Edward Morgan (choreographer)

Edward Morgan is an American dancer and choreographer. Morgan is a former director of Joffrey II (1995-1997). He founded The MorganScott Ballet company with Daniel Scott in 1997,[1][2] which became The EdwardMorgan Ballet NYC in 2007.

Career

Poster for The EdwardMorgan Ballet, designed by Abiline Morgan 2010

The Joffrey Ballet

Morgan was a principal dancer of The Joffrey Ballet for ten years.[3] In 1977, he notably performed "Touch Me", a male solo.[4] The solo was revived in 1989, when the Los Angeles Times wrote that it "showed Morgan to be a dancer of great power and versatility", and that "Morgan's performance gave the borrowed dance-rhetoric superb immediacy".[5] The Chicago Tribune noted Morgan's performance in 'Trinity' in 1990, with choreographer and dancer Edward Stierle "teaming up with unforgettable gusto with the lanky, lightning-quick Edward Morgan."[6] Morgan was a director of the Joffrey II from 1995-1997.[7]

Dance education for children

In 1998, Morgan founded the Joffrey Ballet School Jazz Program, offering children a professional training in dance.[2] In 2000, Morgan and Daniel Scott set up a program to teach ballet to children in the Bronx district of New York.[8]

The MorganScott Ballet

In 1997, Morgan and Daniel Scott founded The MorganScott Ballet company; Morgan worked as company director and choreographer.[2] Morgan choreographed ClubMTV, creating over 30 works for the show.[2]

Morgan's energy as a choreographer was noticed by New York Times critic Jennifer Dunning at MorganScott's debut, where the quality of the dancing belied the company's financial situation: "The choreography was attractive and the dancers skillful and persuasive. But what stood out about the new venture was its sheer fun. If Edward Morgan and Daniel Scott could bottle the evening's warmth and bubbling spirits, they would have no trouble raising money to keep their company going."[9] She went on: "It is clear from his choreography that Mr. Morgan knows his way around ballet. The performers were swept gently along in lyrical, ground-hugging waves of dance punctuated by high lifts".[9] Morgan's choreographic skill is praised: "Mr. Morgan knows how to make his dancers look good, giving them plenty of delicate flourishes for their lyrical arms and fleeting emotional details that highlight the performers' engaging way of relating to one another on the stage."[9]

In 2000, Morgan again impressed Jennifer Dunning, this time in an open-air performance at Bryant Park, where it poured with rain and the sound failed, but "Then came the magic as Mr. Morgan jumped onto the stage in a solo that looked like an improvised prayer. His long lean body, arms reaching up and, pressing into the pelting rain, echoed the long lines of the skyscrapers behind him. The image was unforgettably theatrical yet also poignant."[10]

The EdwardMorgan Ballet

In 2007,[1] Morgan and Scott's collaboration ended,[11] and Morgan renamed his company "The EdwardMorgan Ballet NYC".[1] From 2010, the website included a poster (see illustration) showing Morgan both as a ballet dancer and through his choreography.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The EdwardMorgan Ballet". The EdwardMorgan Ballet NYC Formerly The MorganScott Ballet. The EdwardMorgan Ballet NYC. 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Scott, Daniel (2003). "International Dance Schools and Companies". The MorganScott Ballet. dancedirectory.co.za. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  3. ↑ "The EdwardMorgan Ballet". Mission. The EdwardMorgan Ballet. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Joffrey Ballet". Company. Joffrey Ballet. 6 January 1977. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  5. ↑ Segal, Lewis (May 19, 1989). "Los Angeles Times". DANCE REVIEW : Edward Morgan in Arpino's 1977 'Touch Me'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ Smith, Sid (March 18, 1990). "The Chicago Tribune". Joffrey Ballet's Brief Run Points Out Its Many Gems. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ Mattingly, Kate (March 2000), "The Finishing Touch", Dance Teacher
  8. ↑ "NY1". Edward Morgan And Daniel Scott Donate Time To Teach Bronx Kids Ballet. New York 1 News. May 13, 2005. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Dunning, Jennifer (February 25, 1998). "Dance Review". Debut by Ballet Troupe With Roots in the Joffrey. New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  10. ↑ Dunning, Jennifer (August 15, 2000). "Dance Review". Stormy Clouds Chase Everyone From the Place. New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ 2010 date in copyright notice on web page headed "The EdwardMorgan Ballet NYC" (http://www.morganscottballet.org/). Retrieved December 08, 2011
  12. ↑ The EdwardMorgan Ballet: Performances Retrieved December 12, 2011

External links

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