Ballet was codified in France, and the movement vocabulary matches the French language: beautiful, slippery, subtle. The roots of modern dance are American, and Seattle-born Mark Morris uses that idiom to create a kind of schoolyard in the studio. Members of the Mark Morris Dance Group hop and skip and slide on stage. They are superlative versions of the kids we once were, and the choreography recalls playtime from long ago. Yet Morris sets those steps to two classical concertos in his three-year-old colllection Mozart Dances. The piece matches the lyricism and delicacy of the score, played here by the Seattle Symphony with guest pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Yoko Nozaki. But it is fundamentally a dance of human beings, grown-up children, and the games they might play. Also note that for adults over 21, a separate admission ($20) karaoke party immediately follows the performance, with some dancers expected to attend; RSVP recommended. SANDRA KURTZ

Fri., May 1, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 2, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 3, 2 p.m., 2009