Work Details
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Ballet
Composer
Virgil Thomson
Music
Etudes for piano ("Chromatic Double Harmonies," "Repeating Tremolo," "Fingered Fifths," "Double Glissando," "Oscillating Arm," "Pivoting on the Thumb," "Alternating Octaves," "Double Sevenths," "Broken Arpeggios," "Parallel Chords," "Ragtime Bass," "For the Weaker Fingers," and Tenor Lead.")
Costume Design
Santo Loquasto
Lighting Design
Phil Sandstrom
Premiere Date
May 31, 1988
Premiere Venue
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
Premiere Location
New York, NY
Premiere Company
American Ballet Theatre
Number of Dancers
12
Details
An excerpt from this ballet was given its first performance at the Dancing for Life Benefit at the New York State Theater, New York on 10/5/87. The lighting design is currently by Michael Chybowski.
Currently in the rep of American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet. This has also been performed by English National Ballet and New Zealand Ballet
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
BALLETS BY MARK MORRIS
"...the witty dance cements Mr. Morris’s worth as a master choreographer in the classical form." - The New York Times, 2007
“Its glorious casualness deceives – it’s the Armani of dance and a strong piece for the dancers . . .” Bruce Marriott, Ballet.co Magazine, November 2003
“The freshness of the inspiration, the consistent upturning of artistic convention, the sheer bravado of it all, is unprecedented, joyful and so volatile you fear it will evaporate before your eyes.” -Allan Ulrich, The San Francisco Examiner
“Set to Virgil Thomson’s Etudes for Piano, the ballet is typical of Morris in its complex structure, trenchant musicality, rich dynamic range, and wicked humor (that piano sits smack center-stage).” -Tobi Tobias, New York
“Fine classical choreography (for 12) shot through with a liberating breeze, devilish phrases bubbling away as dancers take their turn to share in the communal felicity. Simplicity and complexity co-exist. [The] dancers are in heaven…” -Debra Craine, The Times (UK)
“It goes without saying that Morris is a skilfull dance maker, and that his ballets are some of the best of the last decade, or three.” -Sarah Frater, Evening Standard
“…though the choreography expertly exploits the fleet-footed clarity of classicism, it is also covered with the gleeful fingerprints of Morris’s personality.” -Judith Mackrell, The Guardian (UK)
“Morris mixes academic ballet with unexpected twists to produce an unbuttoned, fresh classicism that is engagingly unpretentious…This is a miniature with the internal scale of an epic.” -Nadine Meisner, The Independent
“As effervescent as a spritzer…” -Ismene Brown, The Daily Telegraph
“The Morris piece deserves a doctoral dissertation. Suffice to say it’s gorgeous, and it demonstrates once again how easily the choreographer can move between the worlds of ballet and modern dance.” -Christine Temin, The Boston Globe, March 26, 2004
“Morris’s “Drink to Me” premiered in 1988, but it’s a timeless work and one of his finest for classically trained dancers.” -Theodore Bale, The Boston Herald, March 27, 2004
“Capturing the essence of Drink To Me With Thine Eyes is like trying to chart the trajectory of soap bubbles in a stiff breeze. Morris’ instant, unpredictable and often magical transitions dare every dancer to excel…The freshness of the inspiration, the consistent upturning of artistic convention, the sheer bravado of it all, is unprecedented, joyful and so volatile you fear it will evaporate before your eyes.” -Allan Ulrich, The San Francisco Examiner, May 23, 1996
“The love Morris has for dancing as a discipline and for dancers as a holy breed infuses the piece and warms its formidable intelligence…It’s a tidal wave of dancing, with one or two contemplative moments in which the dancers gather themselves in and let the choreographic inventions coalesce…Set to Virgil Thomson’s Etudes for Piano, the ballet is typical of Morris in its complex structure, trenchant musicality, rich dynamic range, and wicked humor (that piano sits smack center-stage).” -Tobi Tobias, New York, June 20, 1988
"This is a ballet of friendship and community in which Morris again and again makes his point by stressing opposites, such as brilliance and connectedness, refinement and a certain clumsiness, showy bravura and tenderness, playful and bittersweet." -Marilyn Tucker, Time Out/San Francisco, May 24, 1996
"What a terrific piece of work this is. Fine classical choreography (for 12) shot through with a liberating breeze, devilish phrases bubbling away as dancers take their turn to share in the communal felicity. Simplicity and complexity co-exist. [The] dancers are in heaven…" -Debra Craine, The Times, December 11, 2002