Pam Tanowitz (Choreographer) is quick-witted and rigorous. The New York–based choreographer and collaborator has steadily delineated her own dance language through decades of research and creation. The 2020 Doris Duke Artist redefines tradition through careful examination, subtly questioning those who came before her, yet never yielding to perceptions stuck in the past. And now, the world’s most respected dance companies—Martha Graham Dance Company, Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, among others—are proudly integrating Tanowitz’s poetic universe into their repertories. Tanowitz’s combination of intentional unpredictability, whimsical complexity, and natural drama evoke master dance makers from Cunningham to Balanchine through the clever weaving of movement, music, and space. Tanowitz holds degrees from Ohio State University and Sarah Lawrence College, where she clarified her creative voice under former Cunningham dancer and choreographer Viola Farber. After attaining her MFA, Tanowitz moved to New York City to begin her professional career. She immersed herself in dance by working in administration at New York City Center, splitting her time off studying the Center’s archived dance videos and developing her own work in their studios. In 2000 she founded Pam Tanowitz Dance (PTD) to explore dance-making with a consistent community of dancers. She has since been commissioned by Fisher Center at Bard, The Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Vail Dance Festival, and many other leading arts institutions. She has received numerous honors and fellowships from organizations ranging from the Bessie Awards, Guggenheim Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Princeton University, Herb Alpert Award, and most recently LMCC’s Liberty Award for Artistic Leadership. When awarding Tanowitz the 2017 BAC Cage Cunningham Fellowship, Mikhail Baryshnikov described her interrogative approach to choreography as “a distinct intellectual journey.” Her dances have been called a “rare achievement” (New York Times), and her 2018 work, Four Quartets, inspired by T. S. Eliot’s literary masterpiece, was called “the greatest creation of dance theater so far this century” (New York Times). Tanowitz is a visiting guest artist at Rutgers University and is the first-ever choreographer in residence at the Fisher Center at Bard.
Davison Scandrett (Lighting Designer) is a Bessie award-winning lighting designer and production manager based in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to 10 designs for Pam Tanowitz, he has created lighting for works by Merce Cunningham, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, Charles Atlas, Sonya Tayeh, Sarah Michelson, Netta Yerushalmy, Moriah Evans, Mina Nishimura, Dylan Crossman, Andrew Ondrejcak, Rebecca Lazier, Mike Birbiglia, and Neal Brennan. Production management credits include projects with Wendy Whelan, Marina Abramovic, Bill T. Jones, Benjamin Millepied, Kyle Abraham, BalletBoyz, Jennifer Monson, Brian Brooks, Silk Road Ensemble, Steve Reich, The Knights, Lincoln Center Festival, Park Avenue Armory, Lyon Opera Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet. He served as Director of Production for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 2008-2012 and is currently the Design & Production Consultant for the Merce Cunningham Trust.
Kara Chan (Performer) is a NYC based freelance dancer, originally from Vancouver, Canada. She has danced lead roles with Twyla Tharp Dance and has assisted Ms. Tharp in the staging of Deuce Coupe and Ghostcatcher on American Ballet Theatre. Other performance credits include Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (Artemis in Athens), Mark Morris Dance Group (The Hard Nut), Janis Brenner & Dancers, Gleich Dances, Ballet Verité, Barkin/Selissen Project among many others. A BFA graduate from The Juilliard School, Kara was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” for 2020. www.karachandance.com
Christine Flores (Performer) is originally from Toronto, Ontario and has been working with Pam Tanowitz since 2016. She graduated from New World School of the Arts (Miami) in 2015 with a BFA in Dance and received additional training at Springboard Danse Montreal, the Contemporary Program at Jacob's Pillow, and Cunningham Fellowship workshops. Named one of Dance Magazine’s 2021 “25 to Watch”, Christine is currently based out of New York City and also performing with Company XIV, Danielle Russo Performance Project, Dance Heginbotham, NVA & Guests, and Shinsa Collective.
Zachary Gonder (Performer) was born in Grayslake, IL, a small suburb north of Chicago. At the age of five, he started dancing at The Dance Connection, a local studio. He then trained at the Chicago Academy for the Arts High School under the tutelage of renowned choreographer Randy Duncan. He graduated from Juilliard in 2018, where he performed works by Austin McCormick, José Limón, Aszure Barton, Pam Tanowitz, Richard Alston, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano and Crystal Pite. Zachary has worked for BODYTRAFFIC in Los Angeles as well as the Barton Sisters’ Axis Connect Program. Along with Pam Tanowtiz Dance, he also works with Brian Brooks Moving Company and Zvi Dance.
Lindsey Jones (Performer) is a Brooklyn-based dance artist and educator. She has been a member of Pam Tanowitz Dance since 2013. Since graduating from SUNY Purchase in 2012, she has performed with Dance Heginbotham, Kimberly Bartosik/daela, Caleb Teicher & Co., Sally Silvers, Bill Young, and June Finch, among others. She has worked with the Merce Cunningham Trust on numerous projects, including Night of 100 Solos at BAM in 2019 and Alla Kovgan’s 3D film, Cunningham. Jones grew up in St. Louis, MO.
Brian Lawson (Performer) is a dance performer and educator who began dancing in Toronto, Canada. He earned his BFA in Dance at SUNY Purchase, and while studying performed with Douglas Dunn and Dancers and the Mark Morris Dance Group. He graduated summa cum laude in 2010 and went on to work with Pam Tanowitz Dance and Dance Heginbotham before joining the Mark Morris Dance Group from 2011 to 2018. Brian left MMDG to earn his M.F.A. from the University of Washington, graduating in 2020. He has been on faculty at Cornish College of the Arts and has given masterclasses at Purchase College, NYU Tisch, and the American Dance Festival among others. He continues to perform with MMDG and is very glad to be rejoining Pam Tanowitz Dance.
Maile Okamura (Performer and Costume Coordinator) studied with Lynda Yourth in San Diego, California, and at San Francisco Ballet School. She was a member of Boston Ballet II and Ballet Arizona. Since 1998, she has danced with Mark Morris Dance Group. Maile has been dancing with Pam Tanowitz Dance since 2016.
Melissa Toogood (Performer and Rehearsal Director) is a Bessie Award winning performer who began dancing with Pam 16 years ago. She has assisted Tanowitz on numerous creations including works for the Australian Ballet, Ballet Austin, Martha Graham Dance Company, Juilliard, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, Vail Dance Festival and others. Melissa was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and is an official Stager for the Merce Cunningham Trust. She has taught Cunningham Technique internationally since 2007, and is a 2013 and 2015 Merce Cunningham Fellow. She has performed with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Kimberly Bartosik, Wally Cardona, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, Miro Dance Theater, Stephen Petronio Company, Sally Silvers, Christopher Williams, Michael Uthoff Dance Theater, The Bang Group: Tap Lab, and more. Her own work has been commissioned by the Boston Ballet and New York Theater Ballet, and presented by The Space Dance & Arts Center, Melbourne, Australia. She has been in residence at Dance Initiative, Carbondale, CO and on faculty at Bard College, Barnard College, and New York Theater Ballet School. She is a frequent artist at the Vail Dance Festival. Melissa is a native of Sydney, Australia and earned a BFA in Dance Performance from New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL.
Laura Hirschberg (Production & Stage Manager) is a NYC-based stage manager/playwright/director. Favorite stage management credits include: The Mountaintop (Arc Stages), Gavin Creel: Walk on Through (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Babes in Toyland (Lincoln Center), Peter and the Wolf (BAM), Magic & Mayhem (Workshop Theater), and several seasons as the resident stage manager of the Spiegeltent, part of Bard Summerscape. Laura has just returned from stage managing Black Grace Dance Company's United States and New Zealand tours. Proud member of AEA.
Pam Tanowitz Dance (PTD) unites critically acclaimed choreographer Pam Tanowitz with a company of world-class dance artists and renowned collaborators in all disciplines. As a choreographer, Tanowitz is known for her abstract treatment of classical and contemporary movement ideas. The work is deeply rooted in formal structures, manipulated and abstracted by Tanowitz until the viewer sees through to the heart of the dance. The juxtapositions and tensions that Tanowitz creates draw upon the virtuosic skill, musical dexterity, and artistic integrity of the PTD dancers. Since its founding in 2000, PTD has received commissions and residencies at Fisher Center at Bard, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chicago Dancing Festival, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Joyce Theater, ICA Boston, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, MANCC, New York Live Arts, Penn Live Arts, and Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. Pam Tanowitz Dance was selected by the New York Times as Best of Dance 2013–21. Pamtanowitzdance.org
