MY ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE
to Jacob's Pillow for the Mark Morris Dance Group (why wait till next March to see it in Boston?)
brought an unexpected reward. Boston pianist Donald Berman was filling in for Morris music
director Ethan Iverson for the weekend. Berman's virtuosity, sensitivity, and sense of humor
in the pieces he played in were vivid demonstrations of why Morris wants live musical
accompaniment. Berman made the perfect dance partner. In Morris's ominously titled but
utterly delicious "Canonic 3/4 Studies" - a compilation of some dozen fiendishly difficult
waltzes by "various composers" (Morris, most musical of contemporary choreographers, admits
he himself doesn't know all the composers, though Moszkowski and Czerny are among them)
arranged by Harriet Cavalli to accompany Morris
rehearsals
- Berman's hilariously extended
rubatos, bouncing octaves, and spinning trills seemed to lift the dancers off the stage
(sometimes in the opposite direction Morris leads you to expect), make them jump, twirl
them around. He managed to sound simultaneously like a great virtuoso and a rehearsal
pianist. In Morris's blockbuster finale, "Grand Duo," the brilliant young New York
violinist Lisa Lee joined Berman for Lou Harrison's exhilarating ritual musical workout
(would we ever hear Harrison on the East Coast if it weren't for Morris?) - with Berman
as one-man gamelan.
MY ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE
to Jacob's Pillow for the Mark Morris Dance Group (why wait till next March to see it in Boston?)
brought an unexpected reward. Boston pianist Donald Berman was filling in for Morris music
director Ethan Iverson for the weekend. Berman's virtuosity, sensitivity, and sense of humor
in the pieces he played in were vivid demonstrations of why Morris wants live musical
accompaniment. Berman made the perfect dance partner. In Morris's ominously titled but
utterly delicious "Canonic 3/4 Studies" - a compilation of some dozen fiendishly difficult
waltzes by "various composers" (Morris, most musical of contemporary choreographers, admits
he himself doesn't know all the composers, though Moszkowski and Czerny are among them)
arranged by Harriet Cavalli to accompany Morris