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Come Through: Bon Iver/Justin Vernon and TU Dance

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Jul 15, 2018
Category: Rock

There is “good,” and then there is “great,” and then, much higher on the quality scale, there is Bon Iver. Everything Justin Vernon and his band have done in the last decade has confirmed my early enthusiasm: This is important, original music that actually deserves to be called Art.

Now Vernon and his band have collaborated with Minnesota’s TU Dance on “Come Through,” directed and choreographed by Uri Sands; it premiered at the Palace Theatre in the Spring of 2018 as part of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series. Why this group? Why now? Vernon: “I’d never been moved by dance really before. What I came away with after seeing TU Dance perform for the first time is, like, there’s real pain, there’s real struggle, and there’s real redemption. I didn’t know bodies moving around to simple music could do that much.”

Their performance was taped; Twin Cities PBS has released a few performance videos and a “making of” video. No reason to watch the videos in order, but you might start with the “Making Of” video.

Or an excerpt.

Or “Naeem 2.”

Or “SDIAH.”

Art. Repeat as needed.