Di Grine Kuzine (The Green Cousin) – A Folk Ballet
Michael Bell
Di Grine Kuzine (The Green Cousin) – A Folk Ballet tells the story of a Jewish immigrant to America who discovers it is not all she reckoned it to be. Years of overwork and underpay in the garment industry in New York lead her to declare “Let Columbus’s land burn!” She switches to waiting on tables in a café. After having to refuse service to a homeless man with only a dollar to his name, the Green Cousin works together with him to organize a fairer, greener, and better-fed country.
Written by Elm Duo in 2022, and based on a famous Yiddish song from the 1920s, Di Grine Kuzine includes Yiddish, jazz, and Americana classic songs, as well as several Elm Duo originals, with choreography by Lisa Thurrell and Robert Cleary, co-artistic directors of Kanopy Dance.
Text written and music performed by Elm Duo
Eleanor Mayerfeld – violin, vocals, narration
Michael Bell – guitar, banjo, vocals, narration
Dance by Kanopy Dance
Miye Bishop, Sophie Brooks, Carolyn Fitzgibbons, Stormy Gaylord, Lena Komar, Nathan Castro Ilanos, Maddie Linbeck, Hannah King, Edward Salas, and Alex Trofka – dancers
Robert Cleary and Lisa Thurrell – choreography
On the Town
Michael Bell
Mozart, Bach, Bernstein, and Bell hit the town for this concert of orchestral stars. Known by some as “Madison’s violinist,” WCO Concertmaster Suzanne Beia showcases masterful musicianship and poise with Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5. Interludes of Bach and Bernstein set the stage for a collaboration with Kanopy Dance company, performing two works: ConFluence: A Prelude set to a new work by local composer Michael M. Bell, and Summer in the City set to Bernstein’s classic musical, On the Town. For more information, visit https://wcoconcerts.org/events/on-the-town.
About Composer Bell:
By day, Michael M. Bell is the Philip David Lowe Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But by night, he is a composer and performer. In 2010, he co-founded the award-winning quintet Graminy, whose four albums bring grassroots and classical music together in a style the group calls “class-grass.” Mike is also a prolific songwriter, focusing on social and environmental themes, often with a klezmer vibe. As part of Elm Duo, his duet with his daughter, Eleanor Mayerfeld, Mike previously co-composed two “folk ballets” for Kanopy Dance.
ConFluence: A Prelude
Michael Bell
ConFluence: A Prelude is the launch of a world premiere and a multi-phased, creative collaboration between Kanopy Dance and Madison composer, Michael Bell (Bell), that is designed to evolve over the course of several seasons. For the initial phase of this “master work in progress”, Kanopy’s co-artistic directors, Robert E. Cleary and Lisa Thurrell, will choreograph original dances (solos, duets, group ensembles) for three principal movements in Bell’s new symphony, Regeneration: A Pentalogy. In Regeneration: A Pentalogy—a dialogue of existence —Bell musically recounts five movements of life across the “spiral” of time: birth, youth, career, crisis, and realization. He celebrates the regenerative power of connecting to our ecosphere, particularly in the face of environmental upheavals like climate change. Bell also integrates Klezmer (traditional Jewish secular music) in his work, poignantly honoring the memory of his cherished father-in-law. The choreography for Regeneration: A Pentalogy, created by Cleary and Thurrell, will artfully move dancers through the “spiral of time”, and the rhythmic journey towards achieving equanimity attuning to nature’s essence. This is Cleary and Thurrell’s 3rd collaboration with Bell– the first two were staged at Wisconsin’s celebrated Fermentation Festival and Art DTour to his eclectic blend of acoustic folk, bluegrass, and jazz.
Experience the captivating journey of Confluence, a groundbreaking performance based on Michael Bell’s symphony, Regeneration. The first year of this three-year project is complete—resulting in three mesmerizing performances:
- Emergence: Witness the birth of musical evolution.
- Upheaval: Feel the intensity of transformation and change.
- Awakening: Experience the dawn of a new era.
Each performance is a testament to the power of music and artistry. This project will culminate in five movements. Join us on this extraordinary musical odyssey. Watch, listen, and immerse yourself in the symphonic journey of Confluence.
Food Up!
Valerie Stull, Shelbi Jentz, and Michael Bell
The Food Up! urban agriculture curriculum is an easy to use, modular lesson plan for anyone interested in teaching urban agriculture to youth. It is specifically designed to serve at-risk or special needs youth—relying on activity and picture heavy lessons that anyone can enjoy. Many existing urban agriculture curricula rely heavily on consistent attendance, classroom activities, reading and literacy skills, or long-term time investments. Reaching diverse audiences, such as at-risk or special needs youth, may best occur via less formal or structured interactions—with churches, non-profit organizations, community groups, neighborhood gardens, or after school programs. Adult leaders in these settings may not be trained in agriculture or have backgrounds in education. Thus, Food Up! is a flexible, easy to use, activity-based curriculum that can support better engagement and greater impact. Food Up! includes nine modules that cover a wide range of topics from food security and food justice to marketing and soil health, along with farming basics, climate change, and even nutrition. It utilizes games, hands-on activities, visuals, personal reflection, and group discussion to reach a wide array of students with variable educational backgrounds. The entire curriculum is available for public use at: https://thelandproject.org/food-up/.