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By Serena S.Y. Hsu
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Published on September 13, 2021
Brandon Randolph; Photo Serena S.Y. Hsu/ZumaPress
Poetry Reigns at Brooklyn Plaza and the New York Botanical Gardens
June 11 and 12, 2021
Songs, landscape architecture, nature, and modern dance... parallel worlds in orbit.
This June weekend liberated city audiences from COVID’s virtual confinement. One could physically attend an evening of company repertoire with Mark Morris Dance Group at the Plaza in Brooklyn, or take a stroll through the New York Botanical Garden to catch MMDG dancers perform in the Contemporary Dance Series.
"Words is danced to Mendelssohn's songs Without Words (1829-1845). These are melodies composed for a parlor or dining room gathering. Mark decided to simply call the dance Words, because of the nature of the music in this setting." Brandon Randolph, Dancer
Inherent to Morris' choreography is the interpretation of music as a formative structure. Pre-COVID, the Mark Morris Dance Group always performed with their own orchestral ensemble or to the live accompaniment of their musical director, Colin Fowler. By making musical adaptations to original compositions, Mark Morris reshapes the music to his own artistic vision.
"The garden (is) as a poem. Not simply a beautiful design to be appreciated by looking, but a living poem that can actually be read." Marc Peter Keane, landscape architect
In the same way, the genius of Mr. Mark Morris is both quantum and qualitative – music theory designed to the poetry of dance. His choreography is penned to notations and transcribed from metered music.
"All of my musical awareness began when I joined the company. Dancing through the music that (Morris translates) and re-imagines, allows both dancers and audiences to participate and explore new ways of seeing a piece of music. " Laurel Lynch, Veteran dancer Mark Morris Dance Group
Danced to music by the master American composer George Gershwin, Lynch's costume and footwork evoke Gershwin's era and his iconic work, An American in Paris (1928). Her costume is designed by Isaac Mizrahi, who frequently collaborates with Morris.
"I love that Mark chooses such varied music, and that we get to embody different dynamic qualities, whether narrative or abstract..." Nicole Sabella, Dancer
"I studied folk dance, and Greek dancing was also a part of my childhood experience. But Greek to Me was my first time performing this specific style of regional dance for Mark. " Nicole Sabella
"Mark's original training was in Flamenco and Croatian. Folk traditions from other cultures are an important part of our company history." Brandon Randolph
Mark Morris choreography is permeated by spontaneous patterns that move along the structured phrasing of the music.
"Like dabs and strokes of ink on paper, the elements of a garden create horizontal, vertical and diagonal motion in the design. " Marc Peter Keane in Japanese Garden Notes: A Visual Guide to Elements and Design
Polka dots are Kusama's thematic motif, a constant in her works.
"A polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life…” Yayio Kusama
"Polka-dots can't stay alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka-dots become movement... " Yayoi Kusama
"The turning point of my journey as a Mark Morris dancer was when I was performing L’Allegro. It isn't about having a soloist role, but the entire experience of being able to dance a masterpiece when every dancer becomes part of a greater whole. There are all these moments in the music where we share abeautiful unity together. " Aaron Lux
"The framework circulates between 2, 4, 8, or 16 dancers, but within that there are moments where Mark has given us the freedom to make some choices . We can decide to join the featured people doing the same movement or not." Brandon Randolph
"There are certain sections where you have structured improvised work that is timing-based depending upon the music, and relationship-based depending upon whom you're dancing with. There's a call-and-response." Mica Bernas, Dancer
Words also contains several Baroque dance elements.
Linked arms are connecting points of Minuet and Allemande pairing during ballroom group dances.
During a minuet group dance, pairs circle each other within a larger circle. The brisk, lively speed depicted is more reminiscent of the Courante.
"There's a (work) called Falling Down Stairs that is literally based on all of the court dances (Morris) covers – the Allemande, the Sarabande, the Courante, the (Chaconne), the Minuet. These court dances are integral to Mark’s choreography." Brandon Randolph
One form of Sarabande emphasizes front-facing as a parallel display to the stage.
MMDG dancers (l-r): Billy Smith, Domingo Estrada, Jr., Matthew McLaughlin and Karlie Budge, Brandon Cournay, Noah Vinson |
Photo: Serena S.Y. Hsu / ZUMA Press
Another form of Sarabande is based on demi-leaps.
MMDG dancers perform Words (l-r): Nicole Sabella, Matthew McLaughlin, Aaron Loux, Karlie Budge.
Photo: Serena S.Y. Hsu / ZUMA Press
Visually, Words by Morris seems to symbolize conversations --both organized and improvisational--in which each speaker/dancer chooses "what" of their inner thoughts to suppress or divulge.
In the botanical garden, nature is hidden and revealed by horticultural choreography. Emerging buds, blooms, and seed heads create dots and circles of variegated color and textural points of interest.
"I parted a row of zinnias and reached in to pluck the pumpkin from its vine. It immediately began speaking to me in a most animated manner… indescribably appealing and tender to the touch. ~ Yayoi Kusama.
Starry Pumpkin, 2015 by Yayoi Kusama
Photo: Serena S.Y. Hsu / ZUMA Press
The pieces Morris chose in relationship to New York Botanical Garden's Contemporary Dance Series reflect the garden’s intimate setting.
"I was very happy to be asked to contribute some of my work to these weekends (at the New York Botanical Garden). The most interesting aspect to me is that the garden exists on its own. Miss Kusama brings it to life in a different way, and the addition of the dancers makes the whole thing a very interesting combination of elements." Mark Morris, Choreographer
"Gardening is a method of nature study, a practice that asks the designer to look carefully at the world and understand things from the material’s point of view... " Marc Peter Keane, The Art of Setting Stones.
" We do a lot of study – we listen to the music we dance to on repeat. Sometimes we listen to it, looking for a certain thing, and then maybe the pianist or performance doesn't put that (section) in and you're like oh my gosh, where am I in this music. We think about the choreography as text. We're able to take that text and slightly expand upon it, but we always have to... refer back to that original text, that idea. " Christina Sahaida, Dancer
"... It all comes down to being curious," says Brandon Randolph. "What (Morris) always says is 'Be curious, listen and investigate the music.' For my solo (Jealousy) in particular it's only one section of a three-hour opera; but he told me, 'Listen to the entire opera.' It makes a difference because you get more thematic context of what you're dancing to even if (your role) is only five minutes."
"I'm personally most partial towards Mark's Baroque choices of music. Our company specializes in these dances because there's something so familiar about Baroque music... Anyone can hear it and understand it; whereas people often shy away from certain (modernist) composers, because they seem so cerebral ." Brandon Randolph
Photo: Serena S.Y. Hsu / ZUMA Press
"Mark gives us very functional notes or an image (to) portray, but rarely does he prescribe the meaning behind a piece, unless there's a libretto or a clearly narrative story behind it." Nicole Sabella
"If we are working with a narrative (opera) or a libretto, Mark choreographs to the text itself... the singing makes the piece easiest to work with. The (sung notes) really inform us how long we might perform a certain gesture based on how long it is being sun, or how long we have to move together connect. The singing and the way we dance... become one entity." Brandon Randolph
Just as Yayoi Kusama's sculptures shift and change from different points of view, so does the choreography of Mark Morris.
I convert the energy of life into dots of the universe. And that energy, along with love, flies into the sky."
Yayoi Kusama. I Want to Fly to the Universe, 2020.
