Maxine Morris, 90, mother of famed choreographer and MacArthur "genius", Mark Morris
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Obituary
Maxine Morris kindled, nurtured her son's interest in dance
Maxine Morris, mother of famed choreographer Mark Morris, was 90 when
she died of natural causes Friday in her beloved Mount Baker home.
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008040516_morrisobit09m.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/07/08/2008040201.jpg
Maxine Morris loved gardening, too.
In a way, famed choreographer Mark Morris has his mother to thank for
his career.
And so he does. On the back of every performance program is a
thank-you to Maxine Morris.
"She's the reason I had any possible contact or interest, in any way,
with dancing," said Morris, a New York City resident who was back in
his hometown of Seattle this week after his mother's death.
Ms. Morris was 90 when she died of natural causes Friday (July 4) in
her beloved Mount Baker home.
She grew up on a farm in Fairfield, Mont., and moved to Seattle in the
1940s with her husband, William E. Morris, a teacher.
They loved the arts — "not in a highbrow way" — and the family would
always sing and put on shows, said Maureen Morris, Mark's sister, an
administrative assistant in Seattle. Sometimes they would drive to
Montana with Ms. Morris' brother to make movies, complete with
costumes, in the ghost towns there.
Maureen remembers that her parents loved to dance, getting up in the
middle of conversations to do so if something special came on the
radio. Sometimes, her parents would drive hundreds of miles, decked
out in their formal wear, to attend big-band dances.
"They just danced together so well," she said. "They were both of them
so graceful and loved it so much."
Small wonder then, that Ms. Morris took Mark to his very first dance
performance when he was 8: a flamenco concert.
He knew instantly that dancing was what he wanted to do.
His mother found dance teachers for him, logged endless miles driving
him to and from lessons, sewed costumes. And when he grew up, formed
his own dance company, won numerous dance awards and was named a
MacArthur "genius" — she attended many of his performances.
"She was a fabulous enthusiast," Mark said.
She was that way with all her children, giving them unconditional love
and attending their every choral concert, recital or school play.
"She was extraordinarily welcoming to everybody," hosting Mark's
dance-company members and friends at her home even if he wasn't there,
he said.
And "when I first came out as a queer, I had boyfriends who were
perfectly welcome to stay there. She was fully fine with it," he said.
Ms. Morris relished life and appreciated both the big and small
things, from traveling around the world to see her son's company
perform, to growing a lush, colorful garden full of roses and
delphiniums.
"For me, she didn't have to die to go to heaven," Maureen said.
"Because she could hold a cat and she would be in heaven. She could
see Mark dance and be in heaven. She could watch her grandkids build a
fort or put on a show. ... Her life was heaven on Earth."
In addition to Mark and Maureen, Maxine Crittenden Morris is survived
by daughter Marianne Johnson, of Seattle; son-in-law Keith Johnson;
two grandchildren; and friend Victoria Alford. Her husband died in
1973.
A graveside gathering will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bonney-Watson
Washington Memorial Park, 16445 International Blvd., SeaTac.
In lieu of flowers, donations to support dance and music education for
young people may be sent to: The Maxine Morris Memorial Fund, The
School at the Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn,
NY 11217.
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ZapRatz
<zapratzR...@newsguy.com> wrote:
>His mother found dance teachers for him, logged endless miles driving
>him to and from lessons, sewed costumes. And when he grew up, formed
>his own dance company, won numerous dance awards and was named a
>MacArthur "genius" — she attended many of his performances.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellows_Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes
nicknamed the "genius grant") is an award given by the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40
citizens or residents of the U.S., of any age and working in any
field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and
enhanced creative work." According to the Foundation website, "the
fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an
investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential." The
current amount of the award is $500,000, paid in quarterly
installments over five years. As of 2007, there have been 756
recipients who have received a total of more than $350 million.