Mark Morris Dance Group holds its annual Open House

The Mark Morris Dance Group kicks off the fall season with its free Open House on September 6. Festivities, which last from 9:30am to 5pm, includes a free sampling of its dance and fitness classes for all ages and levels, as well as a performance by the company featuring excerpts from Acis and Galatea and a student group in New Love Song Waltzes and Heyday. There’s also a beer garden sponsored by Sixpoint Brewery on the fourth-floor terrace (weather permitting) and live music by Richard Bennett’s Wildlife 3000. As Morris says in a release, “There’s plenty to do at Open House. Do it all. Watch my company perform. Take a tour of the building. Meet new people. Have a good time. Consider this your dance home. Enjoy it.” Indeed! Here is the schedule:

9:30am: Doors open. Coffee and pastries.

10–10:45am: creative dance (ages 4-6); ballet fundamentals (ages 6-8); stretch/core strengthening (adults).

11–1:45am: parent/toddler (ages 20 months–3 years); tap dance (ages 6-10); modern dance (ages 9-14); open ballet (teens and adults); Gaga (adults); music and singing (all ages).

Noon–12:45pm: modern fundamentals (ages 6-8); tap dance (teens and adults); Zumba (adults); Kukuwa (adults); dance with MMDG (all ages).

1–1:45pm: performance featuring the MMDG in excerpts from Acis and Galatea and a student company in New Love Song Waltzes and Heyday. Also, dance fundamentals for students with disabilities, ages 6-17; jazz/hip-hop (all ages), Simonson technique (adults).

2–2:45pm: creative dance (ages 4-6); boy’s hip-hop (ages 6-10); Soca dance workout (teens and adults); Dance for PD® (adult classes for those living with Parkinson’s disease); music and singing (all ages), dance with MMDG (all ages).

3–3:45pm: performance featuring the MMDG in excerpts from Acis and Galatea and a student company in New Love Song Waltzes and Heyday. Also, ballet fundamentals (ages 6-8); African dance (ages 6-10); Afro-Caribbean (adults); and 18^th-century dance (adults).

4–4:45pm: modern dance (teens and adults); belly dance (adults); contemporary (adults).