City Ballet The Podcast · New York City Ballet

Hear the Dance: Law of Mosaics

·1 hr 15 min·5 clips

Miriam Miller shares how Pam Tanowitz helped her discover her own artistry beyond ballet's rigid ideals.

This episode of Hear the Dance focuses on choreographer Pam Tanowitz and her 2022 ballet *The Law of Mosaics* for New York City Ballet. Host Silas Farley interviews original cast members, NYCB soloist Miriam Miller and recently retired principal Russell Janzen. Tanowitz is a sought-after choreographer who has created works for major companies worldwide. The ballet is set to a score of the same name by composer Ted Hearne, which weaves together fragments from existing compositions like Barber's *Adagio for Strings*. The discussion centers on Tanowitz's creative process, which dancers describe as generous, playful, and intellectually rigorous. Miller first worked with Tanowitz on the 2019 *Bartók Ballet*, while Janzen's first collaboration was during a 2014/15 Dance Space Platform event where Tanowitz built a dance in a day. For *The Law of Mosaics*, Tanowitz incorporated material from a solo she developed with Janzen over FaceTime during the COVID-19 lockdown. The ballet features ten dancers, with costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker. A surprising insight is that Tanowitz often asks dancers to perform steps as if they are "marking" them, stripping away typical ballet affect and bravura. She challenged dancers to reconsider fundamental techniques, such as executing an Italian fouetté turning the opposite direction. The choreography for a silent solo originally explored using pointe shoes as percussive instruments to create noise. Dancers note that her work requires constant visual cues and interaction with others on stage, rather than counting music, creating a unique community performance. Janzen shares that a solo in the ballet originated from a series of historical dance pictures Tanowitz sent him, including poses from Katherine Dunham and Merce Cunningham. Miller describes how Tanowitz's process helped her overcome insecurity and discover her individuality as an artist. The choreographer frequently uses the performance environment, having once placed a dancer on the side proscenium next to the orchestra pit. Janzen recounts emotionally performing a solo on stage that was developed in his apartment during a period of personal upheaval. Both dancers emphasize that Tanowitz values the collaborative process over a "finished product," often significantly altering ballets in subsequent seasons. The tone is conversational, educational, and reflective, featuring detailed personal anecdotes from the dancers. The style is insider-focused, delving deeply into choreographic process and ballet technique. This episode would appeal to dance students, choreographers, and ballet enthusiasts interested in the creative process behind contemporary ballet. Listeners seeking high-energy debate or those with no interest in dance technique might find it too niche.

As heard by us

A lucid, dancer-first look at Tanowitz's choreography and its shifting sense of time.

This is a close look at Pam Tanowitz, using The Law of Mosaics to think through timing, spacing, and how a viewer keeps finding their bearings.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want an episode about Pam Tanowitz and The Law of Mosaics that stays concrete, intelligent, and dancer-close.

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