World Premiere

White Oak Dance Project, founded by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris, began its 1997 tour on the surprising, offcenter stage of the Hanover Plain. Baryshnikov and company spent two weeks at the Hopkins Center fine-tuning the program before taking it on the road to larger venues.

The Dartmouth connection? Through the New England Foundation for the Arts, the National Dance Project granted $100,000 to the Hopkins Center toward the commissioning of a new work by Meg Stuart. Stuart choreographed one of the three pieces in the White Oak premiere.

During his time on campus Misha (as Baryshnikov is known to his friends) and 28 designers, technicians, musicians, composers, choreographers, costumers, and company administrators blended seamlessly into Hanover life. Baryshnikov was anything but aloof. He dropped in on a group of Russian language students. He signed autographs after performances and chatted up the public in the Hop lobby. In fact, Baryshnikov, who has a reputation as a fan of gourmet fare, became a regular at the Hopkins Center Cafe ordering tuna melts and fries.

A couple of other Dartmouth connections: Howard Gilman '44 is a principal benefactor of the White Oak Dance Project. And David Finn '84 was the lighting designer for Merce Cunningham's Septet, which also was performed by White Oak.

Misha ate Hop fries.