DANCE
THURSDAY - SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 - 12*
7:30 THURSDAY - SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY

Mark Morris Dance Group
Mostly Mozart Festival
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall
10 Columbus Circle, Upper West Side, Manhattan

$40-$150
http://www.lincolncenter.org/mostly-mozart-festival/show/mark-morris-dance-group-1

Do I really have to write up Mark Morris?  Surely the most purely enjoyable of the world's great contemporary choreographers.  The most musical, as well.  And the leader of a great company of distinctive, characterful dancers.  This programs features two old favorites set not just to song, but to great great song:  Love Song Waltzes (to the eponymous, and quite delightful, Brahmssong collection) and I Don't Want to Love (to Monteverdi madrigals).  And, a new piece.  Set to Schubert's Trout Quintet!  A big component of Morris's shows is excellent live performances of the music; here, for example, the Monteverdi will be performed by some of New York City's top exponents of that composer -- and the pianist in the Trout will be no less than Inon Barnatan!

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  OK, here's the drill on Marea:  I myself think it's overrated.  I find the Italian seafood dishes there to be overelaborate and too heavy.  OTOH, you don't get to be one of the most consistently popular restaurants in the City (and get two Michelin stars) without appealing tosomeone, so maybe you'll disagree.  One way to find out.