Some years ago, when I was living in New York City, word got around that dance fans should go down to the Dance Theater Workshop and catch the performances of Mark Morris, a young dancer from the state of Washington.
As a choreographer, he blended folk dances with other traditions in a way that had charm and musicality. He also had an easy, personal style of dancing.
After those first few performances, Mark Morris continued dancing and performing with small, modern dance companies in New York before an invitation to Brussels gave him an opportunity to develop his own choreography.
On March 3, the Mark Morris Dance Group was the guest of Sarasota Ballet at the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota. As the curtain opened on Pacific, the empty stage brought back my memories of dance concerts with barefoot dancers and the sound of a piano, suggesting studio performances. The simplicity and the musicality of Morris’ ballets were apparent from the first moments. Somehow, this added another dimension to the usual theatricalization of dance performances.
On this visit to Sarasota, only nine young dancers with the Mark Morris Dance Group were present, but each moved with open abandonment to the powerful rhythms of Lou Harrison’s Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano; Dance: Rhapsody: Song, Allegro. In spite of the strong, quick, changes in the rhythm, their steps were simple, though they echoed the music, as one dancer after another whirled across the stage, arms pushing the air.
Ten Suggestions was an unusual solo for Dallas McMurray in this performance. I tried to keep up with each phase of the 10 suggestions, in which he twisted and turned, rolled over into a series of somersaults and even imitated a butterfly while creating a feeling of hope in this search, with Chris McCarthy joining him at the piano.
As the ballet had its first performance in 1981, perhaps it was a strong personal exploration of movement and life experiences that Mark Morris translated into this charming challenge for one dancer and a pianist.
In Candleflowerdance, six dancers (Mica Bernas, Courtney Lopes, Alex Meeth, Brandon Randolph, Christina Sahaida and Joslin Vezeau) met, separated, and then floated in and out of different groups. Katherine M. Patterson was the costume designer who created their everyday tops and pants, while Chris McCarthy — again on the piano — and choreographer Mark Morris wrestled with Stravinsky’s Serenade in A. The March 3 program included a mention of author and philosopher Susan Sontag in regard to both Candleflowerdance and Going Away Party — the last of the ballets that the group presented that day — and I am sure this has a special meaning for Mark Morris; but I was surprised.
And another surprise was Going Away Party, which was set to the music of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. The songs are very much country/western, and the dancers had a wonderful time stamping, running, turning, jumping and having fun keeping time and rhythm while the Texas cowboys sang about their heartfelt personal dreams and emotions.
To quote the last song, “When you leave, Turn Out The Lights.”