When you think of ballet, tutus and pointe shoes coupled with harps and dainty tremolos may come to mind. If you're expecting to experience that at the Kansas City Ballet this weekend, think again.
The Kansas City Symphony and Opus 76 quartet are joining forces with the ballet for performances of Alexander Ekman's "Cacti," a piece that flips preconceived notions about ballet on its head.
While symphony members will be safely tucked into the pit, Opus 76 will be sharing the stage with 16 dancers that, at times, will be manipulating wooden platforms and spiky succulents.
Alongside the dancers' prepared choreography, quartet members have a type of choreography of their own, as noted by Opus 76 violinist Keith Stanfield.
"I think in the case of our cellist, Dan Ketter, there's one particular move which is really fascinating and exciting that one of the ballerinas does. They slide like a soccer player, a sliding tackle and they come within about a foot of knocking him out."
Sharing the stage with the dancers presents another unique opportunity - the ability to witness the movements of those artists rather than being stuck in the "bottomless void" of an orchestral pit accompanying them.
Along with having an unconventional setup, "Cacti" takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to some of the pretensions that can surround high art critique, a sense of constantly interpreting and intellectualizing what you're witnessing rather than just taking it in and enjoying it.
These themes are explored primarily through the dancing, as Stanfield notes that the quartet is "there to help [the dancers] do their thing and to make them look as good as we can."
"There are not many cities like Kansas City in the world that have such support for the arts," Stanfield says, reflecting on the arts legacy in Kansas City.
"I'm just really keen to get more and more people aware of it. And I think all of us at our quartet are doing a very good job at that and it's a real pleasure to be doing that."
Keith Stanfield and the rest of the Opus 76 quartet will be joining the Kansas City Symphony and Kansas City Ballet for Alexander Ekman's "Cacti" this weekend. You can learn more about that performance at kcballet.org.
Learn more about Opus 76 at opus76.org.
