FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Awen | [email protected] | awen.online
Media: mcw.edu/project-wonder/danse-lintervention
“Danse L’Intervention” — seven minutes of baroque strings and cutting-edge science — now streaming as part of MCW’s award-winning art-science program
Watch the Video
MILWAUKEE, WI — Awen and Ian “Cullah” McCullough today announced the release of a collaborative music video for Danse L’Intervention, the closing track of Cullah’s seventeenth studio album Cú Chulainn, created in partnership with Project Wonder: The Art of Science at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). The video is now live at mcw.edu/project-wonder/danse-lintervention.
The collaboration brings together one of Milwaukee’s most prolific independent artists and one of the Midwest’s premier academic medical centers — pairing Cullah’s sweeping, 7-minute baroque string epic with MCW’s pioneering approach to science communication through art. The result is a cinematic experience unlike anything either organization has produced: a piece where the drama of Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1874 Danse Macabre collides with the life-saving work happening inside MCW’s laboratories.
The video marks a milestone for Project Wonder, an initiative that has earned national recognition — including a prestigious GIA Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) — for its groundbreaking work in making biomedical research accessible, compelling, and human through artistic collaboration.
Nothing is off limits for Cullah creatively, and it may be his strongest asset as an artist.
Allen Halas, Breaking & Entering
The Music: A Baroque Epic for the Modern World
Danse L’Intervention is the fifth and final track on Cú Chulainn, Cullah’s ambitious 2025 studio album rooted in Irish mythology. At 7 minutes and 18 seconds, it is the album’s longest and most orchestrally complex piece — a heart-racing reworking of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre that showcases Cullah’s rare ability to inhabit multiple centuries at once.
The track features live string performances by the acclaimed Brusubardis family:
- Sonora Brusubardis — Violin I
- Kristian Brusubardis — Violin II
- Viktor Brusubardis — Cello
Recorded by engineer Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, the piece was written, produced, and arranged entirely by Cullah — adapting Saint-Saëns’ skeletal, dance-of-death imagery into something that breathes with new life and scientific purpose.
Piet Levy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described the album as “an ambitious five-song, 21-minute EP” that closes with “a heart-racing baroque string piece” — and Danse L’Intervention is exactly that.
Meet the Director: Wes Tank
The Danse L’Intervention music video was directed by Wes Tank, a Milwaukee-based multimedia artist, filmmaker, and founder of TankThink — a media production company known for inventive visual storytelling.
Tank rose to national prominence in 2020 when his Dr. Seuss-over-Dr. Dre rap videos went viral, earning coverage from SPIN, CNN, and HuffPost, and landing on Reddit’s front page. He has since launched StoryRaps, an original children’s series on Kidoodle.TV, and serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee.
Before his viral breakthrough, Tank built his career as a filmmaker and director through TankThink, producing music videos, documentaries, and creative campaigns across Milwaukee’s arts scene. His work on Danse L’Intervention brings a cinematic eye to the intersection of classical music and biomedical science — translating the drama of Cullah’s baroque composition into a visually stunning narrative.
Learn more at tankthink.org/westank
Inspiration & Featuring: Ginny McCullough
Ginny McCullough, MSN, FNP, APNP is the inspiration behind and featured subject of of Cú Chulainn — A vascular neurology nurse practitioner at the Medical College of Wisconsin and stroke survivor, Ginny brings a deeply personal connection to the intersection of science and art that defines this collaboration.
In January 2016, Ginny — then a 54-year-old active mother of six — suffered a massive stroke while playing forward for her women’s soccer team. She was rushed to Froedtert Hospital at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where a pioneering mechanical thrombectomy procedure saved her life and led to a near-full recovery. The experience transformed her career: she returned to nursing as a stroke care specialist at the very hospital that saved her, helping other patients navigate the same journey she had survived.
Her story has been featured by WISN and Froedtert & MCW as a testament to the life-saving research happening at the Medical College of Wisconsin — the same institution whose Project Wonder program now hosts Cullah’s music video. That Ginny’s son would one day collaborate with MCW through art is a full-circle moment that underscores the deeply personal roots of Danse L’Intervention.
Connect with Ginny on LinkedIn
About Project Wonder: The Art of Science at MCW
Project Wonder is an initiative of the Medical College of Wisconsin that pairs basic and translational scientists with Milwaukee-area artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and storytellers — translating cutting-edge biomedical research into bold, imaginative artistic works that speak to the public without sacrificing scientific integrity.
Since its launch, Project Wonder has reached more than 1.5 million people nationally and globally through video, photography, animation, sculpture, and written narrative. The program received a Group on Institutional Advancement (GIA) Award from the AAMC, recognizing it as one of the most innovative science communication efforts at an academic medical center in the United States.
Danse L’Intervention represents the program’s first deep collaboration with a Milwaukee musician on a video piece of this scale. Learn more at mcw.edu/project-wonder.
Meet the Producer: Alex Boyes
Alex Boyes is the Senior Creative Consultant at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the driving force behind Project Wonder: The Art of Science. With over a decade of expertise in digital media, creative direction, and brand strategy, Boyes conceived and leads the initiative that pairs MCW scientists with Milwaukee-area artists to translate cutting-edge biomedical research into compelling public-facing art.
Under Boyes’ leadership, Project Wonder has produced the award-winning MCW Impact video series and earned the AAMC GIA Award — one of the highest honors in academic medical center communications. His work spans animation, sound design, photography direction, and creative project management, reaching more than 1.5 million people globally. The Danse L’Intervention collaboration represents his vision of using music as a vehicle for science storytelling at its most ambitious scale.
Connect with Alex on LinkedIn
Medical College of Wisconsin — Milwaukee’s premier academic medical center and a national leader in research, education, and community engagement. mcw.edu
Science tells us what is possible. Art shows us why it matters. Danse L’Intervention is both at once.
Project Wonder, Medical College of Wisconsin
About Cullah
Cullah (Ian McCullough) is a Milwaukee-based multi-disciplinary artist, producer, and engineer who has released a new studio album every year on his birthday — April 27 — since 2006. Cú Chulainn is his 17th studio release, and among his most ambitious: a suite of five pieces rooted in Celtic mythology, performed with live classical musicians, and released on vinyl, CD, and digital formats under open Creative Commons licensing.
Cullah has been described as “The Beck of Milwaukee” for his genre-spanning approach — touching electronica, hip-hop, psychedelic folk, baroque, and experimental music across his catalog. His work has been licensed for The Expendables 4, multiple video games, and numerous television productions. He is a 2023 WAMI Award winner (Unique Album of the Year) and a two-time finalist at the NEWM Music Video Festival.
Stream Cú Chulainn and explore Cullah’s full catalog at cullah.com.
Stills from the Video
Full Collaborator Credits
| Director & Editor | Wes Tank, TankThink |
| Project Wonder | Alex Boyes, Medical College of Wisconsin |
| Music Written & Produced by | Cullah (Ian McCullough) |
| Inspiration & Featuring | Ginny McCullough, MSN, FNP, APNP, Vascular Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin |
| Violin I | Sonora Brusubardis |
| Violin II | Kristian Brusubardis |
| Cello | Viktor Brusubardis |
| Recording Engineer | Josh Evert, Silver City Studios |
| Ribbon Dancer | Mie |
| Filmed on location at | Froedtert Hospital, Cudahy Middle School, Washington Park Media Center |
| Source Material | Adapted from Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns (1874) |
About Awen: Awen is a Milwaukee-based creative agency and production studio founded by artist Ian “Cullah” McCullough and Maggie Schmidt. Awen produces original music, video, live events, and digital experiences — with clients and collaborators spanning music, blockchain, civic advocacy, and the arts. Recent projects include the peer-to-peer music licensing platform Sync.Land, social media campaigns for the Wisconsin Blockchain Business Council, and video production for Rare Network. awen.online
About TankThink: TankThink is a Milwaukee-based media production company founded by filmmaker and multimedia artist Wes Tank. Known for inventive visual storytelling, TankThink produces music videos, documentaries, branded content, and creative campaigns. Tank rose to national prominence in 2020 with his viral Dr. Seuss-over-Dr. Dre rap videos (covered by SPIN, CNN, HuffPost) and created StoryRaps, an original children’s series on Kidoodle.TV. He serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. tankthink.org
About the Medical College of Wisconsin: The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is a leading academic medical center in Milwaukee, WI, committed to advancing health through research, education, patient care, and community engagement. MCW is home to Project Wonder: The Art of Science, an AAMC GIA Award-winning initiative that pairs biomedical scientists with Milwaukee-area artists to translate cutting-edge research into compelling public-facing art — reaching more than 1.5 million people globally. MCW is affiliated with Froedtert Hospital, where the real-life stroke treatment depicted in Danse L’Intervention took place. mcw.edu
Media inquiries: [email protected]
