Mark Morris dancers perform in front of projection of the moon and a geometric design, ringed by miniature astronaut figurines. Photo by Xmbphotography.
By WOODY WEINGARTEN
It was a rarity for sure — a sound tsunami, rear-screen projections, and pint-sized astronaut figurines, the totality of which often became more compelling than Mark Morris Dance Group movements.
But true to form, the group’s Moon still provided an overall offbeat, entertaining, jam-packed 60-minute program at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. And amusing, even though some segments were significantly befuddling or weird.
The music began with percussive single notes that quickly morphed into jazzy phrases that foreshadowed a lot of what was coming. Astoundingly, the loud, rich tones were provided live in the pit by only two instrumentalists — music director Colin Fowler on piano and organ, Michel Taddei on double bass — on melodies as diverse as Clair de lune, Debussy’s ubiquitous classic, and the obscure Blue Moon of Kentucky by Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. Plus excerpts from Carl Sagan and NASA’s Golden Record, which was placed aboard two 1977 Voyager spaceships in hopes of communicating with extraterrestrials.
The first of countless projections impeccably designed by Wendall K. Harrington simultaneously highlighted György Ligeti’s Musica ricercata and attempted to supersede the growing jingoism that was spotting our nation in April, when Morris premiered his creation in D.C. in conjunction with Cal Performances and several other musical organizations that co-commissioned it.
Moon saluted old-style American patriotism, initially showing a moving circle of stars that transformed into the U.S. seal. Following images illustrated the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. and the assassinated president at a podium. Both the world premiere in the nation’s capital and the three-day Zellerbach booking that marked the Bay Area premiere ignored Donald J. Trump, the current, living president — obviously on purpose.
Other projections included full and crescent moons, closeups of craters, moons overlayed with geometric lines and circles, moons linked with pretty much anything you’ve ever associated with that sphere. They perfectly embellished the overriding theme of man’s consistent infatuation with the satellite.
Mark Morris dancers perform in front of projection of the moon and a geometric design, ringed by miniature astronaut figurines. Photo by Xmbphotography.
Costumes by famed designer Isaac Mizrahi, which vaguely resembled jumpsuits used by astronauts, were surprisingly dissatisfying. The contrast of light fronts and dark backs worked well enough, but at least several audience members commented that the outfits lacked excitement and were distracting because they flapped loosely, particularly in the stomach and crotch areas.
Even more bedeviling, however, were segments of the program that were as short as any dance material ever professionally staged, lasting but a few seconds, certainly insufficient time to figure out its purpose.
Perplexing, too, was what seemed an excessive use of the nine featured dancers as, in effect, stagehands who constantly moved around the one-and-a-half-foot high astronaut statuettes, to the point of even simulating robots as they carried them offstage.
It also became difficult to discern why the many foreign-language insertions of greetings to aliens were inserted at the places they were, and it was sometimes tough on the ears to absorb the scratchy static from recordings of 80 or 90 years ago.
Oh, yeah, as for the dancing itself, it generally lacked inspiration. Redundancy throughout — with couples repeatedly hugging and twirling, with dancers reaching out as if to touch a projected moonscape, with dancers swirling across the stage — silhouetted behind a scrim — as they spread out on stools with wheels. Chunks of that was memorable, but some was less than wonderful (especially a sequence that supposedly emulated the movements of monkeys).
The audience for the most part clapped tepidly after each segment but found the energy to applaud vigorously when the short intermission-less piece was done. It also had the grace to give choreographer Mark Morris a standing ovation in honor of the outstanding modern ballets he’s created since founding his troupe in 1980.
Morris’ most popular works are his masterpiece, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, which uses Handel and Milton’s sung poetry as a base; his witty The Hard Nut, which toys with The Nutcracker as if were turned sideways; and the sexy Dido and Aeneas, an adaptation of a Purcell opera.
Upcoming dance performances at Zellerbach Hall include the Martha Graham Dance Company Feb. 14 and 15, celebrating the company’s 100th anniversary; A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham Feb. 21 and 22; the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater April 7-12; and The Joffrey Ballet performing the West Coast premiere of Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.com and https://vitalitypress.com. His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, aimed at male caregivers; MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.
