“Unpretentious, exploratory and fresh . . . Here is one program of 'NY Quadrilles' I would love to see again.” - Alastair Macaulay
The New York Times

Pam Tanowitz brings traditional forms into a modern day expression, in the “superbly suspenseful”, Sequenzas in Quadrilles, commissioned by the Joyce Theater.  With unparalleled vigor and discipline Tanowitz continues her career long investigation of dance as object by throwing a net over material from sources as varied as 19th Century ballet, early modern dance, American jazz and the movement of pedestrians.

Premiere at The Joyce Theater,
September 2016

Choreography by Pam Tanowitz
Light Design by Davison Scandrett
Costume Design by Reid Bartelme & Harriet Jung
Set Design by Suzanne Bocanegra

Dancers:
Jason Collins
Dylan Crossman
Sarah Haarmann
Lindsey Jones
Victor Lozano

Music: "Sequenzas for Viola, Trombone and Harp" by Luciano Berio, "Stuttered Chants" by David Lang
Performed live by members of The Knights

Reviews:
“Sequenzas in Quadrilles” rivets attention. Superbly suspenseful. . . .with juicily textured movement. ” -  Alastair Macaulay
The New York Times

“Tanowitz communicated via crisp shapes and patterns rather than story, exploiting the floor as much as the air. A lucid, dazzling performance, Sequenzas calls out for a longer run.”  -  Elizabeth Zimmer
The Village Voice

Support for the commission of Sequenzas in Quadrilles provided by King's Foundation and the Joyce Theater's Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work with additional support provided by The Joyce Foundation with major funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support for the creation of this work was provided, in part, by New York City Center Choreography Fellowship and Fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.

Photos by Christopher Duggan

Premiere: Faena Arts Center, Buenos Aires Argentina May 2016
Collaboration with Sho Shigenmatsu

Music:  Dan Siegler

Costumes: Jessica Trosman

Lighting: Davison Scandrett

Dancers:
Dylan Crossman
Melissa Toogood
and dancers from Contemporary Dance Workshop of Teatro San Martin

Photos courtesy of Faena Arts Center

Premiere: Joyce Theater, February 2016

Music: Julia Wolfe, FOUR MARYS performed by FLUX Quartet; original score by Dan Siegler

Costumes: Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung

Dancers:
Jason Collins
Dylan Crossman
Sarah Haarman
Lindsey Jones
Melissa Toogood

Review - 
 " The choreographer Pam Tanowitz is like an author who uses rigorous grammar to write nonsense verse; she’s orthodox and unorthodox, eccentrically pleasing and wittily obscure. You sense different layers of reality in her choreography, but they’re so interwoven with absurdity and brainy patterning that her pieces look elegantly hermetic, good-humoredly private."  - The New York Times

Photos by Ian Douglas

Premiere: Joyce Theater, February 2014

Music: Conlon Nancarrow, String Quartet 1 & 3 performed by FLUX Quartet

Costumes: Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung

Review - 
 " Some of the dance steps, phrases and constructions by the choreographer Pam Tanowitz are among the finest being made anywhere today. They feature memorable footwork, strikingly elegant and witty combinations of lower- and upper-body movement, and complex, subtle, fascinating uses of stage space."  - The New York Times
 

"...lines of dancers executed unison patterns near the wings while more anarchic solos and duets seized the centre, and vice versa. Costumes in the same plush red velvet as the Joyce curtain reinforced this exchange between outside and inside, container and dance, anticipated end (when the curtain falls) and present moment" - Financial Times

Photos: Christopher Duggan and Ian Douglas

Co-commission - Vail International Dance Festival and NYCC Fall for Dance, 2015

Composer: FLUX Quartet, played with Greg Saunier

Costumes: Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung

Dancers:  Guest from American Ballet Theatre:
Tyler Mahoney
Calvin Royal III
Devon Teuscher

" . . .Ms. Tanowitz’s peculiarly inventive humor (marvelous footwork, as so often with her) maintains a what-will-happen-next quality that keeps everyone on happy tenterhooks." - The New York Times

Photos by Julieta Cervantes

Co-commission - Vail International Dance Festival and NYCC Fall for Dance, 2015

Composer: Brooklyn Rider

Costumes : Reid Bartelme

Dancers: 
Guests from New York City Ballet:
Joseph Gordon
Gretchen Smith
Guest from American Ballet Theatre:
Calvin Royal III

Review-

" . . .Ms. Tanowitz’s peculiarly inventive humor (marvelous footwork, as so often with her) maintains a what-will-happen-next quality that keeps everyone on happy tenterhooks." - The New York Times

Photos courtesy of Vail International Dance Festival, Erin Baiano

Commission -  Guggenheim Works & Process, 2015

Music: David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Ted Hearne, Hannah Lash
FLUX Quartet

Lighting: Davison Scandrett

Costumes: Reid Bartelme

Dancers:
Maggie Cloud
Dylan Crossman
Lindsey Jones
Stuart Singer
Melissa Toogood

"Ms. Tanowitz and her collaborators maintain such a high level of imagination that what is fragmented by design can be experienced as a satisfying, organic whole." - The New York Times

"Tanowitz’s work may seem slippery in its off-centredness .... but it is not cocky. It is pensive. With the tour de forceBroken Story (wherein there is no ecstasy), it is distantly emotional as well." - Financial Times

Photos courtesy of Guggenheim Museum and Christopher Duggan

Premiered at the Joyce Theater NYC in January 2014

Music: John Zorn, Passagen 
Performed by Paulina Kim Harris

Photos by Andrea Mohin and Christopher Duggan

Commissioned by New York Live Arts

Music: Dan Siegler, Annie Gosfield played live by FLUX Quartet

Lighting Design by Davison Scandrett
Costume Design by Renée Kurz

Dancers:
Melissa Toogood
Dylan Crossman
Andrew Champlin
Maggie Cloud
Sarah Haarmann
Pierre Guilbault

"The Spectators,” her new dance that opened at New York Live Arts on Wednesday, is almost unbearably exciting. It’s a return to form that pushes further. The experience it offers a spectator is exhilarating enough to make “spectating” an inadequate verb." - The New York Times

"Her new dance, “The Spectators,”  .... was an example of her clear-eyed and catholic approach, in which Tanowitz melded highly technical choreography with a restrained visual design, strong lighting, and complex, multifaceted music. The result was a subtle, mysterious work, danced by six tremendous performers." - The New Yorker  

Photos credit: Ian Douglas

2009 Bessie Award Winner

Music: Dan Siegler, Pavel Karmonov String Quartet

Lighting: Philip Trevino

Costumes: Renee Kurz

"When it comes to movement languages, Ms. Tanowitz is a fluent multilinguist, interweaving various styles and quoting from particular passages in a pleasingly unforced manner. “Gray” delves into and plays with Cunningham technique." - The New York Times

Photos courtsey of Yi-Chun Wu

"It’s obvious, however, that Ms. Tanowitz is not a throwback. She’s a contemporary downtown dance-maker who apparently can’t help evoking history and commenting on it at the same time." - The New York Times

Photo courtesy of Tom Brazil, The New York Times