Results tagged “markmorris”

Two Franklin High grads--Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks and Aaron Brooks of the Houston Rockets--have emerged as two of the most critical players in the NBA playoffs.

Mark Morris's Mozart Dances are performed at the Paramount Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35-$75 plus fees.

ONE WEEKEND ONLY

It feels like the dance event of the year--three performances of Mozart Dances by the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Paramount, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (tickets: $35-$75 plus fees). See the preview video here.

      

There is nary a tutu to be seen on Pacific Northwest Ballet's New Works program (through November 16, tickets $25-$155), which is an eclectic collection of dance pieces by Mark Morris, PNB's Kiyon Gaines, Benjamin Millepied, and William Forsythe. Not that we have anything against tutus. In fact, some of our best friends...but that's neither here nor there. We bring it up only to emphasize the leap that Peter Boal is making with PNB, in integrating so many kinds of new works into the company's repertoire.

At the point that we realized all 24 dancers from the Mark Morris Dance Group were on stage simultaneously, we were struck by two thoughts. First: holy shit 24 dancers on stage at once in a delirious, joyous romp; and second: thank god dance companies can still exist that can put 24 dancers all on stage at once. Morris' company was celebrating the 20th anniversary of his early-career classic L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato at the Paramount Theater this past weekend. Set to a lesser-known pastoral work by Handel, the already overwhelming treat of seeing this work in person was escalated by full accompaniment from the Seattle Symphony and Chorale members directed by maestro Gerard Schwarz.

As we mentioned the other day, Seattlest was very excited for the PNB production of Carmina Burana, but we left a bit perplexed and frustrated. To start, we enjoyed Mark Morris' Pacific, a light and dreamy piece that found our thoughts wandering in a pleasant way about halfway through, befitting of a day spent listening to the ocean advance and retreat while pretending to read a book. It was a short and "limited" (to borrow from Seattlest Michael's summation) composition, but the perfect exemplar of Morris' work: seamless integration of ballet's technique and precision with the freedom and rule-free whimsy of modern dance. We love that he breaks ballet traditions by having group pieces with three men and one woman, all performing the same choreography (sure, later in Carmina Burana we have a woman with three men but stereotypically she's a harpy and they are pining for her), and the costumes were simple and perfectly suited to the choreography.

Are you looking at that? It's the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Carmina Burana, and that's an entire choir behind the giganto Illuminati-looking sculpture hanging from the ceiling. The sheer scale of this piece has us salivating, the chanting backdrop to Carl Orff's seminal composition coursing through our veins and pounding in our head. Choreographed by Kent Stowell, former PNB artistic co-director and epic brewer of ballet dramas, Burana kicks off the "Celebrate Seattle Festival" on Thursday evening, and we are giddy with anticipation.

THAT STARBUCKS "I WAS A CHILD SOLDIER" GUY: At twelve, Ishmael Beah found himself fleeing rebels, wandering from village to village. At thirteen, he was a soldier in Sierra Leone, hooked on drugs and capable of things he would never have imagined. Now, rehabilitated and living in the U.S., he tells his story in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, in an attempt to raise awareness of the child soldier phenomenon.

After hearing "emerging Seattle choreographer" Zoe Scofield and PNB's Peter Boal at a talkin-'bout-dance panel Sunday, we were looking forward to Monday, which featured performances by Scofield and PNB. Non-dance highlights were our uber-local, fast-talking, Spalding-Grayish Matt Smith monologuing about manliness and his move to Bainbridge Island, the new wave rearrangements of cover band Nouvelle Vague (including a sing-along to "Too Drunk To Fuck"), and finishing the day inside a sweaty knot of teens listening to CocoRosie getting all rapped-up with vocal beat boxing and shiznit. We know that sounds sexy.

It's rained--hard--five out of the last six weekends. And after a week of beautiful weather, it's supposed to cloud over Saturday and rain Sunday. Along with the byplay of their weekend, the Seattlests answer the question "Why does God hate Seattle?"

The State 3A hoops tournament started yesterday. All the favored teams won their first round games, setting up some interesting quarterfinal matchups.

Father of our nation's energy supply, our library system, our fire companies, and our bathroom humor, Ben Franklin, would have been 300 today. Damn you, Death.

March Madness isn't just the NCAA men's tournament, though Seattlest knows they've trademarked the name. At the risk of a lawsuit, we apply it to the hundreds of loser-out basketball tournaments taking place all over the country, from the South Dakota state "A" championship to the public school championships in New York City. Local teams began tournament life last weekend with the Pac-10 Women's basketball tournament and the State 3A Boys and Girls Tournaments.