Cal Performances Presents Program
Thursday, September 25, 2008, 8pm Mark Morris Dance Group Friday, September 26, 2008, 8pm Saturday, September 27, 2008, 8pm Craig Biesecker Samuel Black Joe Bowie Elisa Clark Amber Darragh Sunday, September 28, 2008, 3pm Rita Donahue Domingo Estrada, Jr.* Lauren Grant John Heginbotham Zellerbach Hall David Leventhal Laurel Lynch Bradon McDonald Dallas McMurray Maile Okamura Noah Vinson Jenn Weddel Julie Worden Michelle Yard Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare Shawn Gannon Guillermo Resto Teri Weksler Megan Williams (West Coast Premiere) Julie Fiorenza† Lesley Garrison Claudia MacPherson Kanji Segawa Bradley Shelver Adam Hewlett Weinert† * apprentice Music by Sergey Prokofiev † understudy Scenario by Sergey Prokofiev & Sergey Radlov Choreography by Mark Morris Mark Morris, Artistic Director Nancy Umanoff, Executive Director
A Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College/Mark Morris Dance Group production in association with Mark Morris Dance Group Cal Performances, Berkeley; barbicanbite08, London; Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Millennium Park, Chicago; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; Virginia Arts Festival; and The Shelby and Frederick Gans Fund.
Sergey Prokofiev’sRomeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, Op. 64, restored by Simon Morrison, is performed with exclusive permission of the Prokofiev Estate and G. Schirmer Inc., the bearers of the rights to the music. Source materials used in this production are provided by the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art.
Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare has been funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation and MetLife Foundation.
MetLife Foundation is the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Official Tour Sponsor.
Major support for the Mark Morris Dance Group is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, Independence Community Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.
The Mark Morris Dance Group New Works Fund is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Untitled Foundation, The Shelby and Frederick Gans Fund, Meyer Sound/Helen and John Meyer, and Poss Family Foundation.
Rosalie O’Connor The Mark Morris Dance Group’s performances are made possible with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Program. Stefan Asbury, conductor These performances of Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare are made possible, in part, by the Centennial Campaign for Cal Performance’s Creative Venture Fund through a generous gift from The Bernard Osher Foundation. Allen Moyer, scenic designer Additional support is provided by Liz and Greg Lutz. Martin Pakledinaz, costume designer Patron Sponsor Bernice Greene. James F. Ingalls, lighting designer Corporate Sponsor: Pacific National Bank.
Cal Performances’ 2008–2009 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank.
6 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 7 Synopsis Cast
Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare
Prologue Romeo hunts him down and in vengeful fury, kills Verona. A public place. him. A crowd forms. Escalus banishes Romeo. Romeo pines over the chaste Rosaline. Both Montagues and Capulets grieve over their dead kinsmen. Act I The street. Act III The Montagues and Capulets quarrel. Benvolio at- Juliet’s bedroom. tempts to stop the violence. Tybalt bullies Benvolio. The newlywed Romeo and Juliet wake up in each Capulet and Montague themselves join the fray. others’ arms. He leaves. The nurse alerts Juliet of Prince Escalus enters, stops the fight, and declares her parents’ arrival. The Capulets inform their a death sentence for anyone caught fighting again. daughter of her promised marriage to Paris. Juliet, Gene Schiavone The crowd breaks up. The Montagues show con- in a panic, refuses her parents. They leave, angry. cern for their son. She decides to seek the help of Friar Laurence. Dramatis Personae House of the Capulets. At Friar Laurence’s. Capulet promises Juliet’s hand to Paris. Juliet, Friar Laurence welcomes Juliet and listens to her her nurse and her mother prepare for the ball. In passionate story. He suggests a sleeping potion to Escalus, Prince of Verona Joe Bowie masks, Benvolio, Mercutio and Romeo sneak into simulate death. Paris, a noble young kinsman to the Prince Bradon McDonald the party. Mercutio warns Romeo of love’s potent Mercutio, a young gentleman and kinsman to the spell. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight. Juliet’s bedroom. Prince, friend of Romeo Amber Darragh Tybalt recognizes Romeo and demands his remov- Juliet declares to her parents a newfound accep- al. Capulet dismisses Tybalt, who vows revenge on tance of Paris’ proposal. They leave, ecstatic. Juliet Montague, head of a Veronese family Romeo. After the ball, Romeo slips back into the drinks the potion and enters a deep sleep. In the at feud with the Capulets Guillermo Resto house. He and Juliet pledge their love and promise morning, Paris presents wedding gifts to the fam- Lady Montague Teri Weksler to be wed. ily: jewels, carpets and liquors. The nurse and Lady Romeo, Montague’s son David Leventhal (September 27, 28) Capulet, getting no response from Juliet, conclude Noah Vinson (September 25, 26) Act II that she has died. In grief, everyone rushes from Benvolio, Montague’s nephew and friend of The square. A festival. the room. Romeo and Mercutio Dallas McMurray Romeo thinks only of Juliet, to his friends’ amuse- ment. The nurse leads a dance. Mercutio teases her. Act IV Capulet, head of a Veronese family She gives Romeo Juliet’s ring to confirm their en- Juliet’s bedroom. at feud with the Montagues Shawn Gannon gagement. Romeo runs off to meet his betrothed. Romeo returns. He goes to Juliet, sees that she Lady Capulet Megan Williams must be dead, and makes to kill himself. Friar Juliet, Capulet’s daughter Rita Donahue (September 27, 28) At Friar Laurence’s. Laurence intercedes. Juliet gradually revives. Friar Maile Okamura (September 25, 26) Friar Laurence welcomes Romeo and listens to his Laurence summons the townspeople while the lov- Tybalt, Lady Capulet’s nephew Julie Worden passionate story. Juliet finally arrives. With the ers slip away. Everyone rushes into the empty room. Nurse, a Capulet servant Lauren Grant hope that their union will end the old vendetta, Friar Laurence indicates the direction in which the Peter, a Capulet servant attending on the Nurse Samuel Black Friar Laurence marries the two and blesses them. couple has fled. Montagues and Capulets rescind their old vendetta. Friar Laurence, of the Franciscan Order John Heginbotham The square. Rosaline Michelle Yard The festival continues and darkens. Violence Elsewhere. Citizens of Verona Craig Biesecker, Elisa Clark, looms. Mercutio and Benvolio flirt with young Love triumphs. Juliet and Romeo live in love Domingo Estrada, Jr., Lesley Garrison, women. Tybalt enters and provokes Mercutio. forever. Laurel Lynch, Claudia MacPherson, Romeo arrives and Tybalt accosts him, but he Kanji Segawa, Bradley Shelver, Jenn Weddel refuses the challenge. Mercutio takes on Tybalt. Running time is approximately two hours and 55 Romeo intrudes. Tybalt kills Mercutio and flees. minutes, including two intermissions.
8 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 9 Orchestra Roster About the Artists
Berkeley Symphony Orchestra Mark Morris was born on August 29, 1956, in Kent Nagano, Music Director Seattle, Washington, where he studied as a young Bass Clarinet man with Verla Flowers Violin I Bruce Foster and Perry Brunson. In Franklyn D’Antonio, Concertmaster the early years of his Richard Altenbach, Associate Concertmaster Bassoon Noah Strick, Assistant Concertmaster Dennis Godburn, Principal career, he performed Larisa Kopylovsky Joan Burg with Lar Lubovitch, Emanuela Nikiforova Hannah Kahn, Laura Candy Sanderson Contrabassoon Dean, Eliot Feld and the Lisa Zadek Lindsey Bartlett Koleda Balkan Dance Jory Fankuchen Ensemble. He formed Tenor Saxophone
Amber Darragh the Mark Morris Dance Violin II Nathan Drabek Russian State Archive of Literature and Art Group in 1980, and has since created more than René Mandel, Principal Randall Weiss, Assistant Principal Horn Sergey Prokofiev (1891–1953) grew up aspiring 120 works for the company. From 1988 to 1991, Karsten Windt Stuart Gronningen, Principal to perpetuate the illustrious Russian musical tra- he was director of dance at the Théâtre Royal de Adrienne Herbert Lindsay Brown dition of Tchaikovsky and of his teacher Rimsky- la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house David Cheng Beth Zare Korsakov. Life, however, unfolded rather differ- of Belgium. Among the works created during his David Ryther Keith Bucher ently. After enjoying great success as a dynamic tenure were three evening-length dances: The Hard piano virtuoso and fresh new composer, Prokofiev Nut; L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato; and Dido Trumpet Viola left Russia in 1918. He spent the next 18 years in and Aeneas. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Charith Premawardhana, Principal Kale Cumings, Principal & Cornet America and France, soaking in the latest develop- Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris Fan Hu, Assistant Principal Scott Macomber Darcy Rindt Laurie McGaw ments in the Western concert tradition, as well as is also much in demand as a ballet choreographer. Patrick Kroboth Owen Miyoshi musical currents in jazz, Hollywood and Broadway. He has created six works for the San Francisco In 1936, at the most inopportune of times and Ballet since 1994 and received commissions from Cello Trombone for reasons still hotly debated, Prokofiev chose to American Ballet Theatre and the Boston Ballet, Carol Rice, Principal Donald Benham, Principal move back to the Soviet Union with his Spanish- among others. His work is also in the repertory Michelle Djokic, Assistant Principal Craig McAmis born wife and their two young sons. Although he of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dutch National Nancy Bien Souza wrote many of his greatest works during his more Ballet, New Zealand Ballet, Houston Ballet, Wanda Warkentin Bass Trombone Kurt Patzner than two decades back home, he constantly had English National Ballet and the Royal Ballet, Bass to juggle artistic mission and political compro- Covent Garden. Mr. Morris is noted for his mu- William Everett, Principal Tuba mise. Prokofiev excelled in an astonishing range of sicality; he has been described as “undeviating in Karen E. Horner, Assistant Principal Jerry Olson, Principal genres, from piano and chamber music, to sym- his devotion to music.” He has worked extensively phonies, concertos, ballets, operas and film scores. in opera, directing and choreographing produc- Flute Timpani A composer with extraordinary melodic gifts, he tions for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Emma Moon, Principal Kevin Neuhoff, Principal ultimately demonstrated that innovation in mu- Opera, English National Opera and the Royal Rena Urso-Trapani sic need not come at the expense of accessibility Opera, Covent Garden. Mr. Morris was named Percussion a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation in 1991. Piccolo Ward Spangler, Principal and that popular art can also be ennobling art. Stacey Pelinka Timothy Dent While grappling with political pressures—both He has received eight honorary doctorates to Benjamin Paysen musical and practical—he remained profoundly date. In 2006, Morris received the New York City Oboe committed to his Christian Science faith. During Department of Cultural Affairs Mayor’s Award Laura Reynolds, Principal Harp Prokofiev’s final years in Stalinist Russia, his mu- for Arts and Culture and a WQXR Gramophone Jessica Boelter Wendy Tamis, Principal sic was subjected to censorship and repression for Special Recognition Award. He is the subject of ideological reasons. Many works, accordingly, have a biography by Joan Acocella (Farrar, Straus and Piano/Celesta English Horn yet to receive performance in the form he intended Giroux, 1993), and Marlowe & Company pub- Bennie Cottone Dwight Okamura, Principal them. Knowledge about the music and the man lished a volume of photographs and critical essays Clarinet Mandolin has increased, however, with the establishment of entitled Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Roman Fukshansky, Principal Howard Kadis a Prokofiev archive in London and new access to Moderato: A Celebration. Mr. Morris is a member Diana Dorman Anthony Kaye archives in Moscow. of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and
10 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 11 About the Artists About the Artists the American Philosophical Society. In 2007, he In fall 2001, MMDG opened the Mark Morris Sinfonietta, the world premiere of Van Vlijmen’s and sophisticated programming, first switching to received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Dance Center in Brooklyn, housing rehearsal space Thyeste with La Monnaie, Brussels, and Dutch formal concert dress and then, in 1981, changing Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement. for the dance community, outreach programs for Touring Opera and Staud’s Berenice at Munich its name to the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. In local children, as well as a school offering dance Biennale. Stefan Asbury has particularly strong re- 1989, the orchestra moved from the 750-seat First The Mark Morris Dance Group was formed classes to students of all ages. lationships with many composers including Steve Congregational Church to UC Berkeley’s 2,015- in 1980 and gave its first performance that year Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Rebecca Saunders, seat Zellerbach Hall. in New York City. The company’s touring sched- Stefan Asbury Unsuk Chin and Mark Anthony Turnage, and In 1984, Berkeley Symphony’s performances ule steadily expanded to include cities both in the (conductor) is in collaborates regularly with Ensemble Modern, of works by Frank Zappa, featuring an aug- United States and in Europe, and in 1986 it made great demand with Klangforum Wien, Basel Sinfonietta, Musikfabrik mented orchestra, life-sized puppets and moving its first national television program for the PBS major orchestras, and London Sinfonietta. This season, Mr. Asbury stage sets, brought the orchestra international at- series Dance in America. In 1988, MMDG was ensembles and continues his collaboration with the Mark Morris tention. Maestro Nagano and the orchestra have invited to become the national dance company of festivals world- Dance Group in a production of Romeo & Juliet, also championed several young composers, includ- Belgium, and spent three years in residence at the wide. In the the On Motifs of Shakespeare. Mr. Asbury has released a ing Thomas Adès, whose opera, Powder Her Face, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. The com- 2007–2008 season, recording of works by Unsuk Chin with Ensemble was performed here in a concert version in 1997, pany returned to the United States in 1991 as one he assumed the Intercontemporain on Deutsche Grammophon. well before its much-heralded performances in of the world’s leading dance companies, perform- position of Artist His CD of music by Jonathan Harvey with the Brooklyn, London and Chicago. ing across the country and at major international in Association Ensemble Intercontemporain was awarded a The orchestra has received ASCAP Awards festivals. with Tapiola Monde de la Musique CHOC award, his Grisey for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Based in Brooklyn, New York, the company has Sinfonietta, with complete Espace Accoustique cycle with WDR Music in five out of the past six seasons. They maintained and strengthened its ties to several cit- whom he con- Koln won the German music critics award. His have recorded music by William Kraft, Jeff Beal, ies around the world, most notably its West Coast Eric Richmond ducts four proj- discography also includes music by Isang Yun with Peter Scott Lewis and Frank Martin for Harmonia home, Cal Performances in Berkeley, California; ects per season. He has served on the faculty of Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, works by Mundi, Tri-loka and New Albion records, re- and its Midwest home, the Krannert Center for the Tanglewood Music Center since 1995 and Elliott Carter with Ensemble Sospeso, portrait spectively. Their most recent CD is The Butterfly the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois. MMDG was Associate Director of New Music Activities discs of Philip Cashian with the Birmingham Tree, released in 2003 and featuring Jean-Pascal also appears regularly in New York City; Boston; from 1999–2005: he currently holds the Sana H. Contemporary Music Group and and Rebecca Beintus’s musical rendition of the two years Julia Fairfax, Virginia; Seattle; and at the Jacob’s Pillow Sabbagh master teacher chair on the Conducting Saunders with musikFabrik. Butterfly Hill spent on a tiny platform 180 feet up Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. MMDG Faculty. He held the post of first Music Director of in a redwood tree that was slated to be felled. The made its Mostly Mozart Festival debut in 2002 and the Remix Ensemble Casa da Musica Porto from Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is under the di- story is narrated by Ms. Hill and sung by folk mu- its Tanglewood Music Festival debut in 2003 and 2001–2005, working with them to commission rection of Kent Nagano, who steps down as Music sic legend Joan Baez. Also on the disc is Beintus’s has since been invited to both festivals annually. new works and programming an innovative mix of Director at the end of the 2008–2009 season at charming setting of The Brementown Musicians, The company’s London seasons have garnered two jazz, film and music theatre. Mr. Asbury enjoys col- the conclusion of his 30th anniversary season. The narrated by noted Bay Area actress Joy Carlin. Laurence Olivier Awards. laborations with orchestras such as WDR Cologne, 2008–2009 season also sees the final three guest Berkeley Symphony supports local compos- MMDG is noted for its commitment to live Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR conductors in the search for Maestro Nagano’s ers through its informal Under Construction new music, a feature of every performance on its full in- Hamburg, Seoul Philharmonic, RAI Turin, SWR successor as Music Director: William Eddins, Paul music events at the First Congregational Church. ternational touring schedule since 1996. MMDG Freiburg/Baden-Baden and RSO Wien, and is a Haas and Joana Carneiro. Berkeley Symphony also serves every public el- collaborates with leading orchestras, opera com- regular guest conductor at such festivals as Festival Berkeley Symphony Orchestra was founded ementary school in Berkeley with its year-long, panies and musicians including cellist Yo-Yo Ma d’Automne, Munich Biennale, Wien Modern and in 1969 as the Berkeley Promenade Orchestra by award-winning Music Education Program, which in the Emmy Award-winning film Falling Down Wiener Festwochen, Salzburg Festival and Venice Thomas Rarick, a young protégé of Sir Adrian provides every student with the experience of be- Stairs (1997); Indian composer Zakir Hussain, Mr. Biennale. Most recently, he made his debuts with Boult, the great English maestro. Reflecting the coming a performer. Ma and jazz pianist Ethan Iverson in Kolam (2002); the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bayerischer spirit of the times, the Promenade replaced tuxedos For more information on Berkeley Symphony’s The Bad Plus in Violet Cavern (2004); pianists Rundfunk and Dresden Philharmonie. He returns with informal dress and performed in unusual lo- current season, please visit berkeleysymphony.org Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson and Yoko Nozaki to Dresden Philharmonie this season to conduct cations, such as the University Art Museum. or call (510) 841-2800. for Mozart Dances (2006); and with the English Messiaen’s Canyons. In the opera world, Mr. Asbury When Kent Nagano took over the orchestra in National Opera in Four Saints in Three Acts (2000) conducts John Adams’s A F l o w e r i n g Tr e e for the 2009 1978, he charted a new course by offering innova- Lighting designer Allen Moyer most recently de- and King Arthur (2006), among others. MMDG’s Perth International Arts Festival and recent opera tive programming that included a good number of signed the Broadway productions of Grey Gardens, film and television projects also include Dido and productions have included Wolfgang Rihm’s Jakob rarely heard 20th-century scores. Under Maestro The Constant Wife, Twelve Angry Men, In My Life, Aeneas, The Hard Nut and two documentaries for Lenz for the 2008 Wiener Festwochen, a concert Nagano, the orchestra also took measures to de- Reckless, The Man Who Had All the Luck and A the United Kingdom’s South Bank Show. version of Britten’s Owen Wingrave with Tapiola velop an image congruous with its more serious Thousand Clowns. Off-Broadway he has designed
12 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 13 About the Artists About the Artists
Grey Gardens, Douglas Carter Beane’s Little Dog il Moderato, Dido and Aeneas and The Hard Nut Dancers Elisa Clark received her Laughed, Lobby Hero, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Mr. (Mark Morris Dance Group); Ein Herz (Paris early training from the Marmalade, The Dazzle, This Is Our Youth, Well, Opera Ballet); and the initial White Oak Project Maryland Youth Ballet As Bees in Honey Drown and John Guare’s A Few tour. His work in Chicago includes Salome (Lyric Craig Biesecker, f rom Way ne s b oro, Pe n n s y l v a n i a , and her BFA from The Stout Individuals (directed by Michael Greif). His Opera); The Clean House, Dollhouse, House and received a BS in music education from West Juilliard School, under opera work includes productions for San Francisco Garden, The Misanthrope, Book of the Night and Chester University of the direction of Benjamin Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Martin Guerre (Goodman Theatre); and The Well- Pennsylvania. While Harkarvy. She has danced Glimmerglass, Houston Grand Opera and Scottish Appointed Room, The Pain and the Itch, The Violet teaching music in Phila- with the Lar Lubovitch Opera. His previous work with Mark Morris in- Hour, Purple Heart, After the Quake and Valparaiso delphia, he studied bal- Dance Company, Neder- cludes Sylvia for the San Francisco Ballet and Orfeo (Steppenwolf Theater). Most recently, he designed let with John White, lands Dans Theater, ed Euridice for the Metropolitan Opera. A Flowering Tree and La Passion de Simone (New Margarita de Saa and Peridance Ensemble and Battleworks Dance Crowned Hope at the Barbican Centre, London), Bryan Koulman and Company. Clark has staged works by Robert Battle, Martin Pakledinaz has designed costumes for and Dr. Atomic (Holland Festival/De Nederlandse worked with choreogra- David Parsons, Igal Perry and Adam Hougland theater, opera and dance. He has collaborated with Opera and San Francisco Opera). He often col- phers Tim and Lina Early. with various schools and companies, including the Mark Morris on works for the Mark Morris Dance laborates with Saint Joseph Ballet in Santa In New York City, he has Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has been Group, San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet, and Ana, California. worked with Pascal Rioult, Carolyn Dorfman, on the faculty of the American Dance Festival, and he has designed several works for Helgi Tomasson, New York Theater Ballet, Mark Dendy and Gerald she currently works closely with Carolyn Adams including The Nutcracker in 2004. Mr. Pakledinaz’s Simon Morrison is a professor of music at Casel. Mr. Biesecker joined MMDG in 2003. and the American Dance Legacy Institute, as well New York credits include Kathleen Marshall’s re- Princeton University, where he teaches courses on as serves on an advisory panel for Capezio. Ms. vival of The Pajama Game (Tony Award nomina- 19th- and 20th-century music, with an emphasis Samuel Black is originally from Berkeley, Clark first appeared with MMDG in L’Allegro in tion) and the Signature Theatre’s revival of Horton on Russia and France. He is the author of Russian California, where he began studying tap at the age of 2005 and joined the company in 2006. Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, as well as Thoroughly Opera and the Symbolist Movement (2002) and 9 with Katie Maltsberger. Modern Millie, Wonderful Town, The Wild Party, The People’s Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years (2008), He received his BFA Amber Darragh is origi- A Year with Frog and Toad, Kiss Me Kate, Golden and the editor of the Bard Music Festival volume in dance from SUNY nally from Newport, Child, The Diary of Anne Frank, Waste and The Life. Prokofiev and His World (2008). His other publica- Purchase, and also stud- Oregon, where she began His work can be seen in the new production of tions include essays on Ravel (the ballet Daphnis ied at the Rotterdamse her dance training with Grease, currently playing on Broadway. His work et Chloé), Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich (the Dansacademie, Holland. Nancy Mittleman. She re- in opera includes Stephen Wadsworth’s staging ballet The Bolt), as well as numerous reviews and He has performed in ceived her BFA from The of Rodelinda for the Metropolitan Opera; Tristan shorter articles, including pieces for The New York New York with David Juilliard School in 1999 and Isolde for the Paris Opera/Bastille, directed by Times. In 2005, Professor Morrison oversaw the Parker, Takehiro Ueyama and then danced with the Peter Sellars with video installations by Bill Viola; recreation of the Prokofiev ballet Le Pas d’Acier at and Nelly van Bommel. Limón Dance Company for and two other premiere works by Sellars, L’amour Princeton University, and in 2007, he co-produced Mr. Black first appeared with MMDG in 2005 two years. She is a recipient of the 2001 Princess de Loin and Adriana Mater, composed by Kaija a world premiere staging of Alexander Pushkin’s and became a company member in 2007. Grace Award and has presented her own choreog- Saariaho with libretti by Amin Maalouf. drama Boris Godunov featuring Prokofiev’s inci- raphy both in New York and abroad. Ms. Darragh dental music and Vsevolod Meyerhold’s directo- Joe Bowie was born joined MMDG in 2001. Lighting designer James F. Ingalls has designed rial concepts. Professor Morrison’s distinctions in Lansing, Michigan, for several Mark Morris works, including Orfeo include the Alfred Einstein Award of the American and began dancing Rita Donahue was born ed Euridice (Metropolitan Opera); King Arthur Musicological Society (1999), an American Council while attending Brown and raised in Fairfax, (English National Opera); Sylvia, Sandpaper Ballet, of Learned Societies Fellowship (2001) and a Phi University where he Virginia, and attended Maelstrom and Pacific (San Francisco Ballet); Beta Kappa Society Teacher Award (2006). He has graduated with honors George Mason University, Platée (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and conducted extensive archival research in Moscow, in English and American where she graduated with New York City Opera); L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Paris and London. literature. In New York, honors in dance and he has performed in the English in 2002. She works of Robert Wilson danced with bopi’s black and Ulysses Dove and also danced with the Paul sheep / dances by kraig Taylor Dance Company for two years before going patterson before joining to Belgium in 1989 to work with Mark Morris. MMDG in 2003.
14 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 15 About the Artists About the Artists
Domingo Estrada, Jr., a She has also studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, John Heginbotham is Ohad Naharin. Since graduation in May 2003, native of Victoria, Texas, Rotterdamse Dansacademie, Jacob’s Pillow and from Anchorage, Alaska. Ms. Lynch has danced for Dušan Týnek Dance recently earned a BFA The Professional Project. She has performed with He is a graduate of The Theatre, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, Pat Catterson, in ballet and modern the Kevin Wynn Collection, Nelly van Bommel’s Juilliard School (BFA, Stephan Koplowitz and T.E.A. (Transpersonal dance at Texas Christian NØA Dance and Sidra Bell Dance New York. She 1993) and has danced in Education and Art). She has performed at the University. He currently performed with MMDG for the first time last the companies of Susan Festival Oltre Passo in Lecce, Italy, and appeared as works with choreog- season in the Seattle performances of L’Allegro, il Marshall, Pilobolus a guest artist with Petaluma City Ballet. Ms. Lynch raphers Leslie Scott, Penseroso ed il Moderato. Dance Theater (guest performed with MMDG as an apprentice in 2006 BODYart Dance; Mary artist), John Jasperse and and became a company member in 2007. Seidman, Mary Seidman Shawn Gannon re- Ben Munisteri. His cho- and Dancers; and Christian von Howard, Von ceived his early dance reography is featured in the work of recording art- Claudia MacPherson Howard Project. He made his debut with the Mark training with Dorothy ists Fischerspooner and in Champ: A Space Opera was born in Wisconsin, Morris Dance Group during this season’s The Hard Wescott Rosen and first (New York International Fringe Festival). As a but she calls Kentucky Nut at Cal Performances, Berkeley. Mr. Estrada danced with MMDG teacher, Mr. Heginbotham works regularly with home. She received would like to thank God, his family and all who from 1994 to 2004. members of the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. He her BFA in dance from support his passion. Originally from Dover, joined the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1998. Alvin Ailey/Fordham New Jersey, he was University, where she Julie Fiorenza was born a featured soloist in David Leventhal, raised in Newton, worked with Nathan in South Korea and grew Resurrection (2002) and Massachusetts, has danced with the Mark Morris Trice, Jennifer Muller up in Massachusetts was part of the original cast for The Argument Dance Group since and Ron Brown, among where she trained at (1998), and he danced the bird solo in L’Allegro, 1997. He studied at others, and performed at City Center in Alvin the Academy of Dance il Penseroso ed il Moderato. Along with Morris, Boston Ballet School Ailey’s Memoria. She has also worked with Eva Arts and Boston Ballet. Mr. Gannon has the distinct honor of being one of and has danced with José Dean Dance, the Kevin Wynn Collection, SuriCo In 2004, she graduated a handful of men to have performed Ted Shawn’s Mateo’s Ballet Theatre and the Tattooed Ballerinas. She first appeared with honors from the historical solo, Mevlevi Dervish. He has also per- and the companies of with MMDG in The Hard Nut last season. Ailey/Fordham BFA formed with Lee Theodore’s Dance Machine, Marcus Schulkind, program and was named Mark Dendy Dance Group, Laura Dean Dancers Richard Colton/Amy Bradon McDonald re- a Liberace scholar. Since then, she has performed and Musicians, and Jane Comfort and Company. Spencer, Zvi Gotheiner, ceived his BFA from The and taught throughout the country as a member Neta Pulvermacher and Juilliard School in 1997. of Ailey II and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Lauren Grant, born and Ben Munisteri. He graduated with honors in He danced with the and has also danced with Adams Company Dance raised in Highland Park, English literature from Brown University in Limón Dance Company and Company XIV. Last summer, Ms. Fiorenza Illinois, has danced with 1995. Mr. Leventhal teaches master classes in for three years and was played the lead dance role of Eliza in King and I at the Mark Morris Dance technique and repertory at schools and colleges the recipient of the 1998 the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. This is her first Group since 1996. She has around the country, and he gives classes regularly Princess Grace Award. time working with MMDG, and she is thrilled to appeared in 40 of Morris’s at MMDG’s school, including one for people with He has choreographed have been given the opportunity to be a part of this works and performs lead- Parkinson’s disease. He is married to fellow dancer and presented his own special production. ing roles in The Hard Lauren Grant. works internationally, served as choreographer for Nut and Mozart Dances. seven Juilliard Opera Company productions under Lesley Garrison grew Ms. Grant has been fea- Laurel Lynch began director Frank Corsaro, and was the choreographic up in Swansea, Illinois, tured in Time Out New York, Dance Magazine and her dance training in assistant to Donald McKayle at the Alvin Ailey and received much of a recently published book, Meet the Dancers, as well Petaluma, California. American Dance Theater. Mr. McDonald joined her early training at as the subject of a photograph by Annie Leibovitz. After a few too many MMDG in 2000. the Center of Creative She holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Nutcrackers, she moved to Arts in St. Louis. She is Arts and teaches dance internationally. Ms. Grant New York to attend The a 2007 graduate of the is married to fellow dancer David Leventhal. Juilliard School, where Conservatory of Dance she performed works by at the State University of Robert Battle, Margie New York at Purchase. Gillis, José Limón and
16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17 About the Artists About the Artists
Dallas McMurray, from Kanji Segawa began his Noah Vinson received his BA in dance from performed with MMDG as an apprentice in 2006 El Cerrito, California, training with his mother, Columbia College Chicago, where he worked and became a company member in 2007. began dancing at age 4, Erika Akoh, and studied with Shirley Mordine, studying jazz, tap and ballet with Kan Horiuchi Jan Erkert and Brian Teri Weksler was born acrobatics with Katie in Tokyo, Japan. In 1997, Jeffrey. In New York, in Baltimore, Maryland, Maltsberger, and ballet he came to the United he has danced with Teri and is a graduate of The with Yukiko Sakakura. States with a Japanese and Oliver Steele and the Juilliard School. She He received a BFA in Government Fellowship Kevin Wynn Collection. has danced with Daniel dance from the California to study at the Ailey He began working with Lewis, Hannah Kahn, Institute of the Arts. He School. He has been a MMDG in 2002 and be- Jim Self and the White has performed with the Limón Dance Company, member of Battleworks Dance Company, Jennifer came a company member Oak Dance Project, and and others, in works by Jiri Kylian, Alonzo King, Muller/The Works and Ailey II. He first performed in 2004. she is a Bessie Award re- Robert Moses and Colin Connor. Mr. McMurray with MMDG in The Hard Nutin London in 2004 cipient. Ms. Weksler was performed with MMDG as an apprentice in 2006 and has since appeared in productions of L’Allegro, Adam Hewlett Weinert a founding member of the Mark Morris Dance and became a company member in 2007. il Penseroso ed il Moderato, King Arthur with the was born in New York Group. After moving to Birmingham, Alabama, English National Opera and Orfeo ed Euridice with City. He began his train- she became director of Southern Danceworks, and Maile Okamura is orig- the Metropolitan Opera. ing at the Royal Ballet she currently teaches at the Alabama Ballet and inally from San Diego, School in London and Birmingham Southern College. California. She was a Bradley Shelver trained continued at the School member of Boston Ballet in ISTD and at the of American Ballet and Megan Williams hails from Los Angeles, II from 1992 to 1993 and National School of the The Juilliard School. California. After receiving a BFA from Juilliard was with Ballet Arizona Arts in Johannesburg, Somewhere in there, he in 1984, she worked with from 1993 to 1996. She South Africa, and The spent a year as an eco- the companies of Laura has danced with chore- Ailey School in New nomics major at Vassar College. He has performed Glenn, Ohad Naharin ographers Zvi Gotheiner, York. He has performed featured roles in works by Pina Bausch and Jiří and Mark Haim, among Neta Pulvermacher and with the Alvin Ailey Kylián, and first appeared with MMDG last season others. In 1988, she joined Gerald Casel, among others. She began working Repertory Company, in the Seattle performances of L’Allegro, il Penseroso MMDG, with whom she with MMDG in 1998 and became a company Elisa Monte Dance, ed il Moderato. danced for nine years, member in 2001. Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet toured worldwide, taught Hispanico, The Francesca Harper Project, José Jenn Weddel grew up in and appeared in several Guillermo Resto has Limón Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theater Longmont, Colorado, and films, includingDido and danced with Mark Morris (UK) and as a guest artist with Bill T. Jones/Arnie received her early train- Aeneas, Falling Down Stairs (with Yo-Yo Ma), The since 1983. Zane Dance Company and Lar Lubovich. He has ing from Boulder Ballet Hidden Soul of Harmony (South Bank Show, U.K.) also performed solo tours and galas in addition to Company. She holds and The Hard Nut. In 1997, she joined Morris as choreographing works for international companies a BFA from Southern his assistant in the direction and choreography of in the United States and Europe. He is the Artistic Methodist University Paul Simon’s The Capeman, a Broadway musical Director of Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance and also studied at The starring Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades. She Theater, on the faculty of schools and universi- Boston Conservatory, has since staged Morris’s works with the Purchase ties throughout Europe and has taught company Colorado University and Dance Corps, George Mason University stu- class for Matthew Bourne’s “New Adventures in the Laban Center, London. Since moving to New dents, Vassar Repertory Dance Theater and the Motion Pictures” and Phoenix Dance Theater. He York in 2001, she has performed with RedWall Boston Ballet, and is a member of the guest sum- is a monthly columnist for Dance Spirit magazine Dance Theatre, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, Vencl mer faculty at the Mark Morris Dance Center. in the United States, and his book, Techniques of Dance Trio, Rocha Dance Theatre and with vari- Ms. Williams has been on the modern faculty of Performance Through the Horton Technique, will be ous choreographers including Alan Danielson the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase published by Lepos in 2009. This season marks his and Connie Procopio. She has presented her own since 1999. Ms. Williams serves on the board of first tour with the Mark Morris Dance Group. work in Manhattan and continues to collaborate directors of SYREN Modern Dance and the advi- with TEA Dance Company under the direction of sory board of DanceNowNYC. She is thrilled to be Ella Ben-Aharon and Sahar Javedani. Ms. Weddel performing with MMDG again. Thanks to Mark
18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 About the Artists About the Artists for the opportunity and to Andy, Bram and Griffin Michelle Yard was born Mark Morris Dance Group Staff for endless support. in Brooklyn, New York, and began her profes- Artistic Director Mark Morris Julie Worden graduated sional dance training at Executive Director Nancy Umanoff from the North Carolina the New York City High School of the Arts and School of the Performing Production joined MMDG in 1994. Arts. Upon gradua- Technical Director Johan Henckens tion, she received the Rehearsal Director Matthew Rose Helen Tamiris and B’nai Wardrobe Supervisor Katherine M. Patterson B’rith awards. For three Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor Jennifer Perry years, she was a scholarship student at the Alvin Lighting Supervisor Leo Janks Ailey Dance Center; she also attended New York Sound Supervisor Jim Abdou University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she graduated with a BFA Ms. Yard joined MMDG in Administration 1997. Mom, thank you. General Manager Aaron Mattocks Company Manager Adrienne Bryant Director of Finance Elizabeth Fox Finance Associate Victoria Gintautiene
Marketing and Development Director of Marketing and Development Lauren Cherubini Associate Director, Marketing and Corporate Support Christy Bolingbroke Special Projects Manager Alexandro Pacheco Development Assistant Moss Allen Office Assistant Jay Selinger Key Notes Education Director of Education Eva Nichols Mark Morris Dance Group School Administrator Diane Ogunusi Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare School Bursar Marc Castelli
Friday, September 26, 5–6:30pm Dance Center Operations Zellerbach Hall Lobby Mezzanine Studio Manager Karyn Treadwell Administrative Assistant Hilary Tanabe Robert Cole (Director, Cal Performances), Richard Taruskin (Department of Production Manager Matthew Eggleton Music, UC Berkeley) and Simon Morrison (Department of Music, Princeton Music Coordinator Bruce Lazarus University) discuss Mark Morris’s new work based on Prokofiev’s original music Facility Manager Joseph Tsiporin and the original story concept by Soviet dramatist Sergey Radlov. Maintenance Ray Calderon, Gustavo Chaguay Booking Representation Michael Mushalla (Double M Arts & Events) Media and General Consultation Services William Murray (Better Attitude, Inc) Legal Counsel Mark Selinger (McDermott, Will & Emery) Accountant Kathryn Lundquist, CPA Orthopaedist David S. Weiss, MD (NYU-HJD Department of Orthopaedic Surgery) Hilot Therapist Jeffrey Cohen
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Production Credits
Stage Manager Anne Dechene
Research, Source Materials and Score Restoration Simon Morrison Additional Orchestration and Score Annotation Gregory Spears
Rehearsal Pianist Colin Fowler
Assistants to Martin Pakledinaz Amanda Bujak, Tess Seufferlein Associate to Allen Moyer Warren Karp
Costumes Tricorne, Inc., Studio Rouge, Seams Unlimited Millinery Lynne Mackey Studio Fabric Dyeing and Printing Gene Mignola, Inc. Special Thanks Bra-Tenders, Adam Pollack, Karen Eifert Footwear Capezio Balletmakers, La Danza, Sandals by Barbara Shaum
Scenery, Props and Scenic Paintwork Capital Scenic, Center Line Studios, Costume Armour, Scenic Art Studios, Matthew Eggleton
Onstage Sound Equipment courtesy of Meyer Sound
Thanks to Maxine Morris.
Sincerest thanks to all the dancers for their dedication, commitment and incalculable contribution to the work.
Additional funding has been received from the Altman Foundation; Harry S. Black and Allon Fuller Fund; The Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation; Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.; Dance Heritage Coalition; Google, Inc.; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; The Iovino Family Foundation; Leon Lowenstein Foundation; Materials for the Arts; McDermott, Will & Emery; The Edith Glick Shoolman Children’s Foundation; The Vilcek Foundation; and the Friends of the Mark Morris Dance Group.
For more information, contact: Mark Morris Dance Group 3 Lafayette Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11217-1415 phone (718) 624-8400 fax (718) 624-8900 [email protected] www.mmdg.org
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