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Monday, April 20, 2015

In Context: Mark Morris Dance Group


The musically minded Mark Morris Dance Group returns to BAM April 22—26 with two programs representing two decades of the company’s diverse, passionate approach to contemporary dance paired with live music. Context is everything, so get even closer to the performance with this curated selection of articles, interviews, and videos related to the production. Once you've seen it, help us keep the conversation going by telling us what you thought below.

Read

Article 
Mark Morris’ Jazzy Spring (BAM blog)
Morris describes the inspiration for his re-vamp of Rite of Spring and other details of his creative process.

Article
DanceMotion USA—Mark Morris Dance Group Tours the Pacific Rim (BAM blog)
Learn about the Mark Morris Dance Group’s 2014 trip to Asia with DanceMotion USASM.

Article
From Mark Morris, Seasonal Rituals Lusty and Solemn (The New York Times)
“Mr. Morris and his appealing group” are “something to look forward to,” says The New York Times.

Article
Mark Morris (New York Magazine)
An in-depth profile of the company's Artistic Director and Choreographer from December 2002.

Look & Listen

Video
Mark Morris's Top Five Dance Scores (WQXR)
Bartok, Tchaikovsky, and more: Morris tells WQXR why he picked his favorite dance scores.

Video
Orfeo ed Euridice: Joyce DiDonato interviews Mark Morris (Met Opera)
Morris describes what drew him to Gluck’s opera.

Video
Mario Batali and Mark Morris (MMDG)
Mark and Mario talk about dining, dance, and more.
Video
The Bad Plus at Village Vanguard (YouTube)
Meet the jazz trio that will play with the Mark Morris Dance Group.

Video
Brainwave 2010: Why does movement move us? (Rubin Museum)
Mark Morris and Bevil Conway discuss dance and neuroscience at the Rubin Museum.

Now your turn...

So how did you enjoy the show? Likes? Dislikes? Surprises? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below.

9 comments:

  1. Program B was fantastic. Morris at his best. The first two pieces,Crosswalks and Jenn and Spencer in particular, were superb.

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  2. What an incredible evening. My only regret is that I didn't get tickets for Program A too!

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  3. My husband and I were very disappointed in Program A.

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  4. Mark Morris is a master craftsman when making dances and probably the most musical choreographer I've seen. I love his sense of humor and his ability to turn ordinary pedestrian movements into jewels by way of their setting. Crosswalk was my favorite piece of the evening. Having chosen to see Program B for 'Spring, Spring, Spring', I was disappointed that Morris's choreographic vision did not match Stravinsky's powerful music. Opening on what seemed to be an endless blackened stage was frustrating to me. I have heard many orchestrations of the 'Rite'. However, this trio didn't work for me.

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  5. I loved the 3 pieces of program B, regretted not seeing program A

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  6. Program A was incredible. An absolutely superb performance in all ways. What a joy!

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  7. Saw program B and was very disappointed. Dance movements were limited, stiff, cutesy, unnecessarily repetitive and prevented dancers from truly using their bodies. In fact, they looked dull. Spatial relationships/patterns between dancers was less than dynamic. One of the few interesting sequences in Spring was the waves or interweaving of three rows of dancers. The drk stage at the beginning of the piece was ridiculously long.

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  8. Morris is maybe the best at ending his pieces. It's remarkable how perfectly landed every piece is by the end. Please continue to have his company at BAM, preferably more than once per year.

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  9. Program B was just beautiful! I loved all 3 dances, the movements were so light and some were energetic. Definitely had me at my seat!

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