Called “the Mozart of Modern Dance” for his musicality, devotion to classical music, and movement versatility, Mark Morris has distinguished himself as a ballet, modern dance, and opera choreographer and director. Born in 1956, he began dancing and performing at the age of thirteen with the Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble in his hometown of Seattle, and he later appeared in New York and on tour with Lar Lubovitch, Hannah Kahn, and Eliot Feld. He first performed at the Pillow in 1982, and he was commissioned to create works for the Jacob’s Pillow Dancers in 1983 and 1984. His company first appeared here in 1986 and has returned for more than twenty seasons since, amassing one of the most extensive Pillow performance records of any artist. Morris uses a wide array of musical sources, ranging from Vivaldi and Weber to George Jones and Yoko Ono. Morris created Falling Down Stairs in the Pillow’s Doris Duke Theatre for a film by Barbara Willis Sweete, conceived as a component of Yo-Yo Ma’s PBS series, Inspired by Bach.
Read More
