Mostly Mark Morris

On Monday, just before falling asleep, I flipped through the recent issue of the New Yorker. I read the an article on the Mostly Mozart festival, the flip side of which disparaged the recent Ring Cycle presented at the Met, and then read an article about Mark Morris's new dances, commissioned by the festival. The inital three-day run had sold out, and four additional nights had been added. I fell asleep reading the article.

The next morning I bought tickets. Yw had texted me about opera and dance, and I asked if she would join me. She said yes.

We picnicked in Columbus Circle, the fountains all but drowning out the sound of the traffic that surrounded us. A family sat beside us eating ice cream. Yw had brought a bag full of food from a fast-food Korean restaurant near Macy's and we laid it all out before us. Our dinner proved tasty.

We arrived early to the State Theater. Groups of people hung out in the plaza. We went inside.

I hadn't been in some time, and we walked around, looking at the art housed therein. Yw joked that she hadn't realized we would be visiting a museum. When we reached our seats in the fourth ring, she smiled and asked if we were seeing Gotterdammerung.

Below us, the orchestra warmed up. Emmanuel Ax ran his fingers across the piano, practicing runs. The lights dimmed as people rushed to find their seats.

The dances were beautiful. The live music added a new dimension to the experience, and I felt as though I was surrounded by it. I sat enthralled.

After the performance we stayed in our seats, waiting for people to exit. On our way out we lingered on the terrace before a guard chased us out. I lingered by a Jasper Johns work hanging in the lobby before walking back out into the night. This morning I bought tickets to see it again. Posted by eku at August 16, 2007 4:58 PM