MO’ MOZART DANCES, PLEASE
What a tough day I had last Thursday. No details necessary, but I was so spent it was with worry when I attended Mark Morris’s Mozart Dances at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica that I thought sleep and ennui would be my only partners. Set to three exquisite Mozart piano works, the choreography — joyful and sublime — seemed to honor and poke fun at classical ballet, making it buoyant and exhilarating. It calmed me and electrified me at the same time. The transcendent evening-length trilogy is accompanied by the company’s own music ensemble, who could have charged admission for their prowess alone. The scenic design by celebrated abstract painter Howard Hodgkin was like a giant fast-moving thumbprint emblazoned on a Japanese screen. The dancers, precise and abound in whimsy, simply floored me.
(center front, jumping) Aaron Loux
TaÃna Lyons and Noah Vinson
Matthew McLaughlin, Mailk Q. Williams, Noah Vinson, Domingo Estrada Jr.
Maile Okamura (front), Nicole Sabella (behind Maile), Christina Sahaida, Karlie Budge (jumping)
Aaron Loux
Brandon Randolph
The Company
photos by Skye Schmidt
Mozart Dances
Mark Morris Dance Company
The Eli & Edythe Broad Stage, 1310 11th St. in Santa Monica
ended on June 12, 2022
for tickets, call 310.434.3200 or visit The Broad Stage
for more info, visit MMDG