The Sarasota Ballet Presents the
Mark Morris Dance Group
4 – 7 March 2022 at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts
This March, The Sarasota Ballet will transport the renowned creations of acclaimed choreographer Mark Morris to the Sarasota stage with the presentation of the Mark Morris Dance Group. With six performances scheduled 4 – 7 March 2022 at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, the Mark Morris Dance Group (“MMDG”) accompanied by its own musical troupe, the MMDG Music Ensemble, will create an immersive, organic experience of equal parts sight and sound. The Program features three dances choreographed by Mark Morris – Words, Jenn and Spencer, and Gloria.
“I have been a huge fan of Mark for decades, and so it’s an understatement when I say how incredibly thrilled and excited I am to have his prestigious company performing here in Sarasota,” says Iain Webb, Director of The Sarasota Ballet. “Bringing the Mark Morris Dance Group to Sarasota has been a long time in the making, not just because of the hurdles that the pandemic brought, but also because this has been an ambition of mine for many years. His choreography is so distinct, with a particular musicality that allows the steps and movement to flow around the intricacies of his ballet’s scores. Having MMDG here in Sarasota not only enriches our Season, but also the arts of Sarasota.
Choreographer and then-dancer Mark Morris founded the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York in 1980. Within a decade, the company was invited to spend three years as Belgium’s national dance company at Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. After returning to the United States, MMDG established its permanent home at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn in 2001. MMDG is currently comprised of 16 dancers with Mark Morris as Artistic Director, who regularly choreographs new work for both the Dance Group and other dance companies across the globe. Distinguished for its commitment to performing with live music, MMDG is the only modern dance company that tours with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble. Mark Morris’s Words was originally commissioned by New York City Center for the 2014 Fall for Dance Festival. Set to music by Felix Mendelssohn, with lighting by Nick Kolin and costumes by Maile Okamura, Words has been described by The Washington Post as “frisky and enigmatic,” and by The Wall Street Journal as “…another of Mr. Morris’s beguiling affairs, intriguingly expressing poetry beyond words.” Jenn and Spencer, another Morris work from the past decade, premiered at the Mark Morris Dance Center in April of 2013, with Henry Cowell’s Suite for Violin and Piano driving the duet forward, with lighting by Michael Chybowski and costumes by Stephanie Sleeper. Closing the Program is Gloria, a Mark Morris classic that premiered in the early years of the Dance Group in December 1981 at Dance Theater Workshop. Set to its namesake music, Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D, Gloria was praised by Ballet Review as “a passionate journey of struggle with the woes of life reaching toward the ecstasy of finding grace.”
The Sarasota Ballet’s presentation of the Mark Morris Dance Group is sponsored by SRQ Media Group.
Performance Schedule and Ticket Information
4 – 7 March 2022
FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Friday, 4 March 2022 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, 5 March 2022 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, 5 March 2022 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, 6 March 2022 at 2:00 PM
Sunday, 6 March 2022 at 7:30 PM
Monday, 7 March 2022 at 7:30 PM
Choreographed by Mark Morris
Single Tickets
Individual tickets for the Mark Morris Dance Group, starting at $35, are on sale now at www.SarasotaBallet.org or by calling 941.359.0099.
About Mark Morris Dance Group
Founded in New York City in 1980, the internationally-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) has been called “the preeminent modern dance organization of our time” (Yo-Yo Ma), its members receiving “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 Dance Group, which has toured with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble, since 1996.
Through Access/MMDG programming, the Dance Group provides educational opportunities in dance and music to people of all ages and abilities while on tour around the world and at home at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, New York.
About MMDG Music Ensemble
The MMDG Music Ensemble, formed in 1996, is integral to the Dance Group. “With the dancers come the musicians…and what a difference it makes” (Classical Voice of North Carolina). The Ensemble’s repertory ranges from 17th century works by John Wilson and Henry Purcell to more recent scores by Lou Harrison and Henry Cowell. The musicians also participate in Access/MMDG – the Dance Group’s educational and community programming at home and on tour.
