Dido & Aeneas (1995)

Director:

Barbara Willis Sweete

Writers:

Publius Vergilius Maro (poem), Mark Morris

Stars:

Jennifer Lane, Russell Braun, Ann Monoyios

Cast

Cast overview:
Jennifer Lane	...	Dido (voice)
Russell Braun	...	Aeneas (voice)
Ann Monoyios	...	Belinda (voice)
Shari Saunders	...	Witch (voice)
Meredith Hall	...	Witch (voice)
Benjamin Butterfield	...	The Sailor (voice)

Storyline

Details

Country:

Canada

Release Date:

28 October 1995 (Canada)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mark Morris Dance Group

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

the tragic opera-ballet re-imagined for modern dance

Mark Morris and his dance troupe were, and are, fond of re-imagining classic works from the repertoire (The Nutcracker became The Hard Nut, for example). This version of Dido, with Morris in the two main female roles of queen Dido and the wicked Sorceress, is full of beauty both in the voices of the soloists and the fluid movement of the dancers.

Shot in film style with a compact palette of colours and a small, core group of dancers, this 'Dido' is full of energy and spirit without sacrificing the tragedy of its central story and characters, infusing the characters with joy, mischief, or sadness as the story demands.

Lingering long in the memory after you've seen it, this ballet repays many later viewings and succeeds on every level, both as dance and as opera. Perhaps Morris's crowning achievement as a dancer and as a choreographer.