Article Summary #5

Mark Morris Dance Group Popular in the World of Music

Kaufman, Sarah, “Mark Morris Taking Dance Works into the Music World,” Washington Post, January 31, 2010

The Mark Morris Dance Group does not simply tour standard dance venues. Instead, the group is also involved in the music world. The Mark Morris Dance Group, led by Mark Morris, is the only dance company that performs at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Ma. “I’m a musician and my medium is dancing,” said Morris. And although Morris does not play an instrument or sing, he reads music and has directed operas.

Morris involves his dance troupe in musical events because it enables him to reach a broader audience. “There are more people there. Music is a very big world and dance is a very small one,” Morris says.

Furthermore, getting involved in the dance world allows Morris’s group a greater ability to experiment with their dances. Music audiences are more open to a variety of work, while dance fans cringe at the sight of variations to traditional work. According to Morris, “Everybody freaks out if someone presents a version of a [ballet] classic, a ‘Giselle’ or a ‘La Sylphide,’ that doesn’t toe the line that all experts preserve. Whereas in opera, people would go crazy if you kept presenting the same old things.”

On Feb. 5 and 6, the Mark Morris Dance Group will perform at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. They will present two pieces, “Empire Garden,” set to Ives and “Visitation,” to Beethoven, that premiered during last year’s Tanglewood Music Festival.