Missed Mark Morris? There’s Always Next Year
Mark Morris Dance Group and The Seattle Symphony certainly pleased with their annual program at The Paramount last weekend. Thematically spiritual, peaceful and visually appealing, with touches of Morris’ trademark humor, it was a resonant, fulfilling evening of dance and music.
MMDG company in "Gloria" Photo credit Stephanie Berge.
With “Jesu meine Freude”, the Tudor Choir steps in to accompany a capella (unaccompanied chorale is a rare pairing with dance, by the way). How closely does Morris’ movement here mimic the words of the hymn? We have no idea, since “Jesu meine Freude” is sung in German and during the performance it was too dark to read the helpful English translation in the program. This piece is very solemn, with the dancers clothed in white. Renditions of a simple port de bras are layered throughout. Wonderful.
By the time “Gloria” hit the stage, we had completely transitioned from critical mode into a blissful relaxation. We felt medicated, actually, and at this point, we stopped scribbling notes, sat back, and simply appreciated the beauty in form in sound that filled the theatre.
One more thing: we highly recommend taking the Mark Morris Master Class offering next time the troupe rolls through town. For intermediate dancers and above, the class is regularly taught by David Leventhal, who has danced with MMDG since 1997. As a teacher, Leventhal steers the Morris-style modern class with a calming, encouraging presence. In this particular class, we learned snippets from "Jesu Meine Freude" and "Gloria", a great way to get inside the choreography and connect with what’s presented onstage.
