Mark Morris Dance Group

About Mark Morris

Biography

MARK MORRIS was born on August 29, 1956, in Seattle, Washington, where he studied with Verla Flowers and Perry Brunson. In the early years of his career, he performed with the Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble, and later the dance companies of LarLubovitch, Hannah Kahn, Laura Dean, and Eliot Feld. He formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980, and has since created more than 130 works for the company. From 1988-1991, he was Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. Among the works created during his time there were three evening-length dances: L’Allegro, ilPenseroso ed il Moderato; Dido and Aeneas; and The Hard Nut. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris is also much in demand as a ballet choreographer and has created eight works for the San Francisco Ballet since 1994 and received commissions from many others. His work is also in the repertory of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, New Zealand Ballet, Houston Ballet, English National Ballet, and The Royal Ballet. Morris, named music director of the 2013 Ojai music festival, is noted for his musicality and has been described as “undeviating in his devotion to music.” He has conducted performances for the Mark Morris Dance Group since 2006. He has worked extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, English National Opera, and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. In 1991, he was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation. He has received eleven honorary doctorates to date. In 2006, Morris received the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture and a WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award “for being an American ambassador for classical music at home and abroad.” He is the subject of a biography, Mark Morris, by Joan Acocella (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and Marlowe & Company published a volume of photographs and critical essays entitled Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: A Celebration. Morris is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. In recent years, he has received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement (2007), the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society (2010), and the Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award (2012).

  • Artistic Director, Mark Morris Dance Group (1980 – present)
  • Director of Dance, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (1988 – 1991)
  • Co-Founder, White Oak Dance Project

Honors and Awards (Highlights)

  • Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award, 2012
  • Honorary Doctorate, Cornish College of the Arts, 2011
  • Honorary Doctorate, Roehampton University, 2010
  • Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society, 2010
  • Honorary Doctorate, Centenary College, 2009
  • American Philosophical Society, Member, 2008
  • The Independent Award, Brown University Club of New York, 2007
  • Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, 2007
  • WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award, 2006
  • New York City Mayor's Award for Arts & Culture, 2006
  • Honorary Doctorate, Bates College, 2006
  • Honorary Doctorate, Bard College, 2006
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Fellow, 2005
  • Honorary Doctorate, George Mason University, 2005
  • Honorary Doctorate, Bowdoin College, 2003
  • Honorary Doctorate, Pratt Institute, 2003
  • Laurence Olivier Award (UK), Outstanding Achievement in Dance, 2002
  • Critics' Circle National Dance Award (UK), Best Modern Choreography, 2002
  • Critics' Circle National Dance Award (UK), Best Foreign Dance Company, 2002
  • Time Out Live Awards (UK), Outstanding Production (V), 2002
  • Honorary Doctorate, Long Island University, 2002
  • County of Los Angeles Distinguished Artist Award, 2001
  • New York State Governor's Arts Award, 2001
  • Honorary Doctorate, The Juilliard School, 2001
  • Best of Boston, Mark Morris & Yo-Yo Ma, Best Duet, 1999
  • Laurence Olivier Award (UK), Best New Dance Production (L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato), 1998
  • Evening Standard Award (UK), 1997
  • Capezio Achievement Award, 1997
  • Scotsman/Hamada Trust Festival Prize, Edinburgh Festival, 1995
  • Honorary Doctorate, Boston Conservatory of Music, 1994
  • Edinburgh International Critics Award, 1994
  • Edinburgh International Critics Award, 1992
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, 1991
  • Dance Magazine Award, 1991
  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 1986
  • New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”), 1984, 1990, 2007
  • Numerous honors include Choreographic Fellowships from the New York and New Jersey State Councils on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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