The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra's Burdick Thorne String Quartet and Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers will perform at 3:00 PM Sunday, Apr 27 in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University. Part of the KSO's Sound Waves series, it offers a rare opportunity to experience modern dance and live classical music together. Jessica Mallow Gulley, President & CEO of the KSO, and Marisa Bianan, Artistic Director of Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers, speak with Cara Lieurance about the event in a "Let's Hear It" interview.
"We've been talking with Wellspring now for maybe two years trying to plan this collaboration," says Gulley, who adds, "We've had ... wonderful success doing that in the past and the ideas started spinning." The reason the Sound Waves series was created post-pandemic was to put "other genres of music and partnerships at the center of the series," she says.
Bianan is enthusiastic about the works Wellspring choreographed to the music, including a revival of a 1994 dance by Cori Terry to music by Lou Harrison. She credits Alexis Smith, Wellspring's rehearsal director, for her work on restaging the piece as part of their "legacy project," which involves archiving decades of choreography on VHS tapes.
Bianan also highlights a new work set to the music of Paul Hindemith, titled "Checks and Balances." "That one does live in a little more political tone," she reveals, adding, "If you're feeling at all ignited by what's happening in the world today, I would highly encourage you to join us on Sunday to see that expressed through beautiful movement and music but also with some edge to it."
Gulley underscores the unique nature of the collaboration, where "both groups are dancing and take these sort of equal parts in this intimate space."
Tickets and more information are available at the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra website.