Mark Morris Dance Group Makes Joyce Debut with New World Premiere and Other Rare works
Company:
Mark Morris Dance Group
THE MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP TO MAKE ITS DEBUT AT THE JOYCE THEATER AUGUST 1-12, 2023
Two different programs will feature selections from five decades of repertoire, including older favorites, rarely seen pieces, and a world premiere
Mark Morris’s newest work, “A minor Dance,” set to J.S. Bach's “Partita No. 3 in A minor” will premiere during the second week of programming on August 8, 2023
BROOKLYN, NY – After more than 40 years as a New York City-based dance company, the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) will make its debut at The Joyce Theater in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. The company’s 10-day engagement will feature two programs of work, including audience favorites and rarely seen pieces, as well as a world premiere and a stage premiere.
“Program A,” August 1-5, 2023, will include Numerator (2017), A Wooden Tree (2012), Italian Concerto (2007), and Grand Duo (1993).
“Program B,” August 8-12, will include Castor and Pollux (1980), Tempus Perfectum (2021), All Fours (2003), and the world premiere of A minor Dance, set to Partita No. 3 in A minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Program B also marks the stage premiere of Tempus Perfectum, which premiered during MMDG’s Live from Brooklyn livestream performance in May 2021 but has never been performed in front of a live audience.
All pieces, except A Wooden Tree and Castor and Pollux, will feature live musical accompaniment by the MMDG Music Ensemble.
“I'm thrilled we're performing at The Joyce for the first time. It will be a 'variety pack' of dances, from the very old Castor and Pollux... to a very new work set to J.S. Bach's Partita No. 3 in A minor,” says Artistic Director Mark Morris. “The two programs we're presenting show the full range of work my company and I have been doing for decades.”
Mark Morris Dance Group’s August residency will close out The Joyce Theater’s two-month Summer 2023 Season, MMDG performances will take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM, and Saturdays at 2 PM and 8 PM from August 1-12, 2023. Tickets priced from $10-$75 are available for all shows and are currently on sale on The Joyce Theater website. Complimentary tickets and transportation will also be provided to 100 attendees from MMDG’s community education and engagement programs, thanks to special underwriting from individual supporters of the company’s access initiatives.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is the Official Sponsor of the Mark Morris Dance Group. Major support is provided by The Howard Gilman Foundation, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, PARC Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.
WHAT: Mark Morris Dance Group at The Joyce Theater
Program A: August 1-5, 2023
Numerator, A Wooden Tree, Italian Concerto, Grand Duo
Program B: August 8-12, 2023
A minor Dance (world premiere), Castor and Pollux, Tempus Perfectum (stage premiere), All Fours
WHEN: August 1-12, 2023
WHERE: The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York
About Mark Morris
Mark Morris has been praised as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical” (New York Times). In addition to creating over 150 works for the Mark Morris Dance Group, he conducts orchestras, directs opera, and choreographs for ballet companies worldwide. Morris’s work is acclaimed for its ingenuity, musicality, wit, and humanity. Named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation in 1991, he has received eleven honorary doctorates to date, and a multitude of awards, including the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society, the Benjamin Franklin Laureate Prize for Creativity, the Cal Performances Award of Distinction in the Performing Arts, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Gift of Music Award, and the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award. Morris’s memoir, Out Loud, co-written with Wesley Stace, was released in paperback by Penguin Press in October 2021.
About the Mark Morris Dance Group and MMDG Music Ensemble
Founded in New York City in 1980 by artistic director and choreographer Mark Morris, praised by The New York Times as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical,” the Mark Morris Dance Group has been called “the preeminent modern dance organization of our time” (Yo-Yo Ma). Its members have received the “highest praise for their technical aplomb, their musicality, and their sheer human authenticity.” (Bloomberg News). Live music and community engagement are vital components of the Mark Morris Dance Group, which has toured with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble, since 1996. The Mark Morris Dance Center, opened in Brooklyn in 2001, is the home of the Dance Group and provides educational opportunities in dance and music to people of all ages and abilities.
About The Joyce Theater
The Joyce Theater Foundation (“The Joyce,” Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for almost four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther’s clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn’s Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K–12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce’s annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances – both digital and in-person – for audiences of over 150,000.
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