Mark Morris Dance Group - Jan. 25 at The Egg
Prime Performance - Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 7:30pm
Please note: This performance takes place at The Egg
Consistently garnering the highest praise for their technical aplomb and sheer human authenticity, this ensemble considered by many as the preeminent modern dance organization of our time performs a program of new works and classics including Excursions, Candleflowerdance, A Wooden Tree and Water performed to both live and pre-recorded music.
- Individual tickets - $36
- Dance in Albany packages available at 10%-50% (see info on the left)
- Dance in Albany packages available through The Egg Box Office at the Empire State Plaza or by calling 518-473-1845 on Monday through Friday between 11am and 3pm
- Purchase individual tickets on-line here
Presented in partnership with The Egg as part of the Dance in Albany series. Support provided by Executive Park at 4 Tower Place in Albany.
Founded in New York City in 1980 by artistic director and choreographer Mark Morris, the 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). Morris has been praised as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical.” (New York Times).
The company’s last appearance in the Capital Region was in March 2022, also as part of the Dance in Albany series. This time, MMDG’s performance will be accompanied by both live and pre-recorded music and will feature four works: Excursions, Candleflowerdance, A Wooden Tree and Water.
Premiered at the nearby Tanglewood Music Center in 2008, Excursions is set to Samuel Barber’s “Excursions for the Piano.” According to The Boston Phoenix, “Morris' response to Barber's piece transforms Excursions from a fun romp to a poignantly abstract comment on the individual's struggle to find a reason to keep getting up in the morning."
2005’s Candleflowerdance to Stravinsky’s “Serenade in A” features a "...sequence of leaning, sinking, and rising so fluidly that they seem to be sharing a single breath. As they stand close and give in to the supple, suspended movement, it all comes across as the most logical - perhaps the only possible - response to the music…” (Danceview Times)
According to Times Union Dance reviewer Tresca Weinstein, A Wooden Tree was the “delightful highlight” of the program when the company performed at The Egg in 2013. “The eight dancers, dressed like schoolchildren in frocks, trousers and caps, cavort through Morris’ madcap versions of square dances, line dances and London Bridge.”
Set to Handel’s “Water Music,” Water is the company’s most recent work on the program. It was created in 2021 and was originally staged at Brooklyn Bridge Park with New York Harbor as the backdrop.