Harris Theater For Music And Dance Announces Program Changes

Today, the Harris Theater announced a change in programming for the Mark Morris Dance Group's (MMDG) February 2011 engagement. The new program features the Chicago premieres of three of the Group's newest works: The Muir, Petrichor, and Socrates, described by The New York Times as "the most sensuously attractive new choreography that I have seen by Mr. Morris in more than 10 years."

This new programming replaces the Mark Morris Dance Group's Chicago premiere of Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, a change necessitated by the strong objections of the Chicago Federation of Musicians union to the use of the Roosevelt University Orchestra to accompany these performances.

"Let us be absolutely clear the issue here is dance and collaboration. Collaboration is at the heart of the mission of the Harris and all its actions," said Michael Tiknis, President and Managing Director of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. "We did not bargain for a disagreement with the Musicians Union nor did we seek to exploit students. After the article by John von Rhein appeared in the Chicago Tribune, we took the concerns voiced by the Chicago Federation of Musicians (CFM) very seriously and made numerous attempts to seek a reasoned compromise that would both preserve the collaboration and enhance the excellence of the performance. We have failed in that attempt."

Tiknis continues, "In the end, the proposal that CFM rejected would have given 30 Chicago Union Musicians work, have allowed Roosevelt University Orchestra students to play side by side with their professional union colleagues, and enabled additional gifted young players to study at Roosevelt with a significant contribution to their scholarship fund, made by the Harris Theater. The objection by the musicians' union to what the Harris considered to be an extraordinary partnership began to change the focus from a legitimate dance collaboration to other agendas, in which the Harris declines to participate."

Tiknis concludes, "MMDG will perform in Chicago this February, accompanied by live music played by its own musicians that will travel with the group. The program will be spectacular and I know every member of the audience will again be thrilled by the artistry of this truly outstanding ensemble."

The Mark Morris Dance Group performs their new program at the Harris Theater on the previously scheduled dates of February 25, 26 & 27, 2011. The works will be accompanied by live music played by nine musicians from the MMDG Music Ensemble.

Described as a "lyrical work full of curvilinear shapes, harmonious symmetry and expansive gestures" (Times Union) The Muir showcases a flirtatious interaction and courtship between the three male and three female dancers. The work is set to Beethoven's melodic arrangements of Scottish, British, and Irish folk songs performed by piano, violin, cello, and four voices. The Muir premiered in June 2010 at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Accompanied by Heitor Villa-Lobos richly chromatic String Quartet #2, Petrichor is a work for seven women. Commissioned by the Boston Celebrity Series, it will premiere on October 14, 2010 at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston; the Harris Theater performances will mark only the second engagement of this unique new work.

The New York Times described Socrates as "though not simple, it is simply beautiful." Set to Erik Satie's cantata Socrate, fifteen dancers move through the work's three sections in a deliberate neo-classical style with intricate choreography. The work is accompanied by piano and tenor solo performing a vocal recitative of excerpts from three of Plato's dialogues Symposium, Phaedrus, and Phaedo. Socrates premiered at Brooklyn Academy Of Music in February 2010; the Harris performance marks only the third engagement of this work.
All tickets previously purchased for the Mark Morris Dance Group engagement on February 25, 26 & 27, 2011 will be honored for the newly announced program.