Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Pam Tanowitz

Lives in New York, NY

Born 1969, Bronx, NY

Choreographer

My dances are deeply personal explorations on movement, grounded in tradition, that comment on history - revering and revising its legacy. I play with classical vocabulary, not as parody, but out of respect for the dances from which I have learned so much. I take ballet steps and alter them into modern forms: traditional movement is twisted and thrown off-center, challenging the expectations of the viewer. I want the audience to observe the seams of my work, momentarily taking the "magic" out of theater and revealing the mechanical gears of performance. This is done without sacrificing elegance and is an attempt to reveal the fragility behind our basic human need to strive for purity.

Narrative is inescapable. No dance is a pure abstraction. We unconsciously assign motivation to the movers on a stage. In my work, I want to poke through that seemingly pleasurable surface by placing fluidity and mechanics in opposition.

I view my work as a progression of pieces, in which one dance poses a question that is answered in the next. Form versus content, nihilism versus history, story versus abstraction are given equal play, yet I also treasure the visceral experience of full-bodied, technical dancing. It's a fine line, but in showing the dance I want to show how the dance is made.

1998 M.F.A., Sarah Lawrence College

1991 B.F.A., The Ohio State University

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2008 Faculty, American Ballet Theater, Bermuda Intensive Program

2007 Faculty, Oregon Ballet Theatre Choreographic Institute

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

2009 Be In the Gray With Me, premiered at Dance Theater Workshop, New York, NY

2008 Two-Part Affair, choreographed with Brian Reeder; performed at Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY 2007 Forevermore, performed at Joyce Soho, New York, NY

2006 Storage, Blue Bamboula, Grand Bamboula, performed at Danspace Project, New York, NY

2004 LoveStoryless, performed at Danspace Project, New York, NY

2002 Informal, performed at Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

2001 Monument, performed at Emerging Generations Concert at American Dance Festival, Durham, NC

SELECTED HONORS, AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2010 Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency, New York, NY

2009 Kaatsbaan International Arts Center Residency, Tivoli, NY

2009 Dance Theater Workshop Residency, New York, NY

2009 Dance Force Grant

2004, 2005 Grants from the Harkness Foundation for Dance