Annandale, NY on Hudson — “Kiss” As soon as the speaker begins to move, the Bible Song of Songs begins. In the case of scripture, poetry is quite curious, which is one of the reasons why it influenced many interpretations.
The latest work is the dance theater work “Song of Songs” by choreographer Pam Tanowitz and composer David Lang, which debuted at Bird College’s Fisher Center on Friday. It’s a sophisticated, restrained, and sometimes breathtaking reaction to poetry. There is no kiss there, spirituality is just a suggestion. Instead, what is loved here is beauty.
Tanowitz’s final stage production at the Fisher Center, where the choreographer resides, was the highly acclaimed “Four Quartets.” The work revolved around the difficult reading of TS Eliot’s poems. It’s time to sing. “Song of Songs” begins with a closely harmonious voice. Lang’s 2014 composition “Just (After Song of Songs)”.
“Only your voice”, they sing “Only your throat” and list the attributes of your lover with repeated chords. This alternates with the other two motifs. One starts with “Andmy” (chest, beloved) and the other starts with “our” (house, laughter). Lang’s composition, with the addition of cello, viola and percussion, is a kind of analysis of the text of the Bible, drawing out phrases that begin with the pronoun of possessive. The repeats and lists are formal, but they also have an appetite. This is enough, and this and this are enough. Rhythm is a procession, there is almost as much silence as sound, and the voice is open and widespread in all “us”.
Tanowitz’s choreography treats both text and music with the same slant. It begins with solo Maile Okamura dancing around the set, reminiscent of an elegant hotel lobby. Elongated curtains outline an open area with long, low benches and a circular platform. (Production design is credited collectively to Tanowitz, Clifton Taylor, costume designers Reed Berthelm and Harriet Jung.)
When another dancer arrives (Melissa Toogood), they don’t behave like lovers. At best, they push the palm of their hand. As more dancers appear, they also touch Okamura and her hands, passing her one after another, expressing her enthusiasm through her repetition. When a female dancer is lifted off the platform by two men, one at a time, like a turnstile ticket gate, that feeling is reflected in later sections.
This isn’t a pair of dances, but it may be so for now. A simpler setting of the poetry section starting with “I slept but my heart awoke” when the work moved to the first of three new compositions by Lang — Sarah Briley, Martha Kluber, Katie. The whole song by Guy Singer Gorgeously clear — Toogood seems to have been noticed and pursued by Zachary Gonder. Together, they hang out like poetry stag beetles. But they haven’t been alone for a long time, as others gather to witness soon.
The emphasis is on groups and communities. There are seven impeccable, unaffected dancers, so even if they are all paired, someone will be excluded. Too good, fluttering, falling (as she is often in Tanowitz’s dance), giving the strongest impression of being “sick in love,” as the poem says, which Toogood jumps into Gonder’s arm. When, it shows Tanowitz’s view of love here. She almost jumps over and over them. Unlike ancient poetry, it is still surprisingly direct, a work that dances around sensual love.
It’s part of its beauty. Even if the dancer touches it, it seems to keep the classic distance. They do a lot of surveillance. Some of their poses may come from classical art, but in a broader sense, the work is a classic tone, as clear and easy to read as Merce Cunningham. Difficult and progressive steps and bursts of adjustment are also Cunningham-like. These are balanced by a simple folk dance pattern, which Tanowitz says her “Song of Songs” is a “Jewish dance”, but Jerome Robbins means “Dances at Gathering”. Then I am Jewish. (That is, it’s not clear. Robins was Jewish, and so was Tanowitz and Lang.)
As always, Tanowitz is familiar with how to use space, evoking and destabilizing foreground and background ideas. The rear trio is just as important as the front solos and duets. The curtain (eventually lowered to cover the backplane) gives her a perimeter for activation and, for the strip, a transparent boundary for the dancer’s limbs to penetrate. increase.
Dance is closest to kissing at the end of a song that lists the sensual experiences of a loved one (“I can see you”, “I can taste you”). Toogood and Victor Lozano face each other, but instead of touching their lips, they turn to see Brian Lawson leaning on the curtain, supported by the dancer on the other side at an unstable angle. Whether it is the image of a human being or the image of God’s love remains unsolved.
When the dance finally enters the extended duet sequence, the duet becomes a relay or “lalond” form, with one dancer tagging another. This is a passage without words or songs. After this, the conclusions are collective, and it’s not surprising that all the dancers drift as one and pose together on the platform. This reaction to poetry is not a song of self or a couple. The attitude of Tanowitz and Lang seems to be “they are playing our songs.”
Song of Songs
Performed from July 1st to 3rd at Bard College’s Fisher Center.
