FirstWorks to Welcome Mark Morris Dance Group, 3/8

FirstWorks' 10th anniversary celebration continues with a landmark concert by one of the world's most revered dance companies, Mark Morris Dance Group, on Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8:00pm at The Vets, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence. Tickets start at $38 at first-works.org or call 401-421-ARTS (2787).

The Mark Morris Dance Group joins FirstWorks for an exhilarating evening of live music and dance. Christened "one of the greatest living choreographers" by the New Yorker, Morris is a master choreographer of endless invention still brilliantly sculpting his legacy. Hailed as the "Mozart of modern dance", he is committed to live music as an integral part of the dance experience.

The concert includes the Rhode Island premiere of Double, a selection from Mozart Dances performed against a backdrop of rich visuals by British painter Howard Hodgkin. John Rockwell of The New York Times describes the work as "a masterpiece, a triumph and one of Mr. Morris's greatest achievements." In the primitive and mysterious Grand Duo - acclaimed as "one of the most viscerally charged passages in the annals of modern dance" by The Boston Globe - Morris turns to ancient rites inspired by Lou Harrison's thrilling score. The intensely musical Morris, who has conducted musical luminaries including Metropolitan Opera, Convent Garden and Royal Opera, makes his Rhode Island conducting debut with Bach's Jesu, meine Freude featuring the Brown University Chorus.

"Mark Morris embodies the highest level of artistry and shares FirstWorks' commitment to building community through the arts," said Kathleen Pletcher, Executive Artistic Director, FirstWorks. "Mark's signature style couples joyous movement with gorgeous live music. It is really two performances in one."

The FirstWorks Mark Morris Dance Group concert is part of Widening the Circle: Intersections of Art, Science and Community, February 21-March 8, 2014. FirstWorks and American Dance Legacy Initiative, in collaboration with Artists and Scientists as Partners, Brown University, and Mark Morris Dance Group, have formed a partnership to present this series of master classes, lecture demonstrations, performances, and seminars providing unique opportunities for investigation which culminates in the March 8 concert by the Mark Morris Dance Group. Please visit www.first-works.org for more detail. Presented with leading support from the Brown University Creative Arts Council.