Mark Morris Dance Group to bring tale of 'Dido and Aeneas' to Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Mark Morris Dance Group on April 2 will bring Henry Purcell's famous baroque opera "Dido and Aeneas" to life with a live chamber orchestra, vocalists and dancers under the baton of choreographer Mark Morris at Elliott Hall of Music.

This 8 p.m. performance is presented by Purdue Convocations with Friends support from the Jeanne Compton Endowment for Artistic Excellence.

Ticket holders are invited to attend a preshow discussion at 7 p.m., in Purdue's Mechanical Engineering Building, Room 1103. A member of the Mark Morris Dance Group artistic team will discuss "Dido and Aeneas" and the company's aesthetic.

Morris, an American choreographer, loves music. Works by Mozart, Handel, Haydn, Vivaldi, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and more have captured Morris's imagination and been given his signature treatment. "Dido and Aeneas" is Virgil's famous tale of Aeneas's affair with Dido, the queen of Carthage, en route to founding Rome. This production includes one of the most well known opera arias, "Dido's Lament." "Dido" originally premiered in 1989 during Morris's three-year post at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, in Brussels.

About Mark Morris

Mark Morris was born in Seattle, where he studied with Verla Flowers and Perry Brunson. In the early years of his career, he performed with the companies of Lar Lubovitch, Hannah Kahn, Laura Dean, Eliot Feld and the Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble. He formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980 and has since created close to 150 works for the company. From 1988 to 1991, he was director of dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris has created 18 ballets since 1986.

He began conducting performances for MMDG in 2006 and has since conducted at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Lincoln Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Recently, he served as music director for the 2013 Ojai Music Festival. Morris also works extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Tickets

Tickets are $24-49 for adults and $24-34 for those 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-496-1977 for more details or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres. Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media. 

Contact: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu 

Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photographs are available at https://www.purdue.edu/convocations/press/