Mark Morris Research Paper

1588 Words7 Pages
“The most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical” Mark Morris contains a long lasting legacy that will stay with him throughout the span of his successful career. Morris reconfigured how others once viewed modern dance (Acoella). His innovating ways and creative outlook resulted in the many awards and recognition he received and continues to earn. Morris opts to provide live musicians at every performance that accompany his dancers, which offers an unconventional and unparalleled atmosphere. These examples of masterful dance are what earned him the title “Creative Genius” ("Mark Morris Dance Group." Humboldt). Born on August 29, 1956 in Seattle, Washington Morris began his career in the arts…show more content…
Since then, Morris has created more than 130 works for the group. Proceeding Company’s founding, Morris was the Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, otherwise known as the national opera house of Belgium ("Mark Morris." Mark Morris). The three most prominent pieces he put together while working at the opera house were L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato; Dido and Aeneas, and the highly praised The Hard Nut ("Mark Morris." Mark Morris). In 1990 Morris founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Along with his other contributions, Morris has also been an icon in the ballet world. He has been commissioned by the San Francisco Ballet for eight pieces as well as the American Ballet Theatre for three pieces. Currently Morris and company spend their time touring internationally ("Mark Morris." Mark Morris). Throughout their busy schedule, the company takes time to frequently visit some of their favorite places including: Boston, Fairfax, Virginia, London and Berkeley, California. With the mark of the companies 20th year, a 31,000 square foot permanent home in Brooklyn, NY was built ("Mark Morris: A Biography."). Morris currently resides on the outskirts of New York in his one-bedroom lavender and mint green apartment in Kips Bay, Manhattan ("Mark Morris." Mark…show more content…
His style is deeply rooted in custom with an underlying foundation of Eastern European folk dance, classical ballet, and modern dance (Marder). Morris believes that music is the essence of dance, and selectively chooses his scores in order to perfectly accompany his perfected dances. Michelle Marder Kamhi said in a recent article that Morris, “has woven a dance tapestry that seems to convey the whole universe of human experience--ranging from the downright silly to the sublime, and ending in a circle dance suggesting the motion of the heavenly spheres themselves” (Senior). He embraces the idea of simplicity and natural movements while allowing the dancers to interpret and develop the choreography in their own ways
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