Subdivision
| • | 501. Creative Artists | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Mr. Mark Morris | | | Institution: | Mark Morris Dance Group | | | Year Elected: | 2008 | | | Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | | | Subdivision: | 501. Creative Artists | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1956 | | | | | | |
Mark Morris was born on August 29, 1956, in Seattle, Washington, where he studied as a young man with Verla Flowers and Perry Brunson. In the early years of his career, he performed with Lar Lubovitch, Hannah Kahn, Laura Dean, Eliot Feld, and the Koleda Balkan Dance Ensemble. He formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980, and has since created more than 120 works for the company. From 1988-1991, he was Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. Among the works created during his tenure were three evening-length dances: The Hard Nut; L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato; and Dido and Aeneas. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris is also much in demand as a ballet choreographer. He has created six works for the San Francisco Ballet since 1994 and received commissions from American Ballet Theatre, and the Boston Ballet, among others. His work is also in the repertory of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, New Zealand Ballet, Houston Ballet, English National Ballet, and The Royal Ballet. Morris is noted for his musicality and has been described as "undeviating in his devotion to music." He has worked extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera, and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Morris was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation in 1991. He has received honorary doctorates from The Boston Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, Long Island University, Pratt Institute, Bowdoin College, Bard College, Bates College, and George Mason University. In 2006, Morris received the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Mayor's Award for Arts & Culture and a WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award. He is the subject of a biography by Joan Acocella (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and Marlowe & Company published a volume of photographs and critical essays entitled Mark Morris' L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: A Celebration. Morris is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2007 he received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival lifetime achievement award. Mark Morris was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2008. | |
| 2 | Name: | Mr. Martin Scorsese | | | Year Elected: | 2008 | | | Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | | | Subdivision: | 501. Creative Artists | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1942 | | | | | | |
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese was born in New York in 1942 and received his MFA from New York University in 1964. Among his numerous awards and honors, he has received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Academy Award for Best Director in 2006, the French Legion of Honor in 2007, the Motion Picture Association of America's Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award in 2009, the Cecil B. Demille Award in 2010, and an Emmy in 2011. Additionally, in 2007 he was recognized for career excellence and cultural influence by the Kennedy Center Honors committee and was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. With the pace and energy of his third feature film, Mean Streets (1973), Scorsese led a new generation of directors into the American cinema and introduced the world to the first of nine collaborations with Robert de Niro. Raging Bull (1980) is on the short list of the best films of all time, appearing as the American Film Institute's #1 sports film, while in many minds Goodfellas (1990) has eclipsed The Godfather as the finest gangster movie ever made. Best known for his depiction of a variety of criminal underworlds, Scorsese has also made films exploring religion (The Last Temptation of Christ, Kundun) and American biography (The Aviator). He has directed a total of 21 films, which have won a combined 15 Academy Awards and 9 Golden Globes. His other feature films include: Who's That Knocking at My Door (1968), Boxcar Bertha (1972), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), The King of Comedy (1983), After Hours (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Cape Fear (1991), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Gangs of New York (2002), The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010), Public Speaking (2010), and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In addition to his own continuing work he is a dedicated supporter of many programs for the restoration and care of classic films. He is a major artist and yet loves his art form as if he were a devoted amateur. His current projects include a film about Frank Sinatra and the restoration and distribution of classic films from around the world through his World Cinema Foundation and the website www.theauteurs.com. Martin Scorsese was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2008. | |
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