Midwest RAD FEST – it’s short for Regional Alternative Dance Festival, and it’s been bringing dance annually to Kalamazoo for fourteen years. RAD Fest is hosted and supported by Southwest Michigan's oldest professional dance company, Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers. Rachel Miller, the curator of the festival, has been in that position for twelve years, although she’s been a part of it since it began, first as a dancer herself.
“We have more than 200 dancers who come in from all over the country and all over the world to perform and to teach and to network,” says Miller. “Wellspring created the festival. This is the 14th year. They used to do something called the Dance Forum, in which they invited local choreographers to come and show their work. This festival was an attempt to expand the forum. Wellspring has funded it and produces it.”
At its inception, the Dance Forum had about 15 choreographers participating and a couple of master classes, Miller says. New additions over the years include a youth program for dancers who are 18 years old or younger. Also added this year are a screen dance and four shows featuring the work of seven choreographers in a professional series, along with up to eight master classes, networking discussions, and artist talks.
“It’s really expanded over the years,” Miller says. “The success of this festival has spread throughout the dance community all over the nation and also all over the world, so we get people who show work from California, from Texas, from Iran—we have a screen dance this year from Iran—and we’ve had people come in to perform from China, from Japan, and from the Ivory Coast.”
RAD Fest offers audience development events such as open rehearsals, Q & A sessions, open lectures, and interactive performances. The festival will take place March 3-5, 2023, at the Epic Center in Kalamazoo. Tickets can be purchased online. Call 269.250.6984 for more information.
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