Press coverage
Time Out, 17 - 24 June 1992
The Guardian, 18 June 1982:
"Until recently, one of the more conspicuous posters decorating London streets was that of a pop art vagina, its heavy black outlines offsetting concentric circles of blinding fuchsia and gaudily unreal flesh tones. Accompanying the image was the legend "Mmm . . .", a clever, but also knowingly suggestive abbreviation of Michael Clark's Modem Masterpiece" (Sophie Constanti)
Time Out, 17 - 24 June 1992:
"Set to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Clark uses the music, and the earthly life-cycle of the original's theme, as a springboard for his most developed and streamlined dance work yet. Yes, he-plunders other musical sources (the Sex Pistols, T-Rex and Sondheim); yes, his 68-year-old mother bares her breasts and re-enacts the birth of her son (Bessie Clark is powerfully effective as the Sage); and yes, his old chum Leigh Bowery has designed the costumes and puts in a few scene stealing appearances. But there is more substance to this work than anything its creator has done before." (Christopher Bowen)
The Independent on Sunday, 7 June 1992:
Modem Masterpiece includes a remarkable debut - that of 63-year-old Bessie Clark, his mother. She cut a cosy figure at rehearsal, sitting on the floor in her neat powder-blue tracksuit, reading her Daily Mail and smoking (the dance world seems to be the last refuge of smokers) before strolling on to do her scene. She plays the Sage in The Rite of Spring. Michael cast her originally because she wanted to come on the tour to Japan, and he said if she did, she'd have to work - but now, he says, he sees that she is perfectly cast because "she is quite honestly the wisest person I know. She plays herself: I don't ask her to pretend." (Lynn Barber)
Frieze, September 1992:
"With tracks by the Sex Pistols and Public Image blaring from loud speakers, Clark’s London premiere of Mmm… kicked off more like a rock concert than a dance performance. One by one, the company (Joanna Barrett, Matthew Hawkins, Julie Hood and Clark) bolted across the stage costumed like Harlequins from the Starship Silly." (Richard Flood - read full article)
Time Out, 17 - 24 June 1992:
"In Modem Masterpiece Clark has found a new purity and subtlety of movement to place beside the exhilarating density of his dance. In Julie Hood and Matthew Hawkins he has long-time associates who understand and interpret his work like no others; and in Joanne Barrett he has discovered a sensational new dancer whose virtuoso talents are stretched to extraordinary limits. (Christopher Bowen)
What’s On In London, 17 - 24 June 1992:
"Mmm… takes its stimulus from The Rites of Spring, the ballet that Nijinsky and Diaghilev made infamous in 1913. Clark mixes Stravinsky’s music with The Sex Pistols. He chose to perform at the King’s Cross Depot not only for its seedy location, but also for its specific shape and size: “I wanted to create an urban cave, and the Depot was the nearest I could find,” he says. “It feels like the natural home for Modern Masterpiece. The audience will sit on two sides and, and they and the dancers will be reflected in huge mirrors, so that people will be able to see themselves as well as what seems to be double the amount of dancers.” (Andrea Phillips)
The List, 12 February 2007:
"In recent London performances of Mmm..., Clark himself has stepped into the role played by Leigh Bowery. At the age of 44, Clark’s appearances on stage have steadily decreased, but he’s not quite ready to disappear behind the scenes just yet. ‘I would never ask myself to do what my dancers are doing now, because I’m not capable of it,’ says Clark. ‘But dancing is so satisfying. When it’s going well, nothing beats it.’ He pauses and laughs ironically before adding ‘It’s better than any drug.’" (Kelly Apter - read full article)
Evening Standard, 4 June 1992:
“The show is particularly important to Clark because is heralds his comeback, it is also, he says, "the bravest thing we've ever done"
[…]
“The CIark who made a quiet exit in 1988 has returned, ready to confound all our expectations yet again.” (Sophie Constanti)