. I e-mailed Karmanov on Facebook and he was thrilled,” the choreographer explains during a recent phone interview. Not only did his music suit the work, but it turned out the composer already had plans to be in this country, in connection with a performance of his music, and will be able to attend Tanowitz’s opening night.
The Russian focus of Be in the Gray with Me is due in part to Tanowitz’s experiences teaching modern dance during an American Ballet Theatre summer program in Bermuda. “I got to see some ballet teachers up close, teaching the Czardas from Raymonda,” she recalls. “That’s what sparked my interest, the rhythm, the folk aspect, the Russian part of it and all the history attached to that. The impression of observing that 19th-century Russian classic up close affected her musical selections. In the past, she has often turned to American composers such as Charles Wuorinen and Henry Cowell. “But I wanted to try something new for DTW. I was interested in something fresh, but that definitely had a style that acknowledges the past while looking forward, because that’s what my work does.”
As her dancers rehearse several sections of the new work, the choreography exemplifies a refreshingly refined, thoughtful tone that makes a case for pure movement without the abundance of multi-layered elements incorporated into many contemporary Downtown works. Her dancers are strong on line and move with a calm, elegant control.
The luminously cool set, a white floor, and pale translucent plastic that encloses the space, covering the side and rear walls and with three doorways on each side, creates a sanctum inside and occasionally beyond. “I’m trying to give dancing and technique a fresh look. I think the frame in which it lives is important, and should reflect some of my ideas, my composition and movement. But at the same time, it should not be overdone. So it’s very minimal on purpose. I feel it encases the dance. It’s like a diorama that enhances the whole project I’m trying to put forth. I’m trying to make the work make sense theatrically, but still have the steps and the movement front and center.”
Her original concept was for a completely clear type of plastic. “We envisioned it more transparent, but in a way this has become more beautiful. I love the wrinkles in the plastic. There’s something human in its not being too pristine or perfect, and I think that enhances the set and the piece.”
Tanowitz’s background includes a degree in dance from Ohio State University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence, where then-dance department chair Viola Farber, a longtime leading Merce Cunningham dancer, became a mentor. “At OSU, I was really encouraged to work on choreography, almost more than [on] technique. I learned a lot there; it was a very rigorous program. Sarah Lawrence was a great switch. I learned the rules, and then I learned how to break the rules. It was a nice dichotomy.”
Be in the Gray with Me is the first piece for which Tanowitz’s roster of exemplary dancers includes three men. As it happens, all three have connections to the Merce Cunningham company. Former member Glen Rumsey is a longtime colleague. “He was in the first dance I ever made in New York, before he got into Merce’s company,” she notes. Rashaun Mitchell, a leading light of the current company, was a Sarah Lawrence undergrad while Tanowitz was there, and has appeared in her performances when his schedule allows, as it fortunately does this week. Dylan Crossman, who is on the verge of joining MCDC are performing with its Repertory Understudy Group, rounds out the trio.
>Be in the Gray with Me
June 18 through 20, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-924-0077; 7:30, $15/$10.
