Where Is Mark Morris Heading?

A series of Mark Morris performances leaves Robert Gottlieb wondering which direction the choreographer is headed. Morris “seems to have reached a difficult moment in his creative life. It’s clear now that he hopes to absorb everything in the universe, but his response to his latest interests is less full and resonating than his response in his early years to the work of Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Monteverdi. Their music, you feel, is where he really lives. Morris is now at the age Balanchine was when New York City Ballet came into existence, with Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C behind him and 35 years of masterpieces to go.” Morris “throws himself at new enthusiasms, digests them, and moves on. This season suggests, at least to me, that he doesn’t yet know what he’s moving on to. He’s as fecund as ever, and as fluent, but not as focused.”