Readers of this
blog are familiar with my love of the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG). So it should
come as no surprise that Sunday night I was thrilled to see them perform
at their home in Brooklyn. Add special guest Mikhail Baryshnikov to the mix and
it was a perfect event.
The show began with
The Office, an older piece set to Antonín Dvořák’s Bagatelles for two
violins, cello and harmonium, Op. 47. A small group of dancers dressed in workplace attire dance almost feverishly until they are interrupted by a clipboard-bearing woman whose arrival signals the
departure of one dancer. This continues to occur until only one dancer remains. What happens to them once they leave the stage? An incredibly poignant and moving work, it should get performed more often.
This was followed with A Wooden Tree, a piece that only Morris could create. Choreographed to the whimsical
recordings of Scottish humorist Ivor Cutler (this was an exception to the
usual MMDG rule of using live music), the new work had the dancers, decked out like colourful ragamuffins, twirling, skipping, and even
hopping around the stage. The group included Mikhail Baryshnikov who I haven’t
seen perform since the premiere of Morris’ The Argument in Boston back
in 1999. The 65-year-old may have been just one of the ensemble but it was clear that all
eyes were on him. It was a truly delightful piece. And if you’ve never heard of
Cutler, I suggest you check him out.
Two world premieres were presented after the
intermission. Jenn and Spencer, a beautiful
duet set to Suite for Violin and Piano by Henry Cowell, merged classical movements
with the pure physical so key to Morris’ work. It was also named for the two dancers
who performed the piece—a wonderful tribute to their talent and
grace. Crosswalks, danced to Carl
Maria von Weber’s 1816 Grand Duo Concertant, for clarinet and piano, Op. 48, had echoes of some
of Morris’ grander pieces with dancers crisscrossing the stage sometimes in
seeming unison, while at other times literally bumping into each other or, in the case of one female dancer, run over. Whereas I
enjoyed the lightness of A Wooden Tree,
this may have been my favourite of the new works.
The Mark Morris Dance Center. Photo: Michele
The James and Martha Duffy Performance Space at
the dance center seats fewer than 150 people and was probably the most intimate
space I’ve ever seen MMDG perform. At the end, Mark Morris walked on stage and took repeated bows with his dancers. I couldn’t have
enjoyed myself more.
The remaining sold-out performances at the Dance
Center run through April 14. For more info on the MMDG, check out their site here.
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