Ozawa Hall opener a big wow

July 2, 2004 performance, by Dave Conlin Read

The Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) and the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Orchestra & Vocal Fellows rose to the occasion, opening Ozawa Hall's tenth season with an evening of fresh-cut choreography and old-world music that delighted the senses and stimulated the mind.

Unversed in the argot of the dance, we're left to report that all of the MMDG's running, jumping, twirling, dancing, spinning, slinking, slithering, kicking, leaping, lurching, landing, ballerina twirling, some "frug" and a little "funky chicken" (or was that "mashed potatoes"?), amounted to a delicious visual feast.

There were four dances, choreographed by Mr. Morris: "Marble Halls," set to J.S. Bach's Concerto No. 1 in C minor for oboe, violin, and strings, BWV 1060; "All Fours," to Bartók's String Quartet No. 4; "Beautiful Day," with J.S. Bach's Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, BWV 53; and "Gloria," set to Vivaldi's Gloria in D, RV 589.

The TMC students, conducted by Craig Smith, gave a flawless performance throughout. Particularly noteworthy were the New Fromm Players, the string quartet accompanying All Fours. While the dance conveyed a range of emotion and expression, there was an overriding vision produced by Bartok's music: it evoked the menace, mystery, and romance of a 1930s' noir film.

The evening's performance left us wondering why we don't see more dance/music collaboration. It showed how the best aspects of each re-enforce appreciation of the other. And, rather than amounting to sensory overload, shifting focus from dance to music and back again made for an enhanced enjoyment.

The performance (and another on July 1) was part of a week-long residency, following last year's successful initiation of the collaboration, wherein Mr. Morris and members of his company worked with the TMC on the relationship between music and dance.

The great building itself was part of the performance too, particularly when it's unadorned scrims were lit just so, and throughout with the orchestra and vocalists in the balcony just above the dancers (except when the music came from the string quartet seated in a box stage right).

The full majesty of Ozawa Hall was re-enforced for those who lingered on the lawn after the performance. The full buck moon rose above the treeline parrallel to the building, blood-orange on Thursday and a luminous white Friday.

Attendance was 1,352 Thursday, 1,514 Friday.