Choreographer: Pam Tanowitz
Music: David Lang
One of the most sought-after choreographers and a Pulitzer prize-winning composer pair for an intimate artistic interpretation of a biblical poem. Song of Songs sees Pam Tanowitz partner her own company with the musical creations of David Lang in a refined, beautiful dance performance that captivates but leaves the audience yearning for more.
The original Song of Songs is a biblical poem that rejoices in sexual intimacy and is full of bodily eros. Strangely it is also approved by both Jewish and Christian authorities, and this curiosity has made the text a popular focus of artistic interpretation. Tanowitz and Lang explore their Jewish heritage through this version performed at the Barbican but religion here is kept at a distance. Indeed, in Tanowitz’s vision, there is a heightened sense of this intimacy and devotion but done in a way that keeps the performers physically separate.
Seven dancers glide through intensely emotional choreography but keep an articulated classical distance between each other, making physical contact infrequent, but powerful when it does happen. In the same way, the presence of religion and exploration of Judaism is felt but kept at a distance. It’s a considered choice, perhaps highlighting that desire and religion are so often mixed, but never fulfilled physically.
The choreography undulates and breaths in and out between sharp, staccato movements and sweeping serene ones. Lang’s music mirrors this, characterised by a mixture of punchy repeated and sometimes elongated musical phrases. The carnal and devout language is voiced by three stunning voices, Sarah Brailey, Martha Cluver and Katie Geissinger.
The close sometimes discordant harmonies add a sense of suspense while the speaker lists the attributes of their lover ‘your throat…your voice…your breast’. Moments of stillness and silence weave through this breath, and when the performers pause to make stunning tableaux, the absence of music sings aloud. It is a powerful moment of reflection and where the religious sentiment is felt most fervently.
The eye of the audience is taken across all corners of the stage, outside the perimeter delineated by white panelled curtains that flutter deliberately as the dancers move through them. It’s part of an overall excellent set design choice from the production design team where Tanowitz is joined by Harriet Jung, Clifton Taylor and Reid Bartelme. But for a piece stimulated by a biblical text, the bare colours and shimmering costume design feel liminal, empty and, at times, out of place.
The performers rarely dance in unison, but there is a strong sense of community in their cohesion and unity. However, there is a lack of urgency or momentum. Toward the end of the short performance, the mood begins to fragment. The emotive text yearns for a thrumming energy that doesn’t build, and a climax never comes. It’s the antithesis of the heady eroticism of the poem.
The resounding phrases of Song of Songs ring out ‘Love is strong as death’, ‘love is as fierce as death’ and, as the captivating performers flit away, the audience is left with only the beginnings of this feeling. In short, Song of Songs is a stunning, refined and poised dance interpretation but fails to maintain this momentum to the end.
Runs until 14 October 2023
