25th Austin Critic's Table Award
Best Dancer for performances in Hiraeth, We’ve Been Here Before, & Save Our Spaces Second Line March
REST Fest brings four days of art, music, dance and comedy to East Austin
by Rebecca Johnson
The concept of ‘rest’ is the motivating factor behind the festival. “What really lit our fire was when we were at the Austin Justice Coalition Black Art Matters festival and we met Angela Davis. She talked to Austin artists and said, ‘I am convinced the revolution will begin with play and rest.’” Festival co-curator Denver agreed. “I feel like the first part of healing is finding a good spot to rest,” he said.
Going Gaga: Dallas dance class (no not the pop star) has pros and average Joes letting loose
by Manuel Mendoza
Initially designed for dancers as a way of accessing their creativity, acclaimed instructor Amy Morrow is teaching Gaga to civilian Dallasites who want to tap its everyday benefits...I'm still in my pajama bottoms, and it's 3 p.m. No, I haven't been lying around the house all day. In fact, I'm sweaty from a four-hour movement workshop and a little giddy. In a converted Oak Cliff church, Austin-based dancer, choreographer and teacher Amy Morrow has been persuading 40 of us to let go and enjoy the sheer pleasure of moving our bodies. Even if they're new to Gaga, as dance professionals they don't need much convincing to follow Morrow's lead. Neither does the newcomer, it turns out.
by Manuel Mendoza
"Last summer's inaugural Wanderlust Dance Project show peaked with Amy Morrow's Hiraeth, which captured the project's cooperative spirit... [Holmes] scared up additional funds by holding an optional master class in the Gaga technique before last year’s auditions. The training was donated by Amy Morrow, the Austin choreographer whose brilliant piece Hiraeth was the linchpin of the inaugural 2016 show."
Theater Jones 2016 Year in Review Top 10
by Margaret Putnam
"Bouts of brilliance...best were David Cross’s comic Casually Irrational and the ending piece, Amy Morrow’s truly madcap Hiraeth, where, among other things, dancers struggle with tennis shoes all tied together in one long row."
Detroit Dance City Festival
Recipient of the 2016 Artist Exchange Award for Dumbo Dance Festival and Detroit Dance City Festival Gala 2017
The Austin Chronicle
by Jonelle Seitz
"The anchoring work...had a cast of 14 engaging, present dancers...The dancing was loose and delicious, incorporating ballroom, ballet, and more into a new language, a fluid pidgin that appeared to be the common tongue for young dancers... Morrow teaches Gaga, the sensation-based movement method invented by Ohad Naharin, which no doubt contributed to the dancers' suppleness. When a line of them performed headstands, their legs splayed and undulated like strands of seaweed."
by Nancy Wozny
"Austin choreographer and Gaga teacher Amy Diane Morrow is in demand all over the country and often travels between Texas and Israel."
Theater Jones
by Margaret Putnam
"If you have seen anything by Amy Diane Morrow, you know that you’re in for something wacky, and that she delivers in We’ve Been Here Before for Austin-based The Theorists. Five women in black dresses trudge and lumber in scatter-shot directions before perking up when the music switches from Chopin to the Buena Vista Social Club."
by Jonele Seitz
"The very first program of the festival, on Saturday afternoon, proved one way in which Austin has changed over the last decade: There is no longer a shortage of dancer talent...Another work by a local artist, Amy Morrow, for her group the Theorists, was danced by four enthralling dancers plus the expansive Morrow herself, on crutches while recovering from a bad ankle sprain. Rather than take herself out of the piece, Morrow brought her injury, and the crutches, into it, investigating their effects on movement and their possibilities. With her ankle taped in black to match the dancers' dresses, Morrow swung both legs high between the crutches and found advantages in the wider range of stability they offered. The other dancers joined her in vignettes, all standing one on leg, or, better yet, on their heads."
by Rachel Hellwig
"On a whole, it was the best program I’ve seen them perform...it was the type of dramatic palette that AROVA’s artists excel in and create the most evocative onstage worlds in."
The Dallas Morning News
by Manuel Mendoza
"Just as startling was the only avant-garde piece on the bill, Austin choreographer Amy Morrow's We've Been Here Before for her aptly named company, the Theorists. Morrow should be familiar to Dallas dance audiences. She created a work employing string for Avant Chamber Ballet's Women Choreography Project, and at last year's DanceFest Tulsa's Bell House performed a Morrow piece almost as heady as this one."
"To her collage score of diffuse music and voices, one woman cradled anther's head Friday before five crouched dancers, including Morrow, began spinning and pumping their fists. From there, the piece gradually evolved, the performers hanging off one another, then standing on their heads before falling to the floor. At its most loose and frantic, We've Been Here Before elicited the sense that anything could happen at any time."
Star Telegram
by Mark Lowry
"Austin’s The Theorists performed the most modern and interesting work of the festival, with Amy Morrow’s We’ve Been Here Before."
The Dallas Morning News
by Manuel Mendoza
"Toward the end of Saturday's performance at the Majestic, the entire Wanderlust cast assembled on stage and then dispersed to the aisles for a spine-tingling finalé that seemed to contain a subtle political message about love and cooperation.
Choreographed by Austin dance-maker Amy Morrow, Hireath, named after a Welsh word that means longing for home, peaked with a segment in which 11 dancers were strung together by their sneakers and had to figure out how to move as a unit.
Morrow emerged to explain that she didn't know what the piece meant. "You don't have to get it," she said before the dancers engulfed her and then commenced hugging one another."
Theater Jones
by Margaret Putnam
"But the fun—and the brilliance—came from David Cross’s zany Casually Irrational and the ending piece, Amy Morrow’s. "
"It was a delightful mess, with everything from hip-hop to a line of dancers holding hands paper-doll fashion, to a stunning set of looping turns by Mr. Speiller. At one point, dancers retrieve tennis shoes that are all linked together, try to dance with them on, abandon them and go their merry way. It ends brilliantly with all 55 dancers dancing in the aisles as Ms. Morrow stands alone on stage, fighting with a dozen pair of tied-together shoes."
by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
"Dancemaker Amy Diane Morrow finds inspiration in myriad things that at first may seem to have little to do with modern dance, such as physics and science...Set to the music of Chopin, Morrow’s “String Theory” finds dancers in short, white, lacy dresses playing at the ways strings connect — or disconnect — them. Playfully and elegantly, the dancers never letting go of the string, the dance seems to ask just how far can you stretch the relationship between two bodies physically and metaphysically."
16 Standouts of the Fall 2014 Season
by Nancy Wozny
"When the lights came up on Austin-based dancer Amy Morrow’s wiggling upside down legs, I knew immediately that this was one dancer to watch. She moves with a sassy mix of precision and abandon, something we rarely see on contemporary dance stages. The piece had something to do with her grandmother, it could have been about her car, and I would have still loved it. I am looking forward to seeing more of Morrow in motion."
by Mark Lowry
"Austin’s Amy Morrow’s whimsical, moving Carry On (an etude on effort), danced with two members of Oklahoma’s Bell House, with all three carrying backpacks and using an actual voicemail from Morrow’s grandmother, as well as a humorous bit with Siri."
The Dallas Morning News
by Manuel Mendoza
"Women’s Choreography Project extends Avant Chamber Ballet’s range. Austin choreographer Amy Morrow’s String Theory, set to Chopin, was the afternoon’s most emotional work, making clever use of the title prop to bind dancers together and dramatize their literal breakups. Two dancers in white, filmy, patterned dresses started face to face, hugging so closely and desperately that the string holding them together couldn’t be seen. At times, the connections created a marionette effect as the performers pulled each other into awkward spins and stumbles."
Theater Jones
by Margaret Putnam
"Of the five works, Amy Diane Morrow’s String Theory and Elizabeth Gillapsy’s Poema de Tres Versos made the biggest splash...What could have been nothing but a clever gimmick—long silver strings stretching halfway the length of the stage—turned out to work magic. String Theory, set to the music of Chopin, featured Kirsten Conrad, McDermitt, and Pauken in long lacy cream-colored slips pulling the strings, draping themselves over the strings, stretching them taut and dropping a few. Their bodies are sometimes as taut as the strings and their gestures often awkward, their elbows lifted up and heads down. How far you can stretch strings and what kind of sound comes forth seem to symbolize how far you can stretch relationships and time. Seldom do we see a work so fascinating."
Performania: Israeli Dance in Texas
By Nancy Wozny
“Mr. Gaga, directed by Tomer Heymann and produced by Barak Heymann, celebrated its North American premiere at SXSW. Mr. Gaga won the audience award in the Documentary Spotlight category, and just recently, the jury award for Best Documentary at the Sofia International Film Festival. Texas’ sole certified Gaga teacher, Amy Diane Morrow, worked on getting the film to Texas. ‘It took them eight years of filming over 41,000 minutes of performances around the world, including footage of rehearsals, Ohad’s personal life, and rare archival footage to create the documentary,’ says Morrow. “The film creates a platform for larger conversations about being an artist and a citizen. It even touches on the patriarchal system in the dance world and credits the dancers for their brilliant interpretations of his movement language, Gaga.’ Stay tuned for more Texas screenings... Morrow, who is Idan Sharabi’s manager, is bringing him to Austin for the Dance USA Conference in June and for a two-day Master Class Series, June 11-12. ‘Dancers will have the rare opportunity to dive into his most recent work, Now, and learn about his unique movement vocabulary and choreographic toolbox,’ adds Morrow."
"American Beauty by Amy Morrow (an Austin artist but frequent DFW face) referenced the 1999 Sam Mendes film, as Paula Ulery-Reynolds opened the work in the audience by keeping a plastic bag afloat with the use of a hair dryer. A noticeable departure from the neo-classical feeling of the first work, the curtain opened to show a dancer (Whitney Hart) with a plastic bag on her face. The hair dryer was only part of the series of question marks that decorated this work. Ulery-Reynolds lip-syncing in high-heeled boots, more plastic bags, frequent lighting changes, and piano music accompanied by a drum line...the dancers handled the shift surprisingly well, showing their growing diversity...one has to give them credit for the jump outside the norm."
The Big 12
by Mark Lowry
"While the world of local modern dance is dominated by women choreographers, choreography of classical and contemporary ballet is still a male-dominated field. Katie Puder, founder and artistic director of Avant Chamber Ballet is out to change that with the first of what will be an annual series celebrating new work by women choreographers. In this first batch: Elizabeth Gillaspy, Emily Hunter, Puder and guest choreographer Amy Diane Morrow, whose work String Theory premieres."
Women's Choreography Project
by Avant Chamber Ballet
"Avant Chamber Ballet’s rehearsals have taken on a very intimate feel lately. Today, five of the dancers, donning pointe shoes while executing detailed and daring, delicate yet deliberate, movement worthy of any contemporary dance fan’s attention huddle around a single white string strung across the room. Under the intent eye of guest choreographer Amy Diane Morrow, the dancers navigate the athletic leaps, virtuoso turns and each other’s bodies all without losing contact with the string. For this piece, “String Theory,” this connection is crucial. Morrow is one of four commissioned choreographer’s presenting work for ACB’s first annual presentation of the Women’s Choreographic Project, March 7 and 8 at Eisemann Center. Elizabeth Gillaspy, Emily Hunter, and Artistic Director, Katie Puder, round out the evening of world premieres."
Top Ten + Spring Dance Events in Texas
by Nancy Wozny
Avant Chamber Ballet's Women's Choreography Project...with Austin-based Amy Morrow.
by Danielle Georgiou
"I think all of the ballets being created are in line with our goals and focus of the company: innovating, musical and engaging-Amy Diane Morrow’s “String Theory” is relational, intriguing and emotional."- interviewing Katie Puder, Artistic Director of Avant Chamber Ballet
by Manuel Mendoza
"Avant Chamber Ballet Blooms in Dallas. Avant Chamber Ballet dancers Kristen Pauken, and Kirsten Conrad rehearsing Amy Morrow’s ballet String Theory."
Dance Festival Mania Continues in Texas
by Nancy Wozny
"Morrow divides her time between Texas and Tel Aviv, and has the rare distinction of being the only certified Gaga teacher in Texas and the entire Southern region."
The Dance Dish
by Lydia Hance
"With an autobiographical breath of fresh air, Amy Diane Morrow danced her self-created solo The Lady of. As the piece opened, all we could see were her articulate legs upside down behind the spotlight. She continued to sparkle with feminine peculiarity, her dance moving from distal twisting to slapping her skin. We heard her voice telling stories of her grandmother, whose plaid watermelon dress she wore. Sassiness runs in the family, and the dress delivered another layer of Morrow’s grandmother, the kind of lady who would dance to “The Girl from Ipanema.” It was her authenticity that held me; real people and real stories are captivating."
by Erin Marie Fulton
"Amy Diane Morrow, a Fort Worth native, returned to Texas after a long series of travels – most notably an extended stint in Tel Aviv, Israel, to train in Gaga under Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company. Her return marks an influx of Gaga in the South, and a generous approach to including people of all abilities and backgrounds in her projects."
"As the only certified Gaga teacher in the region, she is making waves in Austin, her city of choice, after returning from Israel. She also heads up the TBX [Toolbox Series], hosting national and international artists for specialized workshops in Countertechnique®, dance activism, multi-media, choreography labs, dance film, and thus far, two residencies with Deborah Hay."
Cultural Awareness Threads through Dance Month 2017 at the Kaplan
by Nicelle Suzanne
"Amy Diane Morrow, a local teacher and choreographer, who is the only Texas instructor certified in Gaga directly under Naharin. Dance Month participants are also invited to experience Israeli Dance on Jan. 14 as Morrow leads a Gaga/dancers warm-up class. Following will be an informal showing of work by both Morrow and Israeli choreographer, Idan Sharabi, whose choreographic processes and artistic voices are informed by the Gaga Toolbox. Discovering the power of improvisation, Sharabi’s latest work, Now, is a creation in the moment."
The Baraza
by Erin Elizabeth King
"My experience at Amy’s Gaga class was incredible. It was liberating and honestly boosted my confidence, as a dancer and as a person."