THE MORRIS, THE MERRIER

The Mark Morris Dance Group celebrates its 45th anniversary with a dynamic return to The Joyce Theater. Program B showcases a wide-ranging display of the company’s hallmarks: musicality, wit, and structural clarity. Each act features two contrasting works, performed by a company of seasoned dancers and accompanied—often live—by musicians of equal artistry. (See Stage and Cinema‘s Program A review here.)

The Argument

The evening opens with The Argument (1999), set to Robert Schumann’s Fünf Stücke im Volkston, played with proficient skill and precision by pianist Colin Fowler and cellist Andrew Janss. A couple, dressed in dinner-party black (costumes by Elizabeth Kurtzman), begins the piece with polite detachment—a social duet choreographed in gestures of expectation rather than affection. As the piece unfolds over six movements, two more couples join, each pairing echoing the subtle tensions of the first. Mark Morris builds a quietly comic narrative of relational tug-of-war: who leads, who follows, who exits in frustration or makes a swift reentry. Though danced with elegance and grace by Sarah Hillman, Courtney Lopes, Dallas McMurray, Brandon Randolph, Billy Smith, and Joslin Vezeau, the piece’s real spark comes from its deadpan humor—the collective “resting bitch face†that never cracks, even as the intricate steps sweep us off our feet.

  Northwest

The world premiere of Northwest followed, set to music by John Luther Adams and performed live by harpist Deanna Cirielli and percussionist Colin Fowler (Five Athabascan Dances and Five Yup’ik Dances). Drawing inspiration from traditional Alaskan music, the dance evokes a sense of natural ritual. Ten dancers—wearing dark green, loose-fitting shorts and sleeveless tops by Amy Page—carry folded paper fans in both hands, which they thwack, clash, and drop in sequences both orderly and storm-like. The fans multiply, fill the stage, and become extensions of the dancers themselves as they whirl and clack across the space. The result is a visual and auditory cascade—like a windstorm made of bodies and paper. It’s a textured, invigorating close to Act I.

 Ten Suggestions

Act II begins with Ten Suggestions (1981), a solo danced with irresistible charm by Dallas McMurray to Alexander Tcherepnin’s Bagatelles, Op. 5 for solo piano (performed live by Fowler). Dressed in pajamas, McMurray enters with the innocent curiosity of a child home alone—somersaulting, improvising, and finding play in simple props: a hoop, a chair, a safari hat. Each discovery builds into a whimsical arc of solo play, and McMurray’s infectious presence earned the biggest applause of the evening.

 Going Away Party

The closer, Going Away Party (1990), offers a high-spirited Texas hoedown to the music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Costumed in retro Western wear—cowgirl skirts, bolo ties, polka dots—by Christine Van Loon, the dancers dive into a stylized square dance, equal parts musical theatre and social commentary. Seven dancers—Hillman, Lopes, Smith, Aaron Loux, Alex Meeth, Christina Sahaida, and Noah Vinson—form three pairs plus one perpetual outsider, lending the work both joy and a tinge of bittersweetness.

It was a pleasure to witness such a large, gifted company dancing with live accompaniment in the jewel-box intimacy of The Joyce. The evening ended with a standing ovation—and a curtain call by Mr. Morris himself.

The Argument

photos by Danica Paulos

Mark Morris Dance Group
45th Season Kick-Off
The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave
Program B; ends on July 26, 2025
Tue-Sat at 7:30pm, Sat & Sun at 2pm
for tickets, visit The Joyce

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Gregory Fletcher is an author, a theater professor, a playwright, director, and stage manager. His craft book on playwriting is entitled Shorts and Briefs, and publishing credits include two YA novels (Other People’s Crazy, and Other People’s Drama), 2 novellas in the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories, 2 short stories in The Night Bazaar series, and several essays. Website, Facebook, Instagram.