“The most artfully musical choreographer alive.” The New York Times

Hailed as “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical” (The New York Times), Mark Morris returns to Santa Barbara with Pepperland, a new evening-length work celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Created for the City of Liverpool’s season-long tribute to the groundbreaking album, Pepperland features Morris’ ingenuity and musicality and is accompanied live by a seven-piece chamber ensemble. An original score by Ethan Iverson intersperses arrangements of album favorites with Pepper-inspired pieces intended especially for Morris. Co-commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this colorful work is a must-see for dance and Beatles fans alike.

Pepperland is a Mark Morris Dance Group production in association with UCSB Arts & Lectures, Santa Barbara, Calif.; American Dance Festival, Durham, N.C.; BAM, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity with the Sony Centre, Toronto, Canada; Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Calif.; Celebrity Series of Boston, Mass.; The City of Liverpool, England, U.K.; Dance Consortium UK; Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven, Conn.; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; La Jolla Music Society, La Jolla, Calif.; Meyer Sound, Berkeley, Calif.; Seattle Theatre Group, Seattle, Wash.; Segerstrom Center for The Arts, Costa Mesa, Calif.; and White Bird, Portland, Ore.

Related Outreach Event:
Community Dance Class with Mark Morris Dance Group
Wed, May 9 / 5:30-7:30 PM
Gustafson Dance, 2285 Las Positas Rd, Santa Barbara
Registration: (805) 563-3262.
Observers welcome.
Co-presented with Gustafson Dance

Related Thematic Learning Initiative Event:
Mark Morris Dance Group, Dance for PD^®,
In partnership with Parkinson Association of Santa Barbara
Thu, May 10 / 10 AM / Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara
Registration recommended

View Program Page

Event Sponsor: G.A. Fowler Family Foundation

Additional Support: Marilyn & Dick Mazess 

Dance Series Sponsors: Annette & Dr. Richard Caleel Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Robert Feinberg and the Cohen Family Fund Irma & Morrie Jurkowitz Barbara Stupay

Media Sponsors:

Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture.