The Dance Group was formed in 1980 and gave its first concert that year in New York City. The company’s touring schedule steadily expanded to include cities both in the U.S. and Europe. In 1988, MMDG was invited to become the national dance company of Belgium and spent three years in residence at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. The company returned to the U.S. in 1991 as one of the world’s leading dance companies, performing across the country and at major international festivals. MMDG is noted for its commitment to providing access to the arts and for its commitment to the use of live music, a feature of every performance on its international touring schedule since 1996.
In September of 2001, MMDG opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, NY, to provide a home for the Dance Group, a resource for music and dance classes in all styles for all ages and abilities, rehearsal space for the dance community, and free outreach programs.
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
MMDG works closely with community partners to develop meaningful artistic experiences for people of all skill levels and in all styles. Programs are offered at the Dance Center, throughout NYC and on tour and include:
Access/MMDG: Free humanities-based activities conducted in partnership with national and international presenters and designed to deepen and enhance the audience experience.
Adult Classes: High-quality dance classes, master classes and workshops with live music accompaniment.
Brownsville Dance Project: A 3-year focused initiative designed to improve the well-being of underserved children, teens, and their families living in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn through a series of arts engagement programs.
Dance for PD®: A groundbreaking program which provides free customized dance classes with live music accompaniment for people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners. Developed in partnership with Brooklyn Parkinson’s Group, the program also offers comprehensive teacher training workshops for dance teachers, movement professionals, healthcare workers, and care partners, fostering the program's growth worldwide.
In-School Residencies:
Dance, Music & Literacy (for Brooklyn public elementary schools) – Free 10-week residencies that utilize Morris’ hallmark work L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato to introduce students to dance, visual art, music, and poetry.
American Dance Project (new in 2014 in Brownsville, for middle schools) – Free 11-week residencies that engage students in learning the roots of dance across history by tracing dance forms such as the lindy hop, cake‐walk, Charleston, and contemporary jazz and hip‐hop.
L’Allegro Project (for Brooklyn high schools, launching in 2015) – MMDG’s signature Dance, Music & Literacy residency adapted for high school students.
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Partnership: Free classes held 38 weeks each year for youth and senior residents of public housing.
Programs specific to the Dance Center include:
The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center: High-quality dance classes with live music accompaniment for youth aged 20 months to 17 years.
Subsidized Studio Rentals: Deeply reduced rental rates for local artists to the Dance Center’s seven fully equipped studios.
Brooklyn Creative Arts Lab (BCAL): A 3-week multi-arts summer intensive offered in partnership with BRIC Media and Irondale Theater Ensemble engaging 36 students (50% provided full scholarship) aged 10-13.
TOURING ACTIVITIES 2014/2015
Concurrent with Dance Center and NYC community programs, the Dance Group, and Music Ensemble tour Morris’ extensive repertory. 2014-15 season engagements include in UNC Wilmington, Wilmington, NC (September 13); Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA (September 25‐28); the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston, MA (January 21-25); Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, MO (February 6‐7); His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, Australia (February 13‐17); Center for the Arts, Fairfax, VA (February 28-March 1); Meany Hall, Seattle, WA (March 5‐7); Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY (April 22‐26); Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Champaign‐Urbana, IL (May 1‐2); Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA (May 15‐16); Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia (June 3‐6); and the Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA (week of June 22).
From October to November, MMDG embarks on Excursions 2014, a unique, multi‐continent performance and community engagement tour, which will split the dance group in two (Company West and Company East). The tour will feature Mark’s newest work, Words, and extensive cross‐cultural community and educational programming through Access/MMDG and the US State Department’s DanceMotion USA program. Company West will tour the US, Scotland, Italy, and Switzerland. Company East will tour Cambodia, Timor‐Leste, and Taiwan. They will reunite mid‐November for performances in Shenzhen and Beijing, China.
NEW & RESTAGED WORKS BY MARK MORRIS 2014-2015
Morris’ most recent work, Words, set to ten of the forty-eight songs of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words,” premiered at City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival on October 8-9, 2014. Mr. Morris created Words as a kit, adjustable in length and number of dancers per section (maximum 16), and adaptable to traditional and non-traditional performance venues of varying shapes and sizes, a feature that will be used by Companies West and East in Excursions 2014.
In April, Mark will present a new work for 2-3 to three veteran dancers to chamber music as part of the upcoming BAM season, which will feature repertory programs of classic and recent works.
The third new dance of the season will premiere as part of the Tanglewood Music Center’s 75th anniversary celebration in June 2015. The Music Center has commissioned 35 new works from its fellow and faculty alumni, including Mark who is the only artist selected who is not a composer. This full company work will be set to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, arranged for two pianists on one piano, and performed by Tanglewood alumnus. Following the premiere, this work will be seen in U.S. cities during the Dance Group’s 2015-2016 tour.
Beginning in December of 2014, Mark will oversee an ambitious staging of his 1995 work, Pacific, originally created on pointe for the San Francisco Ballet. This work, to Lou Harrison’s “Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano,” will be set on the Dance Group by former company member Tina Fehlandt. It will be adapted for the Dance Group to perform in bare feet. The dance will be a featured part of MMDG’s BAM season in April 2015 and subsequent tour engagements.
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