Photo by Maria Baranova

• Thursday, November 9th @ 7:30pm

• Friday, November 10th @ 7:30pm

• Saturday, November 11th @ 7:30pm

Spiritual and erotic, playful and mysterious, The biblical Song of Songs (also known as The Song of Solomon) is perhaps the greatest of all love poems—a hymn of yearning, steeped in images from the natural world. The poem’s unforgettable images of the natural world have inspired artists and lovers for millennia – indeed some scholars argue that the entire tradition of Western love poetry springs from its glorious verses. Now composer David Lang and Fisher Center resident choreographer Pam Tanowitz join forces to create a major new dance-theater performance based on this radiantly beautiful text. A collage of sound, song, and movement that reimagines ancient rituals of love and courtship, Song of Songs holds the sacred and profane threads of the Song in perfect balance.

Song of Songs
Choreography by Pam Tanowitz•Music by David Lang•Production Design by Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, Pam Tanowitz, and Clifton Taylor•Performed by Christine Flores, Zachary Gonder, Lindsey Jones, Brian Lawson, Victor Lozano, Maile Okamura, and Melissa Toogood (rehearsal director)•Music Performed by Emily Brausa (cello), Caleb Burhans (viola), Martha Cluver (soprano), Katie Geissinger (alto), and Yuri Yamashita (percussion)•Sound Design by Garth MacAleavey•Music Supervision by Caleb Burhans•Dramaturgy by Mary Gossy•Stage Management by Betsy Ayer

The Fisher Center is Pam Tanowitz’s artistic home. Song of Songs is a co-commission of the Fisher Center, Barbican London, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Commissioning funds for Song of Songs were provided by Jay Franke and David Herro, with additional support received from the O'Donnell Green Music and Dance Foundation, Judith R. and Alan H. Fishman, Amy and Ronald Guttman, Lizbeth and George Krupp, Virginia and Timothy Millhiser, and King’s Fountain. The Fisher Center on behalf of Pam Tanowitz Dance received a 2020 NDP Finalist Grant Award for Song of Songs, made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to address sustainability needs during COVID-19. Cocommissioning support for the music of Song of Songs was provided by Flagey (Brussels), The Los Angeles Opera, Company of Music (Vienna), and The Crossing (Philadelphia).