By Jill Overacker, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival

On Sunday, December 11 the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival held its annual benefactor appreciation event. The event echoed the Festival’s collaborative theme by featuring artistic director and pianist James Tocco, and Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (EDE) artistic director Laurie Eisenhower. Tocco and Eisenhower worked together to reveal the relationship between music and dance.

Eisenhower, with the help of EDE dancers Alicia Cutaia, Andrew Cribbett and EDE apprentice Justine Gagne, demonstrated how a choreographer begins to “set” a work on dancers. To start off the demonstration, Eisenhower first taught the dancers a short sequence of moves. She then asked them to develop the dance over a 15-minute period of time based on the sequence. As the EDE dancers were working, Eisenhower, with the help of Tocco, set about describing the way that music influences dance and how choreographers create dance from music. Tocco played a number of selections on the piano and Eisenhower reacted to each piece, describing the type of choreography she would consider using. When the EDE dancers returned, they performed their developed interpretation of the dance for the attendees as Eisenhower critiqued their work.

The event was attended by 43 supporters of the Festival, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings. Highlights of the evening were learning about the choreographic process, experiencing professional dance, as well as hearing intimate music performed by Tocco. The event sets the tone for the 2012 Festival which will feature the collaborative efforts of Festival artists, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, and Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings.