Mark Morris (choreographer)
Mark Morris | |
|---|---|
| File:Klaus Lucka 2008.jpg Mark Morris, 2008 (Photograph by Klaus Lucka) | |
| Occupation(s) | Artistic director, dancer, choreographer, conductor, opera director |
| Website | www.mmdg.org |
Mark Morris (born 29 August, 1956) is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Morris is popular among dance aficionados, the music world, as well as mainstream audiences.
Biography
Early years
Morris grew up in Seattle, Washington, 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.
Career
Morris moved to New York, where he established his own company, the Mark Morris Dance Group, which had its debuted in 1980. From 1988 to 1991, it was the resident company at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels.
In 1990, Morris and Mikhail Baryshnikov established the White Oak Dance Project. He continued to create works for this company until 1995.
He is much in demand as a ballet choreographer, most notably with San Francisco Ballet, for which he has created seven works. He has 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 Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, English National Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, among others. He directed and choreographed King Arthur for English National Opera in June, 2006, and in May 2007 he directed and choreographed Orfeo ed Euridice for the Metropolitan Opera. He is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates.
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 Æneas (1989), The Hard Nut (1991), his version of The Nutcracker set in the 1960s, The Office (1995), Greek to Me (2000), a dance version of the Virgil Thomson–Gertrude Stein opera Four Saints in Three Acts (2001), the ballet A Garden (2001), and the modern dance pieces Grand Duo (1993), V (2002) and All Fours (2004).
Morris and his Dance Group 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 collaborated with visual artists such as Isaac Mizrahi and Howard Hodgkin.
In 2001 his company moved into its first permanent headquarters in the United States, the Mark Morris Dance Center, in Brooklyn, located at 3 Lafayette Avenue in the Fort Greene neighborhood. 2001 also marked the establishment of The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center. Aside from being the home of the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Center housing rehearsal space for the dance community, outreach programs for local children, as well as a school offering dance classes to students of all ages.
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.
Honors and Awards
- 9 Honorary Doctorates (Centenary College, 2009; Bard College, 2006; Bates College, 2006; George Mason University, 2005; Bowdoin College, 2003; Pratt Institute, 2003; Long Island University, 2002; The Juilliard School, 2001; Boston Conservatory of Music, 1994)
- American Philosophical Society, Member, 2008
- The Independent Award, Brown University Club of New York, 2007
- Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007
- WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award, 2006
- New York City Mayor's Award for Arts & Culture, 2006
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Fellow, 2005
- Laurence Olivier Award (UK), Outstanding Achievement in Dance, 2002
- Critics' Circle National Dance Award (UK), Best Modern Choreography, 2002
- Critics' Circle National Dance Award (UK), Best Foreign Dance Company, 2002
- Time Out Live Awards (UK), Outstanding Production (V), 2002
- County of Los Angeles Distinguished Artist Award, 2001
- New York State Governor's Arts Award, 2001
- Best of Boston, Mark Morris & Yo-Yo Ma, Best Duet, 1999
- Laurence Olivier Award (UK), Best New Dance Production (L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato), 1998
- Evening Standard Award (UK), 1997
- Capezio Achievement Award, 1997
- Scotsman/Hamada Trust Festival Prize, Edinburgh Festival, 1995
- Edinburgh International Critics Award, 1994
- Edinburgh International Critics Award, 1992
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, 1991
- Dance Magazine Award, 1991
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 1986
- New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”), 1984, 1990, 2007
- Numerous honors include Choreographic Fellowships from the New York and New Jersey State Councils on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
On May 16, 2010, Morris will receive the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society at Longy School of Music.
Ballets by Mark Morris
Morris has created seven works for the San Francisco Ballet since 1994, including the first American production of Delibes Sylvia_(ballet); three works for American Ballet Theatre including Gong with music by Colin McPhee and Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes with music by Virgil Thomson; and has also received commissions from The Joffrey Ballet and the Boston Ballet, among others. In 2009, the San Francisco Ballet toasted 15 years of brilliant collaborations with Mark Morris by presenting the first All-Morris program, performing A Garden (2001), Joyride (2008) and Sandpaper Ballet (1999), March 13-24, 2009. His work is in the repertory of Ballet British Columbia, Ballet West, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and The Washington Ballet. Morris' ballets have also been performed by English National Ballet, Grand Theatre de Geneve, The Royal Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet and Miami City Ballet.
Ballet Commissions
- Mort Subite -- Boston Ballet (1986)
- Esteemed Guests -- Joffrey Ballet (1986)
- Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes -- American Ballet Theatre (1988)
- Ein Hertz -- Paris Opera Ballet (1990)
- Paukenschlag -- Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (1992)
- Maelstrom -- San Francisco Ballet (1994)
- Quincunx -- Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (1995)
- Pacific -- San Francisco Ballet (1995)
- Sandpaper Ballet -- San Francisco Ballet (1999)
- A Garden -- San Francisco Ballet (2001)
- Gong -- American Ballet Theatre (2001)
- Later -- San Francisco Ballet (2002)
- Non Troppo -- American Ballet Theatre (2003)
- Sylvia -- San Francisco Ballet (2004)
- Up and Down -- Boston Ballet (2006)
- Joyride -- San Francisco Ballet (2008)
Operas by Mark Morris
Mark Morris has worked extensively in opera for over 20 years, directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera , and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among others. In 2009, in honor of the bicentennial of Joseph Haydn’s death, Gotham Chamber Opera presented the New York City stage premiere of Haydn’s L’isola disabitata (Desert Island), in a new production by Mark Morris at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. , rev.
Productions directed and/or choreographed
- Salome -- Choreographer (Seattle Opera, 1986)
- Nixon in China -- Choreographer (Houston Grand Opera, 1987)
- Orphee et Euridice -- Choreographer (Seattle Opera, 1988)
- Die Fledermaus -- Director (Seattle Opera, 1988)
- Le Nozze di Figaro (Act III wedding scene) -- Choreographer (PepsiCo Summerfare, 1988)
- Dido and Aeneas -- Director and Choreographer (La Monnaie, 1989)
- The Death of Klinghoffer -- Choreographer (La Monnaie, 1991)
- Le Nozze di Figaro -- Director (La Monnaie, 1991)
- Orfeo ed Euridice -- Director and Choreographer (Handel & Haydn Society, 1996)
- Platée -- Director and Choreographer (Royal Opera, 1997)
- Four Saints in Three Acts -- Director and Choreographer (English National Opera, 2000)
- Idomeneo (Act III ballet) -- Choreographer (Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 2003)
- King Arthur, Director and Choreographer (English National Opera, 2006)
- Orfeo ed Euridice, Director and Choreographer (The Metropolitan Opera, 2007)
- L'isola d'isabitata, Director (Gotham Chamber Opera, 2009)
In 2011, The Metropolitan Opera will revive its 2007 production of Orfeo ed Euridice, directed by Mark Morris, and premiere John Adams' Nixon in China, choreographed by Mark Morris in 1987 but never before seen on a New York stage.
Personal life
Though now largely 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.
Conductor
In 2006, as part of his company's 25th anniversary season, he brought back his revered Gloria (1981, rev. 1984) set to Vivaldi's Gloria in D, and took up the baton for the first time to conduct the MMDG Music Ensemble and the Juilliard Choral Union. In 2007, he began conducting performances of his opera Dido and Aeneas (1989).