Leotards. Ballet barres. Toe shoes.
Petri dishes. Beakers. Test tubes.
For New York-based choreographer Pam Tanowitz, they're all pretty much the same.
"My Dad was a doctor — but he was also a research scientist," she says. "And I really think that research is very similar to being an artist."
This week, Tanowitz's Coincident Dances makes its world premiere with Miami City Ballet, in a program that includes choreography by George Balanchine.
While growing up in New Rochelle, N.Y., Tanowitz's father would take her and her two younger sisters on weekend visits to his laboratory at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.
She says it's easy to draw parallels between the "deep work" her Dad did in the lab to what she does in a dance studio.
"You have to be committed," says Tanowitz. "And that's exactly what I do as a choreographer — as an artist — where you have to spend tons and tons of time in the studio."
Tanowitz says she enjoys creating situations where she can surprise herself. Coincident Dances, which represents a collaboration with composer Jessie Montgomery, is no exception.
"I kind of let things flow in a way that I hadn't before," she says.
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If Tanowitz had to describe her choreography to someone who knows very little about dance, she would call it "talking-dancing."
"I think of it like a sentence. And the material that I work with kind of runs the gamut of more codified balletic movements and traditional modern to pedestrian walking and gestural work. So I feel like these movements talk to each other."
Tanowitz — whose work has been performed by top-notch companies nationwide — says what sets Miami City Ballet dancers apart from the rest is their adventurous spirit and problem-solving skills.
"They're up for anything, really. And so present. And I would say, like: 'This is happening here. Something else is happening over there. Let's figure out ways that you can get from here to there.' And they just come up with ideas and then we shape it."
IF YOU GO
What: Miami City Ballet's "Winter Mix" program
• Walpurgisnacht Ballet (Balanchine/Gounod)
• Coincident Dances – World Premiere (Tanowitz/Montgomery)
• La Valse (Balanchine/Ravel)
Where: Adrienne Arsht Center
When: Feb. 14–16
Where: Broward Center
When: Feb. 22–23
Where: Kravis Center
When: March 8–9
Information: Visit miamicityballet.org for more information, performance dates, and tickets.
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