Mozart Dances
July 06, 2007
Mozart Dances
By: Debra Craine
from The Times, London
"Mozart Dances is a trilogy choreographed for his own company by the American Mark Morris to a trio of Mozart piano works, here performed by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Jane Glover, and the pianist Emanuel Ax. The look is immaculate, from the black and white costumes to the exhilarating, virile brushstrokes of Howard Hodgkin’s astounding painted backdrops. In conjunction with the sumptuous music-making and the sublime choreography, it’s an enchantment for the senses. The three dances are meant to be seen together, in order, their differing gender politics gradually developing into an ecstatic unity of purpose. Morris’s writing is the unabashed product of his love affair with Mozart. Very quickly we see how the phrasing of the dance lifts with the music’s exultation and carries with it the same delicious sense of expectation. And just like the music, the dance is structured with a remarkably deft touch."
