Mark Morris is known as the “enfant terrible of modern dance,” but after seeing his wacky comic-book version of The Nutcracker (entitled The Hard Nut), I’d be more inclined to call him the King of Funky. Others dismiss him as merely rude and boorish. (Ever since he won the MacArthur “genius award” for choreography, however, skeptical voices are scarcely to be found; now he is the darling of the New York critics.) You don’t have to like him personally, though, to find an evening of dance with the Mark Morris Dance Group to be a highly musical and entertaining event. His troupe comes to TPAC’s Polk Theater on Sept. 8-9. Word has it that he will appear personally onstage. The program will include “Sang-Froid,” commissioned for the 2000 American Dance Festival, plus “Dancing Honeymoon,” “Deck of Cards,” and “Grand Duo.”
♦ Nashville Ballet is very active this year, with its concert season opening on Oct. 13, plus a matinee as well as an evening performance on Oct. 14 at TPAC’s Polk Theatre. The company will premiere a ballet set to Vivaldi’s glorious favorite “The Four Seasons.” Also, George Balanchine’s classic “Serenade,” danced to Tchaikovsky’s lush “Serenade for Strings,” will be revived. The program varies depending on when you go: Attend the Saturday matinee to see “The Singing Tortoise,” after a West African folk tale about jungle animals and performed by masked dancers. Evening attendees are treated to more adult fare with Toni Pimble’s “Two’s Company,” and Salvatore Aiello’s sensuous pas de deux “Satto.” The Nashville Symphony will appear in full force with the company.
♦ If you didn’t catch it last year, then you need to go see the Nashville Ballet’s gothic horror production of Dracula with choreography by artistic director Paul Vasterling and music by Bohuslav Martinu at the Nashville Children’s Theatre Oct. 27-28. Vasterling has simplified the epic scale of the original novel so as to focus on the seductive interactions between vampire and victim. The ballet is a terrific Halloween treat, tastier than candy and far less caloric.
♦ A lively performing company of Japanese dancers and musicians is coming to TPAC’s Polk Theater on Nov. 15-16 for a morning and evening concert. The Tennessee State Museum and the Global Education Center will present the Hayashi-Kazue company from Tokyo, Japan. This elegant form of traditional dance is rarely seen in the United States. It involves a subdued form of the erotic in its sleeve-play, where the woman conceals and then gradually reveals her hands. Subtlety is the name of the game in this highly refined form of classical dance from a society that values the exquisite.
♦ Les Miserables settles in for a week’s run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 at TPAC. Despite its overexposure, the musical’s power and passion remain undiminished over the years. And then there is Godspell, yet another oldie but goodie, which plays the BellSouth Acuff Theatre, Sept. 14-16. Way back in the early ’70s, Godspell was hailed as the first of the rock musicals to update the gospel, and it has been on circuit ever since.
♦ Camelot, that legendary golden land of knights, lovers, and perfidy, will materialize at TPAC’s Polk Theatre Nov. 29-Dec. 22. The musical is one of Lerner and Loewe’s glorious creations and features songs such as “If Ever I Would Leave You” and “How to Handle a Woman.” It should be good family entertainment for the holidays, even if it does deal with adultery. Tennessee Repertory Theatre intends to shift the setting to Braveheart’s 6th-century Scotland from Wales, the locale from which King Arthur’s men were reputed to sally forth. Are King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table really going to wear kilts for this production?
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