June Omura and Bradon McDonald of Mark Morris Dance Group in Morris's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. Photo Ken Friedman.
The internationally accomplished Mark Morris Dance Group will visit Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall this week to perform one of its repertory’s oldest and most celebrated constituents. L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato was the group’s first production during its time as the national dance company of Belgium and received its premiere in 1988. Since the company’s return to the United States, it has been performed across the nation as well as abroad, remaining in repertory for 21 years. A stage full of dancers brings a score by George Frideric Handel, poetry by John Milton, and images by William Blake to life in this evening-length opus. June Omura was a young dancer when the piece was created, having joined the company immediately prior to its relocation to Belgium. She is still with the company today, and will be dancing in L’Allegro this week. June graciously answered a few questions in anticipation of the company’s approaching performances in the Bay Area.
Stav Ziv: You are in a unique position of having seen this piece through from its inception to its performances today. What stands out to you in retrospect about the initial creation process and performances of L’Allegro?
June Omura: Mark’s method and musicality. He knew his music inside and out. Sometimes, when starting a dance, he wouldn’t play the music for us. He taught a few steps and added a couple more, building up an entire section. And when he then put the music on, it would all snap together. Music was probably his first love and he has such wonderful and widely ranging taste. It is almost always his starting point. He needs to listen to choreograph.
SZ: Can you talk a little bit more about the collaboration of musicians and dancers, and in L’Allegro especially, the vocalists all performing together? Is it a process where all the components are constructed simultaneously or independently and then put together before performance?
JO: With L’allegro it is not just full orchestra, but a full chorus, and four solo vocalists. In the studio we work with a pianist, but then, when you get to the theatre, you get to work with some of the most amazing singers in the world. You are very aware of dancing to their voices, even though you can’t always see what they’re doing, separated by the cliff that is the stage.
There is nothing like performing to live music. Of course we complain no matter what; we know to the nanosecond whether tempo is fast or slow. But that is where the excitement lies, and we make it work.
The other elements, especially with L’Allegro, are the sets – scrims of beautiful colors and sometimes patterns, like a woodland or a city – which are dropped and raised. We as dancers are not so much aware of them and of the lighting, but it all comes together onstage for the audience.
SZ: Has anything changed significantly with regard to sets, costuming, lighting, or choreography since the piece’s premiere?
JO: Mark usually doesn’t change pieces much, if at all, once they’ve premiered. I’ve heard him say that if he kept changing things as he got older, he’d end up making the same dance over and over again. He will tweak some things, but in general leaves the piece alone, and that’s what makes that dance for that time. However, pieces likeL’Allegro are so rich, that you see new things every single time you watch. My mother, a huge fan of the piece, has asked, “Oh have you changed this? Is this new?” and I answer, “No, it has been there every time you’ve seen it, Mom!”
The way L’Allegro changes for me is in performers rotating in and out of all the roles. It is a two-hour trip through so many emotions that take you to so many different places. You have your own emotional experience and that changes when different people perform different roles. There is also, in Mark’s work and especially in L’Allegro, a lot of what you might call emotional interaction with your fellow dancers. You are dancing with each other, really looking at each other, and that feeling is very different depending on the person that you’re looking at.
Mark Morris Dance Group in Morris's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. Photo Ken Friedman.
SZ: From the sections I have seen, the movement composition seems to include a combination of dance vocabulary, walking and running, and yet is a seamless and coherent whole. What can you say about the integration of these elements in the context of L’Allegro?
JO: There is a combination of dance vocabulary with what is more pedestrian movement. Mark has all these beautiful dances that go beautifully with the music, but he also creates these scenes without any dance steps per se. Any scene that is created though is perfectly musical.
SZ: We talked a little bit about music as inspiration for Mr. Morris’s pieces and we touched on the use of Milton’s poetry in L’Allegro. I was wondering how you think the choreographic process may have been different because of this additional medium he was using?
JO: The original poems that Milton wrote were about l’allegro, the lighthearted man, and il penseroso, the melancholy man, and the opposition of those two ways of looking at the world. His poetry is about the themes of nature, how man responds to the elements in his world.
It’s all sort of magical, due to Mark’s poetic insights. It’s not just his steps and musicality, but also in reference to what the text is really getting at poetically. He weaves in all those things and you understand right away when you’re watching.
He does not like to talk about the meanings of his dances because they are what they are and you can sense them right away. He’s so right and true in the spirit of the images and the text, and everything is so brilliantly thought out, that it immediately reveals itself. There are many meanings you can write about, but on many levels, you get a lot of it right away.
He does expect the dancers to do a certain amount of imaginative work on their own. He doesn’t want to hit anyone over the head with anything, including the dancers because when they’re trying to tell a certain story to the audience, it can get very cumbersome to watch. He wants us to do exactly what he’s given us, but with understanding – to find the balance between the two.
SZ: On that note, would you say that he gives emphasis to individual freedom in interpretation and execution or is he pretty particular about what he wants?
JO: What he’s particular about a lot of times is that the dance looks very real, honest, and human, which is not always easy to achieve especially for a highly trained dancer. You have to be highly trained to do his work, but then you also have to let that go and appear as though it’s something that just occurred to you to do. Once you can hear the music and do the steps exactly as they’re given, he’s very open to letting you interpret your feeling about a piece. He doesn’t usually dictate how you should feel, but that often comes just out of what he’s given.
He’s very precise and as a result the movement sometimes ends up looking easy. We’re often told that people in the audience feel as though they’ve been invited onstage. They feel like they should run onstage, grab our hands, and join our circle, and I believe that is exactly the feeling that is intended. Although chaos would break out if that ever happened!
Mark also has a lot of folk dance experience. He loves it and sets specific steps from some folk dances in L’Allegro and other pieces. The feeling that you have when folk dancing – holding hands, making a circle, participating in such a joy of music and communal exchange – that’s one of the feelings that he’s after.
SZ: L’Allegro celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and it’s been performed frequently and throughout the world. What do you think it is about the piece that’s made it so successful, so well received, with so many audiences over the years?
JO: It’s an amazing experience. As a dancer you go through all the emotions, through the story that you tell – you might be frightened, elated, or horribly sad in different parts. The audience goes through that, too. The music, the costumes, the sets and the lights, the singers are all gorgeous. It’s a complete evening that you’ve never seen anything like before. This provoking exchange is a fresh outpour and wonderful overflow of dancing, emotion, and thought.
SZ: What would you like to pass on to dancers and audiences encountering L’Allegro in the future (perhaps those who will not have had any contact with Mr. Morris or the original cast)?
JO: Watch it with innocence. People read a lot about Mark, and I’m sure they come in with certain preconceptions because he’s brilliantly witty, and gives a great interview. The most commonly perceived side of his personality is the outlandish one. However, he is also extremely sincere and very honest in his approach to dance. He’s not camp, and he’s not doing it as a joke; it’s all very real.
When you see the moments that strike audiences as funny, he sometimes claims not to know why people are laughing. I think these moments make you laugh out of delight and surprise. The way to approach Mark’s work and a good thing to keep in mind is that he means it. He doesn’t take it lightly, even if it may look that way at times. His work is a product of deep thought.
And for the dancers: when you’re dancing this piece, you come to realize that you are dancing together with the others. Often dancers don’t get that right away, but the ones that do are the ones who have the most fun. The eye contact and the genuine interaction, a smile or a look while you’re dancing confirms that this is real, that you are actually living. You are with your friends. The more you can feel like that as a dancer, the more joy you will get out of it.
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato will be performed by the Mark Morris Dance Group at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on Friday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 31st at 3 p.m. Tickets: 510.642.9988, www.calperformances.org
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