Pam Tanowitz's Pastoral Has UK Premiere at the Barbican

The UK premiere of Pam Tanowitz's 'Pastoral' presents a dance piece that draws from Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony and the pastoral tradition in art. This 60-minute work, performed at the Barbican in London, is a collaboration between New York choreographer Pam Tanowitz, Pulitzer prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, and artist Sarah Crowner.

Creative collaborators and their contributions

Pam Tanowitz deconstructs phrases and motifs in the dance. Her style nods to Merce Cunningham’s mid-century abstraction, featuring flattened lines and pleasing symmetry.

Composer Caroline Shaw provides a playful remix, deconstructing Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Artist Sarah Crowner’s contribution harks back to 1950s and 60s geometric abstraction. She designed a floor-to-ceiling curtain and a vast canvas with pale pink slices cutting through deep greens. This canvas divides the space, creating 'rooms' amid white walls.

Stage, costumes, and sensory details

The stage features large abstract canvases by Sarah Crowner. Dancers wear sheer pastel jumpsuits made of ombre chiffon, designed by Reid Bartelme. Costume colours range through coral-pink-red-lilac-chartreuse. They hum on the edge of concord and discord.

A three-piece band performs live. It comprises Dana Jesson on bassoon, Bill Kalinkos on clarinet, and Andrew Nogal on oboe. The score blends snippets of Beethoven’s original with inserted city noises. Real-world sounds of the street, skies, and city are incorporated. A bird call like a siren is heard, described as a threat against nature.

The stage is bright and clean. Pam Tanowitz said: "This stage is so bright and clean, like a sharp palate cleanser, and full of white space." The dance includes flashes of wit and eccentricity. Dancers gather against the green as if picnicking in a 19th-century painting. One dancer recreates the pose of the naked woman in Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe.

There is zero fuss, even during tricky balances. Dancers drag Crowner’s canvases across the stage by only a few inches. Curtains are drawn and undrawn. Additional pictures are winched from the fly tower. An angry red square canvas appears. Anson Zwingelberg performs a gorgeous phrase that appears and evaporates with no fanfare. The work is a tangy conversation between three distinctive artists, full of curiosity.

Performance specifics and reception

The production includes seven dancers. The run continues until 3 October 2026. The work has been described as a bright, sparse contrast to darker contemporary trends. Its score, dance, and stage provide thinking space. Theorist Frederic Jameson commented that the work lacks depth. The performance is a dance full of curiosities.

The run of the show continues until 3 October 2026.