Growing up in Seattle "The high school I went to had a fabulous African drumming ensemble that was headed by a teacher from what was still called Rhodesia - that shows how old I am. There was a Samoan musical group. I had lots of Japanese friends and I used to dance looking ridiculous with a fan and a hapi coat." MM
Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble "It was a whole subculture of nuts who did what was then called international folk dancing. It was just a wonderful community of people who were friendly and welcoming and odd. That's how I learned to hold hands and dance with other people and not stick out and not show I was intellectually independent of rhythm." MM
Flamenco, José Greco "I had the great good fortune to take a workshop with him when I was 11, and I made up my mind then and there that I wanted to be a flamenco dancer. Then I went to study in Madrid and I decided that wasn't the way to go. I think Francisco Franco had something to do with it. I was just coming out as a queer, and if you were a fag in Spain, you were essentially executed." MM
A Company "Lar Lubovitch said to me, 'You're not going to start a dance company, are you?' I guess he was thinking that it's very hard, and it is hard. You're doing so many things and working with all these personalities, several of them your own. I really just wanted to make up dances and it never occurred to me that you needed a company to do that. I just asked my friends, who were all eager to do it." MM
Neye Benziyor?
Widening the definitions and boundaries of traditional forms
Notable musicians to which Morris has choreographed (highlights):
Lou Harrison
Yoko Ono
The Violent Femmes
Henry Purcell
Béla Bartók
W. A. Mozart
J. S. Bach
George Frideric Handel
P. I. Tchaikovsky
Henry Cowell
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
Léo Delibes
Stephen Foster
Virgil Thomson
Musical Collaborations (highlights):
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
The Bad Plus
Yo-Yo Ma
Emanuel Ax
Matt Haimovitz
ARTEK
John Adams
Paul Simon
Deborah Voigt
Philharmonia Baroque
William Winant
Handel & Haydn Society
Western Caravan
Commissioned scores by:
Hershel Garfein
Michelle Shocked and Rob Wasserman
Lou Harrison
Zakir Hussain
The Bad Plus
When MARK MORRIS got together with a group of friends and put on a show in New York City back in 1980, he called it the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Within its first ten years, MMDG had been featured on the PBS special Dance in America; the national dance company of Belgium for three years; and the subject of three films and an abundance of television specials.
After returning to the States in 1991, the Dance Group continued to tour around the world and established long-time residencies at several U.S. cities like Berkeley, CA, Seattle, WA, and Urbana, IL.
MMDG is committed to live music, a feature of every performance on its full international touring schedule since 1996, and has collaborated with the some of the greatest orchestras like Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony; opera companies like English National Opera, New York City Opera and The Metropolitan Opera; and musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Zakir Hussain, Ethan Iverson, The Bad Plus, Emanuel Ax and Yoko Nozaki.
Added to the mix to realize Morris's work for the stage are the most amazing visual artists like Isaac Mizrahi, Adrianne Lobel, Howard Hodgkin, and Stephen Hendee.
In 2001, MMDG opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in the arts mecca of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY offering an wide assortment of affordable dance classes for people of all ages and levels. All of it, from every show to every class, as always, is with live music.
fan.tas.tic 1.a) based on fantasy: not real b) conceived or seemingly conceived by unrestrained fancy c) so extreme as to challenge belief:UNBELIEVABLE
2. marked by extravagant fantasy or extreme individuality: ECCENTRIC
Thanks MM and company for your wonderful performance of Dido and Aeneas in Boston. i had just fractured my wrist the day before so it was not only inspiring but healing as well.. Hope to see you all again in March 2009!
THE Group Tix Company is your best link to great Group Discounts for Mark Morris Dance Group as part of the Luminato Fastival 2008. Take advantage of the many great benefits in booking your group with us-including pre public on sale opportunities, savings of up to 15% off single ticket prices, best available group seating and friendly staff to enhance your group's experience. For information please call 647-438-5559 or outside the local calling area 1866-447-7849 or visit us on the web for this or other great shows www. thegrouptixcompany. com
Thank you for a beautiful performance last night. The sets & costumes were fantastic, not to mention the choreography and company! Best of luck with the run. xoxo
”Dancers are musicians are dancers” José Limon well known statement says it all. If anybody, you are one of us, and I’m honored and glad to have you here among my friends. Your choreographies are a vivid example of music and dance in counterpoint, which is a considerable step beyond the music visualization concept . Thanks for the add and thank you for all the passionate works that you gave us up to now, with my wishes for many more to come. Davor Kajfes
...to the magnificent Mark Morris Dance Group... was touched by you all through the choreographic work and dancing of Long Nguyen who danced for you guys way back when (see my Pics)... thanks for being all these years! Jeni, Echo Park, California
