Mark Morris
:
There is also a football (soccer) player called Mark Morris and an English author called Mark MorrisMark Morris (born:
August 29,
1956) is an
American modern dancer and
choreographer whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Morris is popular among dance aficionados as well as mainstream audiences.
Morris grew up in a family that appreciated music and dance and nurtured his budding talents; his father taught him how to read music and his mother Maxine introduced him to
Balkan folk dance, and
ballet. In the early years of his career, he performed with Lar Lubovitch, Hannah Kahn, Laura Dean, Eliot Feld, and the Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble.
Morris subsequently moved to
New York, where he established his own company, the Mark Morris Dance Group, which debuted in
1980. From
1988 to
1991, it was the resident company the Théâtre de
La Monnaie in
Brussels.
In 1990, Morris and
Mikhail Baryshnikov established the White Oak Dance Project, a group formed to choreograph and perform new dance.
Since 1994, Morris has created six works on the
San Francisco Ballet. He also received commissions from such companies as
American Ballet Theatre,
Boston Ballet, and the
Paris Opera Ballet. He has worked extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for the
New York City Opera,
English National Opera, and the
Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, most recently directing and choreographing
King Arthur for English National Opera in June, 2006.
Notable works of Morris include "Gloria" (1981), set to Vivaldi, "Championship Wrestling" (1985), based on an essay by Roland Barthes,
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed Il Moderato (1988),
Dido and Aeneas (1989), "The Hard Nut
(1991), a campy version of The Nutcracker set in the 1960s, The Office
(1995), Greek to Me
(2000), a dance version of the Virgil Thomsonâ€"Gertrude Stein opera Four Saints in Three Acts
(2001), the ballet The Garden
(2001), and the modern dance pieces V
(2002) and All Fours
(2004).
Morris and his Dance Group also collaborated with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Falling Down Stairs
, a film by Barbara Willis Sweete available on Ma's Inspired by Bach series, volume 2. In casu, Morris choreographed a dance based on Bach's Third Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, which Ma performs. Sweete's film depicts the performance as well as its evolution. Morris has also created with visual artists such as Isaac Mizrahi and Howard Hodgkin.
Though now retired from performing, Mark Morris was long noted for the musicality and power of his dancing as well as his amazing delicacy of movement. His body was heavier than the typical dancer, more like that of an average person, yet his technical and expressive abilities outstripped those of most of his contemporaries.
Morris is the subject of a biography, Mark Morris
(1993), by dance critic Joan Acocella. In 2001, Morris published L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: A Celebration'', a volume of photographs and critical essays.
In 2001 his company moved into permanent studios in
Brooklyn.
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Mark Morris Dance Group website
