Mark Morris Dance Group 2012 China Premiere
Ping Pong Productions brought American modern dance Icon Mark Morris and his company to China for the first time with debut performances at the Guangzhou Opera House
The Mark Morris Dance Group, formed more than 30 years ago, is widely considered one of the foremost American dance companies. Renowned for its uncompromising commitment to live music, MMDG tours in the United States and around the world and has attracted devotees of classical and contemporary music to dance and introduced dance audiences to a range of composers from Mozart to Lou Harrison.
“...that rare gem in the dance world: a company that performs to live music, with its own musicians, even on tour
V is a life-affirming new dance by Mark Morris, not only one of his best pieces in many years but also one of the few great works that modern dance has produced in a decade
About the Artistic Director
Mark Morris
Mark Morris, hailed as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical”, formed the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) in 1980 and has since created more than 150 works for the company. From 1988 to 1991, he was Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris is also an acclaimed ballet choreographer, with twenty works commissioned by ballet companies worldwide.
Noted for musicality, he has been described as “undeviating in his devotion to music” (The New Yorker). He began conducting performances for MMDG in 2006 and has since conducted at The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Lincoln Center, and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). In 2013 he served as Music Director for the Ojai Music Festival. Morris also works extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among others.
Morris opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, New York, in 2001 to provide a home for his company, rehearsal space for the dance community, outreach programs for children and seniors, and a school offering dance classes to students of all ages and abilities.
Schedule and Program
- Friday and Saturday, May 25-26, 2012
Guangzhou Opera House
Program:
FESTIVAL DANCE
Choreographer: Mark Morris
Music: Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Piano Trio No.5 in E Major, Op.83. (1819)
GRAND DUO
Choreographer: Mark Morris
Music: Lou Harrison – Grand Duo for Violin & Piano (1988)
V
Choreographer: Mark Morris
Music: Robert Schumann – Quintet in E Flat Major for Piano and String Op.44. (1842)
