Listen and watch as Mark Morris and Director Robert Cole chat about their friendship and working relationship in a conversation taped during a previous Mark Morris Dance Group residency.

Dear Friends:

As you know, any special occasion is made more so when you're joined by close friends and family members. And even better if they have something to celebrate themselves!

And so the upcoming two-week residency by the Mark Morris Dance Group — appearances which highlight the company's own 25th anniversary — has special significance for us here at Cal Performances during our own Centennial Season celebration.

"The Finest Modern-Dance Choreographer of his Generation" (NY Times)
John Rockwell, chief dance critic of The New York Times, recently described Morris as "rightly regarded as the finest modern dance choreographer of his generation" and all of us here at Cal Performances couldn't agree more. Morris and company first performed at Cal Performances 18 seasons ago and have subsequently appeared in almost every season since. The company took a brief hiatus from appearances at Zellerbach when it temporarily relocated to Brussels to become the official dance company of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the national opera house of Belgium. During this time, Morris created many of his most famous works to date, including L'Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato and The Hard Nut, as well as founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The company returned to the United States as one of the world's leading dance companies and in fall of 2001, opened its first permanent headquarters — the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn New York. Some of you may not be aware of the scope of the Mark Morris Dance Group's (MMDG) recent achievements, notable for any dance company but especially remarkable for a modern dance ensemble:

• The MMDG is the only dance company to perform regularly at the famed Tanglewood Music Center
• It is the only dance ensemble to perform regularly at Lincoln Center's prestigious Mostly Mozart Festival
• In addition to its world-wide touring schedule and its special relationship with Cal Performances, Mark Morris has formed close relationships with such prestigious arts organizations as The Edinburgh Festival, San Francisco Ballet, the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the English National Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New York City Opera, and others

A Pact to Premiere New Work
Because of my deep belief early on in Mark Morris' enormous talent, Cal Performances formed an agreement with Mark and the Dance Group to not only return to Cal Performances every season, but to commit to bringing new work and significant premieres each time as well.

And what a fortuitous agreement that turned out to be for Bay Area dance lovers! Our audiences have had the privilege of being present for the American premieres of Platée and Four Saints in Three Acts; the West Coast premieres of L'Allegro and The Hard Nut; a preview performance of the deeply moving V, "one of the few great works modern dance has produced in a decade" (The New York Times); the world stage premiere of Falling Down Stairs, Morris' collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma; Kolam, commissioned as part of Ma's Silk Road Project; Rhymes with Silver, World Power and much more. And all performed to live musical accompaniment by such artists as Yo-Yo Ma himself, Zakir Hussain, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Members of Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, and others.

Centennial Season Programs
The Dance Group's two upcoming events are of course no exception in that commitment to bringing new work. In two different programs, we'll enjoy the world premiere of candleflowerdance, set to Stravinsky, and the West Coast premieres of Somebody's Coming to See Me Tonight, set to music by great American tunesmith Stephen Foster, and Cargo, set to Darius Milhaud's La Création du Monde (which premiered this past June at Tanglewood). Plus, you'll have a chance to once again experience such favorites as the whimsical and celebratory Four Saints in Three Acts, and Rhymes with Silver, Morris' tribute to the incomparable Bay Area composer Lou Harrison.

For more program details, see our web site:

In closing, I'd like to say that it has indeed been a privilege for me, my staff, and of course our audiences to be able to experience the work of this amazing artist's dance company right here in Berkeley. Once again, it is The New York Times that I think sums it up best: Mark Morris is "the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical."

I hope that you'll join me in celebrating his work and that of his superb company during these next two weeks.

Robert Cole
Director, Cal Performances