Mark Morris’ “Dido and Aeneas” turns opera into dance

Mark Morris’ “Dido and Aeneas” turns opera into dance

The musician who watches this production appreciates the musicality of Morris’ choreography, the way it mirrors and even analyzes Purcell’s score. The movements become a physical analogy of the notes in the ether, expressing the rhythm, the phrasing and, at times, the harmony. And since Purcell’s music is busy expressing the libretto’s meanings and emotions, we get a tightly knit, multidisciplinary unit (not a counterpoint) of narrative and poetic feeling – words, music, dance.