➤ MARK MORRIS, from p.32
of gay, but there was that stigma.
And I just said, “I’m gay, what’s the
problem?” And now I don’t care.
That battle’s over. If people are interested
in that history, they can
fi nd out more of the development
of queerness and feminism that
for me was dyed in the wool. I’m
gay and proud but I’m also gay and
ashamed from time to time, just
like any person.
MURRAY: In the book you say,
“Every solo I made up in the fi rst
part of my career was a humiliation
dance in one way or another.”
MORRIS: It was partly to make
it not funny and not beautiful, and
also not easy to dance. I was trying
to get rid of the prince and the
princess and the white tights, all
of what I was hating about classic
ballet. I love ballet — I’m not opposed
to it in any way — but I was
responding to some of those conservative
stereotypes.
MURRAY: One of things I enjoyed
most about “Out Loud” was
reading next to my laptop so I could
be looking up and listening to all
the wonderful musical references
to everything from early Western
classical music to classical Indian
music, Eastern European folk traditions
through the 20th century
avant-garde.
MORRIS: Oh, that’s great that
you did that! I’m surprised to hear
that. That’s delightful!
MURRAY: What kind of art do
you think we need right now?
MORRIS: Good art. Cackles.
Strictly political or propagandist
art rarely works for me. You don’t
have to turn every character into
a political fi gure from the news. If
something has the power to touch
our senses as we read, observe, or
even taste it, then it will have relevance.
My fi eld is dance and music.
People decide for themselves,
personally, what the relevance of
my work is to them. My job is to
present it. You might not like opera
or broccoli, but have you ever been
to one or tasted it?
OUT LOUD: A MEMOIR | By Mark
Morris and Wesley Stace | Penguin
Press | $30 | 384 pages
BEATRIZ SCHILLER/ PENGUIN PRESS
“Out Loud” is the fi rst book about Morris since Joan Acocella’s 1993 “Mark Morris.”
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