Strokes Through The Tail
Marguerite Donlon found inspiration in Mozart's Symphony No. 40 and the dancers' personalities to create a work that combines virtuosic dancing with a delightful hint of irreverence. Intrigued by Mozart's style of musical notation, Donlon reveals a tightly knit work in which the dancers personify the structural patterns of musical notes on a page and balletic details to capture the composer's ingenious wit and humor.
Click here to watch a video of Marguerite Donlon's Strokes Through The Tail

Seeing such gifted dancers in exquisite choreography performed to timeless music played by some of the world's finest instrumentalists was thrilling. The dancers seemed to be borne aloft and swept across the stage by the sheer physical presence of such magnificent live music.
Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun-Times, December 2005

The whinnying Mozart depicting in "Amadeus" would have enjoyed a good horselaugh at Donlon's piece…for certain the rest of us did… Donlon is unafraid to go against the grain of the music, creating a counterpoint of delicious, never malicious, irony. The sight gags whiz by so fast you really need multiple viewings to appreciate their subtlet.
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, December 2005

Marguerite Donlon (Choreographer) was born in County Longford, Ireland and worked as a solo dancer and choreographer with the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 1990. Prior to that she danced with the English National Ballet with Peter Schaufuss, and has worked with leading international choreographers Jirí Kylián, William Forsythe, Meg Stuart, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Bill T Jones and Maurice Béjart. Ms Donlon has choreographed several works, including Celtic Touch and Patch of Grass, for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Taboo or Not for Vienna State Ballet. She has also created pieces for Nederlands Dans Theater II, Stuttgart Ballet and Komische Oper Berlin. Ms Donlon's installation works and dance films have been shown in museums and films festivals in Europe and the USA. In 2001, she was appointed Artistic Director of the Saarlaendisches Staatstheater Ballet Saarbrücken in Germany (now named Donlon Dance Company), where she has created a considerable body of new work including full length ballets Carmen-Privat and Midsummer Night's Dream, and her forthcoming Giselle Reloaded. Collaborative work with composers such as Claas Willeke and Sam Auniger, video artists and live musicians have become a regular occurrence and key to the uniqueness of the Donlon Dance Company. 2001 also marked her first collaboration with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for the creation of Reverse Deconstruct. Blind Date, for Donlon Dance Co, earned her company awards from Ballettanz for "Best Premiere for 2004" and "Best Male Dancer." In 2005, Donlon was recognized by Die Zeit for the "Most significant development in politics and the art" as well as by Arnd Wesemann of Ballettanz as "One of the thirty-seven artists who carry hope and can move the future of dance."

Strokes Through The Tail has been generously underwritten by John and Caroline Ballantine, Meg and Tim Callahan, Joel and Katie Cory, Sidney and Sondra Berman Epstein and Jim and Kay Mabie.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: Strokes Through The Tail Photo © & courtesy of Todd Rosenberg

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: Strokes Through The Tail Photo © & courtesy of Todd Rosenberg

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: Strokes Through The Tail Photo © & courtesy of Todd Rosenberg