Cal Performances at UC Berkeley announces the cancellation of Mark Morris Dance Group performances in Zellerbach Hall planned for Saturday, December 18 at 8pm and Sunday, December 19 at 3pm. Despite robust safety measures in place, positive COVID-19 tests were reported within the Mark Morris Dance Group during routine testing earlier today. Out of an abundance of caution in prioritizing the health and safety of audiences, staff, and performers, per mutual agreement, the remaining performances of Mark Morris Dance Group on Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19, have been cancelled.

Ticket holders may apply the value of their tickets toward another Cal Performances event in the 2020-21 Season, donate their tickets, or receive a refund. To donate or exchange tickets, patrons must contact the ticket office by email at tickets@calperformances.org by 5 pm on December 23 to make the necessary arrangements. For those wishing to receive a refund, no action is needed. Cal Performances Ticket Office is available by email from December 20–23, and will be closed from December 24–January 2, 2022.

Breathtakingly lyrical, giddily lighthearted, formally brilliant, ethereally transcendent—Mark Morris Dance Group returns to its West Coast home away from home with a program of repertory gems that traverse the expansive terrain that defines the work of this pace-setting company. Continuing a collaboration that dates to 1987, the troupe visits Berkeley with three distinctive works not seen on the Zellerbach stage for many seasons, all of them exemplars of Morris’ supreme choreographic sensitivity to musical form and expression.

Premiered in September at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Morris’ “delightful” (New York Times) Water receives its indoor stage premiere; it is danced to excerpts from Handel’s timeless Water Music. The powerful duet Jenn and Spencer, is danced to Henry Cowell’s Suite for Violin and Piano, a work with both modernist and Baroque undertones. Dancing Honeymoon is a frolic through pop songs past, as dancers joke and whirl about with folding chairs as props.  The dance V, an abstract and exuberant exploration of color, form, and layered textures, is set to the Piano Quintet in E-flat major by Robert Schumann. When it premiered 20 years ago, the New York Times wrote, ”V is a life-affirming new dance…one of the few great works that modern dance has produced in a decade. Earth and sky are married in its images of pure dancing.”

The run time for this performance is approximately 90 minutes, with intermission.

Patron Sponsors: Helen and John Meyer

Parking may be a problem on campus for both the Sat, Dec 18, and Sun, Dec 19 performances due to a Cal Women’s and Men’s Basketball game.

See our Parking Alert section for more information.

The Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair is taking place December 18 & 19 from 11am–6pm. Please note that during these times, Telegraph Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way. If this is your usual route to Zellerbach, please allow extra travel time to navigate the street closures. For more information on the Fair, visit telegraphfair.com.