Acclaimed choreographer and dancer Mark Haim recently returned to Cornell after more than two decades to reprise his classic The Goldberg Variations with a new generation of Cornell dancers as a Whaley Aboaf Resident Artist of 2021-2022.
Over the course of two very busy weeks, Haim worked with several dancers from across the university to teach them this American Dance Festival- and Danspace-commissioned piece, which he previously presented at Cornell to a different generation of dancers in the late 90s.
"Working with Mr. Haim enriched my Cornell dance experience,” said Anna Rose Marion, '25, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Environment and Sustainability. “Through working with him, I have gained confidence in my dancing. He has provided an outlet where we have been able to work together to depict stories of growth, nature, instability, joy, and salvation through movement."
Byron Suber, Senior Lecturer in Dance, said about Haim and his technique, "Mark, through all of his choreographic work, has always presented innovation and clarity in ways that is not often achieved in the post-modern dance world. His skills in dance improvisation, his experience as an accomplished musician, and his tendency towards innovation, combine with his rigor as a technician and technique instructor to produce performances that inspire with their freshness and astonish with their complexity. His work exhibits both precision and freedom, combining the lucidity and joy that is possible in physical movement."
Suber initially worked with Haim at the American Dance Festival at Duke University, and in 1999 Haim first came to Cornell to perform his solo work. "Now he has returned," says Suber, "for what will be the 25th anniversary of the creation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, to teach the work to our own students, which they will perform in the Locally Grown Dance Festival in March 2022." Each performance of the 4-night dance festival will bring a new program featuring six students with a solo interpretation by Miles Yeung, a visiting lecturer in the department.
"Seeing the work as it was originally performed, as a solo, in contrast to seeing it as a group work, is an effective pedagogical tool, not only for the students performing in the work but also for the audience attending the performance," notes Suber.
Mark Haim's 80-minute solo, The Goldberg Variations, was created between 1994 and 1997. With pianist Andre Gribou, The Goldberg Variations has been presented at the ADF, the Danspace Project in St. Mark's Church in New York, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, On The Boards in Seattle, the Munye Theater in Seoul, S. Korea, the First Progressive Dance Festival in Prague, the Theater for the Young Spectator in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and at over 25 theaters around the U.S. It was also on the performance roster of the Lincoln Center Institute from 2000-2002 and has been on the roster of sister educational institutes in Albany, Rochester, and Utica, NY.
Haim has had a prolific career making and teaching dance for over 35 years - he has created new works for dance companies worldwide, including Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet Frankfurt, the Limon Dance Company, and many others. In higher education, Haim was the Senior Artist-in-Residence at the University of Washington in Seattle from 2002 - 2008, and previously was a Visiting Associate Professor at Reed College. Additionally, Haim has been on the faculties of the American Dance Festival and NYU-Tisch School of the Arts. Mark Haim's dance film WALDO: 2020, which explores his and humanity's relationship with nature, will have its world premiere at CHOP SHOP 2021. The film also seeks to show how, in a medium where human beings are the means of expression, to emphasize the importance of the bigger picture as well.
For students in the arts, Haim has a word of advice: "don't keep dismissing [your persistent thoughts]. Usually, there's something there that's really, really important and something wonderful is going to come out of it."
Learn more about Mark Haim and his work here.
