One Minute World Arts- The Sophisticated Simplicity of a Mark Morris Masterpiece

The Sophisticated Simplicity of a Mark Morris Masterpiece

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, a Mark Morris masterpiece of dance inspired by Handel’s 1740 oratorio of the same title, returned to Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it had its United States premiere in 1990, in March this year. Morris, repeating and layering gestures in a way that renders the stage a vision of sophisticated simplicity, has his dancers gliding in and out of scenes that transform them into elements and species of the natural world, in which they can be seen as nymphs, gods, lovers, and friends, so as to speak to the fortitude of the human condition in both body and mind. The piece has long been regarded as Mark Morris’s undisputed masterwork, and, according to The New York Times, “nothing about it is in isolation; rather, harmony is everywhere.” 

Mark Morris is a renowned American dancer, choreographer, and director. He established the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980, and has since created numerous dance pieces and won many awards and honors. From 1988 to 1991, he also acted as the Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. Morris is highly praised as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical” by The New York Times.

 

馬克・莫里斯：簡約而繁複的律動之美

編舞家馬克・莫里斯（Mark Morris）的經典舞作《歡悅、愁思、平和之人》（L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato），稍早於今年三月，重返當初美國首演之地布魯克林音樂學院，舉行復刻演出。該作取材自巴洛克時期作曲家韓德爾（Handel）的同名清唱劇，以簡約、素樸的方式，來呈現意義繁複的舞蹈編排；透過舞者不斷重複且層次分明的肢體動作，觀眾彷彿被導引至大自然的世界裡，置身於精靈、神祇、戀人、朋友交互現身的場景中，感受人類身心狀態的堅韌。《紐約時報》盛讚這支舞作「環環相扣，層層互啟，處處都是和諧交融之美」。

馬克·莫里斯（Mark Morris）為美國著名的舞者暨編舞家，於 1980 年成立馬克莫里斯舞蹈團，之後亦曾出任比利時布魯塞爾國家歌劇院（Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie）的舞蹈總監。他名下的作品量多質精，獲頒的獎項與榮譽不計其數，堪稱是當代「最成功、最具影響力，而且創作最富含音樂性」的編舞家。

 

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/arts/dance/review-mark-morris-lallegro-il-penseroso-ed-il-moderato.html
https://markmorrisdancegroup.org/the-dance-group/mark-morris/
https://www.bam.org/lallegro
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Morris

Photo credit
Photo by Stephanie Berger