Composer, musician and bandleader Richard Grimes knows when to get out of the way. Thursday night at the Culture Center Theater, the West Virginia Dance Company will dance to one of his compositions.

The piece is a reflection of the brown bear in Dr. Seuss’s, “ My Many Colored Days .” The dance is about bears in hibernation, and it’s a late edition to the program.

Speaking by phone from his new home in Minneapolis, the composer agreed it was an unusual idea, but unusual is part of his brand. This piece wasn’t his idea, though, but came from the West Virginia Dance Company’s artistic director, Toneta Akers-Toler.

Grimes liked the challenge of pursuing novel topics. He does the same thing with his progressive chamber music group, Cordis .

“We think of these theme shows,” he said. “Li

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