It’s in keeping with modern dance company Wellspring’s self-celebratory ethos that the kickoff concert for their 45th season is titled “Epic Moments”.
The double entendre refers to works created in downtown Kalamazoo’s Epic Center, after the company relocated there from the Park Trades Center, presenting works created by Founder Cori Terry as well as current Artistic Director Marisa Bianan, who has led the company since last year.
But there’s no bifurcation here. Though its company members and artistic directors have changed over the years, it’s abundantly clear their purpose has remained consistent: “sparking movement in Kalamazoo” in the “hub of creativity, connection, and community” of the Epic Center, as interim Executive Director Julie White described in her curtain speech opening night.
This two-act, 90-minute show, primarily performed by its seven corps dancers, celebrates the company’s current moment by looking forward and looking back, with highlights shining through in the form of collaboration, particularly in the second act, dedicated to new works choreographed by Bianan.
“Woven Together” showcases Elaine Unzicker’s original costumes, each flowing piece painstakingly made of stainless steel chainmail, link by link, specifically for each of the six dancers. Costumes here came first and inspired the music, Ordo Virtutum, Pt. IV by Hildegard Von Bingen, the finale of a Medieval opera, and the movement, driven by largesse: undulations that emerge from deep, wide second; big, swaying arms; and enormous lifts.
With light, designed beautifully by Sam Snow, reflecting every shimmy, every curve of movement in the glorious costumes grounded by a heartbeat-like drum, this piece is both grounded and ethereal.
A brief documentary by Public Media Network profiles Unzicker and her process creating the costumes. She movingly speaks to the power of collaboration and how a world in which more artists can say “yes” leads to more beauty for us all. It leaves one hoping these costumes will get more stage time in future dances.
Act I is a brief greatest hits retrospective of Cori Terry’s dances. Rooted in Erick Hawkins’ style, these dances celebrate free-flowing movements—sliding, gliding, undulating lifts, balancing and separating, rolling and spinning, on the floor as well as leaping in the air. From 2008, “At This Very Moment Breaking” with pretty amber velour dresses by Patricia Plasko is followed by the short, intense “Dervish” from 2003. “Family Altar” completes Act I and introduces set pieces that represent the family dinner table, very pretty tableaus, as well as the marvelous guest artist Sam Crouch. He is so strong, elegantly expressive, and precise in movement, just watching him walk across the stage is riveting.
He is matched elegantly with Bianan in her “The Ground Has Thawed”, the show finale in several movements, shot through with wonderful lyricism and musicality, set to Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 4. Full of dramatic port de bras—sweeping, swirling lasso and helicopter arms punctuated by little leap, the dancers appear to swim through the music, and the extended pas de deux between Crouch and Bianan is powerful.
It’s a gorgeous 25-minute piece, a series of magical moments that speak to the promising future of this company.
With an eye toward its deep roots and longevity, Wellspring shows its commitment to continuing its long-standing commitments as well as building forward momentum in this Fall Concert of Dance.
Fall Concert of Dance: Epic Moments
Wellspring Dance
Nov. 21-23
https://wellspringdance.org/main-events/fall-concert-of-dance
