In This Story
As Summer 2025 begins to wind down, we’re wishing one of our favorite artists a happy birthday: choreographer Mark Morris, of the eponymous Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) and Music Ensemble, who is celebrating on August 29.
Hailed as the “the most successful and influential choreographer alive” by the New York Times, Morris founded his company in 1980, and has since created more than 150 works. In the decades since then, MMDG has performed onstage at the Center for the Arts 22 times, becoming a perennial favorite of our audiences.
"Everyone in my company loves visiting George Mason University,” Morris said in 2019. “It's a place where we can perform for an audience that loves dance and a place where we can teach students who love to dance, what could be better than that? It's an inspiring environment.”
At one memorable early performance in 1999, MMDG collaborated with celebrated musician Yo-Yo Ma, who will also return to our stage this season. “A richer, more intoxicating evening could hardly be imagined,” Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post said at the time, about their collaboration on Falling Down Stairs.
"Mark Morris Dance Group has had a cherished longtime presence in our Great Performances at Mason series at the Center for the Arts,” Programming Manager Adrienne Bryant Godwin said. “For almost three decades audiences have had the chance to watch Mark's artistry as it has evolved—from large-scale performances of his epically beautiful Dido and Aeneas, to collaborations with prestigious artists like Yo-Yo Ma, to his detailed, emotive, more intimate (and often hilarious) works. Next spring patrons will get the chance to see Dances to American Music, the company's newest program, which explores and celebrates breadth and genius of American music and dance. Three of the pieces will be new to our audiences, coupled with the return of Dancing Honeymoon, which is sure to delight."
You won’t want to miss MMDG’s newest performance here at the Center for the Arts this Spring. Whether its your first time seeing the group or your 10th—we know it won’t be your last!