SONG OF SONGS

Review by Mary Seidman

An open curtain reveals Pam Tanowitz’s set design before Song of Songs (2022)  begins at City Center. Three female singers: two sopranos and an alto follow in neutral grey/white gowns to stand on risers upstage, followed by three musicians: cello, viola, and percussionist. 

The delicate, enchanting, angel-like Maile Okamura appears, also in a flowing chiffon gown. Positioned in the center of the stage, she dances a combination of folk dance-like movements and modern technique. Vocalists chant phrases of love and devotion, based on the text from the Old Testament Biblical Song of Songs or Songs of Solomon.

Melissa Toogood materializes, costumed in darker shades of green and brown, executing fluttering arm gestures on top of quick and exacting feet. More dancers file in, running in circles, each connecting palm to palm to Okamura’s outstretched arms as the singers chant my beloved and my soul. This first section of the hour-long dance sets the tone and seems to be the most literal expression of emotion and spiritual intention of the dance: praising physical love, beauty, intimacy, and connection. 

Three male dancers eventually form a triangular frame surrounding five women dancing in unison–employing movement vocabulary and interactions reminiscent of Tanowitz and Toogood’s mentor, Merce Cunningham. While the singers name the lover’s adoration and delight of eyes, cheeks, lips, arms, body, legs, my beloved, my friend; Tanowitz showcases her love of the beauty of the dancers’ artistry and body poetry.

Composer David Lang’s second section supports Melissa Toogood and Zachary Gonder performing a luscious mirror-style duet as five dancers gather behind, all holding hands in community, eventually circling the periphery, reminiscent of wedding celebration dances. 

Caleb Burhans on viola plays a slow paced Part 3 section as lyrics speak of nature images and what one can see with my eyes and taste…wine, lips, mouth, you. One by one, dancers exit, then enter again, wearing unitards of various colors, two of them quite glittery. Why?

Brian Lawson executes stunning stag leaps that seem to suspend in mid-air forever while others move behind, then through the lengths of curtain strips framing the space. Combinations of shapes and groupings continue until the light fades and only one dancer remains, Melissa Toogood.

Tanowitz and Lang’s collaborative achievement, a reach for hope and love in a time of chaos and uncertainty referencing Jewish folk dance steps, culture, and Old Testament history,  is indeed to be honored.  The music, use of text, singers, dancers… all exquisite. The modernistic set design, streamers to the back and sides of the stage, and three slightly elevated risers on stage, (a collaboration between Pam Tanowitz, Clifton Taylor, Reid Bartelme, and Harriet Jung) add little to the spiritual nature of this piece, and is, in fact, confusing.

The overall composition, while perfectly designed and executed, does not develop beyond its inner workings. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Mary Seidman