Artistic Director Debra Loewen Reckless Wonders 8 PM, April 30 – May 2, 2015 The Milwaukee Rep’s Stiemke Studio Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex Wild Space Dance Company: Angela Frederick, Mauriah Kraker, Monica Rodero, Daniel Schuchart, Yeng Vang-Strath Guest Artist: Ex Fabula Guest Choreographers: Selene Carter, Katie Sopoci Drake, Susan Marshall Guest Performers: Suzanne Lappas, Tracy Lehrmann, Stephanie Nugent Stage Manager/Lighting Designer: David Gipson SCOTT R. WICK, AWM Senior Vice President -Financial Advisor Branch Director RBC Wealth Management Reckless Wonders 1 R E C K L E S S WO N D E R S Clever Homini Choreography: Katie Sopoci Drake & Javier Marchan Ramos Performers: Katie Sopoci Drake & Mauriah Kraker Music: Colin Stetson “And then…” a true story with Ex Fabula Storyteller: Tracy Lehrmann Voice and Story Telling Direction: Karen Kolberg Performer: Angela Frederick Katherinette Choreography: Selene Carter Performers: Suzanne Lappas & Stephanie Nugent Music: Delirio Amoroso, Magda Kalmar, soprano, G.F. Handel Costume design: Amy Burrell Lighting design: Aaron Bowersox Outer Dark Choreography & Performer: Mauriah Kraker Music: Tiny Vipers, Senking Sound, excerpt from Cloudless Choreography: Susan Marshall in collaboration with the original cast Performers: Monica Rodero & Daniel Schuchart Staging: Kristen Hollinsworth Original cast: Kristen Hollinsworth and Joseph Poulson INTERMISSION Carried Away Choreography: Debra Loewen in collaboration with the company Performers: Mauriah Kraker, Monica Rodero, Dan Schuchart, Yeng Vang-Strath Music: Duo d’Entre Deux (Tommy Davis & Nick Zoulek) Special Thanks: Tommy Davis & Nick Zoulek, Allyson Green, Daniel Grego, Tony Lyons, Megan McGee, Molly Mingey, Noele Stollmack, Sheri Urban, Michelle Usadel, Melissa Vartanian, Ex Fabula, The Milwaukee Repertory Theater, RitzHolman CPAs, UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts Dance Department, Wild Space Board of Directors This performance is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts Katherinette was created as a part of the DEVICES: Choreographic Intensive, a mentoring program of Doug Varone and Dancers, made possible with generous funding support from the New York Community Trust. The program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. The tour of this work is supported in part by the Indiana University College Arts & Humanities Institute. Cover photo: Paul Mitchell 2 Wild Space Dance Company PROGR A M NOTES Inspired by the creative daring that artists and performers bring to their craft, Reckless Wonders reflects Wild Space’s commitment to fostering the work of emerging choreographers and cross-discipline collaborations. This also marks the first time Wild Space and Ex Fabula storytelling collective will work together. There is a natural connection between dance and storytelling. Sharing a personal story on stage takes boldness and a sense of adventure, much like a dancer committing to new ideas in front of an audience. This performance offered the perfect opportunity to explore that connection with Ex Fabula. Tonight is a full program that shows the artistic range Wild Space embraces and shares with the community. In addition to excerpts from our New York tour, we welcome past company members Katie Sopoci Drake, now in Washington, DC, and Selene Carter of Indiana University-Bloomington to share their work. Selene’s Katherinette is a wistful postmodern take on Handel’s aria Il delirio amoroso (The Delirium of Love), an ode to mythical heroine Chloris and her unrequited love of Thyrsis. Clever Hominini was originally created and performed by Katie and another Wild Space alum Javier Marchan Ramos for our 25th Anniversary show, Wild Night. I am pleased to present a duet by acclaimed New York choreographer Susan Marshall set on Monica Rodero and Dan Schuchart. Monica and Dan performed the piece on the Minnesota Fringe Festival to rave reviews and presented it in their solo show this past fall. It is such a striking work by two compelling performers that I felt it deserved an expanded showing. Adding to the mix is a riveting new solo by Mauriah Kraker, who will produce a solo show this summer. I am deeply grateful to all the performers and choreographers for joining us for Reckless Wonders and to David Gipson for sharing his expertise as lighting designer and stage manager. As always, we are thankful to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and their staff for making our annual show at the Stiemke a night to remember. Enjoy the performance! Debra Loewen Wild Space Artistic Director BIOGR APHIES Debra Loewen, Artistic Director, founded Wild Space Dance Company in 1986 following a career as an independent choreographer and solo performer. She has created more than 120 works for the company, many of which have been performed to critical acclaim throughout Wisconsin and in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Japan, and South Korea. Debra’s signature works are site-specific performances and collaborations with artists. Featured in Dance Magazine, her sitespecific work has brought renewed interest and recognition to Milwaukee landmarks, such as Historic Turner Ballroom, the Lynden Sculpture Garden, the former Pabst Brewery, Menomonee Valley and, this past fall, Schlitz Park. She has worked collaboratively with nationally known artists Jill Sebastian and Tom Bamberger on critically acclaimed multi-media performance events, including Art of the Ordinary (2005), By Accident & Necessity (2010) and In the Space Between (2011). Over the past two decades, Debra has earned multiple choreographic fellowships from Milwaukee County, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2009, she received a commendation from the Milwaukee County Historical Society for her history-based work and was selected by the Milwaukee Arts Board in 2011 as an Artist of the Year. Currently a senior lecturer at UW-Milwaukee, she has taught for Lawrence Reckless Wonders 3 BIOGR APHIES c o n t. University, the University of Delaware and Alverno College, and leads Wild Space’s residencies at Lawrence University and Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts. Selene Carter, Guest Choreographer, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work integrates improvisation, site specific performance, interdisciplinary collaboration and reconfigurations of historic dances. A certified instructor in the Bill Evan’s Laban based modern dance technique, she received Chicago’s highest honor for dance, the Ruth Page Award for her improvised dance performances. Her writing on dance improvisation was published in Bodies, Identity, Performance and Technology: Practices of Empowerment, Embodiment and Technicity, Palgrave-Macmillan, London, 2012. She was chosen as one of sixteen choreographers to participate in Doug Varone’s Devices, a choreographic intensive that resulted in the CHIN (choreographic intensive) Festival, presented at the Harkness Dance Center/92nd Street Y in September 2014. Selene was briefly a member of Wild Space from 1989-1990 and has worked closely with Deb and the company since 2000. She considers Deb Loewen her most vital creative mentor and compatriot. She received her MFA in Dance from UWM in 2005. Susan Marshall, Guest Choreographer, is the artistic director of Susan Marshall & Company, and has, since 1985, created over 40 dances on her company, in addition to works for the Lyon Opera Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. In its home base of NYC, the company has performed most frequently at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (six seasons), and Dance Theater Workshop, as well as at The Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, and Baryshnikov Arts Center; it has also toured extensively across the US and overseas, including appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, Spoleto Festival, and Pina Bausch’s Internationales Tanzfestival NRW. Marshall’s work with Philip Glass includes the stage direction of Book of 4 Wild Space Dance Company Longing, a song cycle based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen; and the choreography, direction and co-adaptation of Les Enfants Terribles, a dance opera based on the work of Jean Cocteau. Marshall has also choreographed/directed the music ensembles Eighth Blackbird and Bang on a Can’s Asphalt Orchestra. A 2000 recipient of a MacArthur fellowship, Marshall has received numerous other awards, including three New York Dance and Performance Awards (BESSIES) for Outstanding Choreographic Achievement. In addition to her own company’s work, Marshall serves as Director of Dance at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. Katie C. Sopoci Drake, Guest Choreographer, MFA, GL-CMA, is a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher specializing in Labanbased contemporary dance. Currently a core collaborator of Mountain Empire Performance Collective and a company member of Rebollar Dance, past company credits include Mordine and Company Dance Theater of Chicago, Momentum Dance Company of Miami, Wild Space, and Rosy Simas Danse of Minneapolis. Katie has also made appearances with Clancyworks, Core Project, Brazz Dance, Your Mother Dances, The Florentine Opera, The Minnesota Opera and many more. Her critically acclaimed choreography has been performed across the country by many of the companies and colleges she has been with and her works have been performed on stages such as The Colony Theater in Miami, The Southern Theater of Minneapolis, The Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Katie has been on faculty at the University of Maryland - College Park, UW-Milwaukee, Nova Southeastern University, Miami Dade College-Wolfson, Miami Dade College-Kendall, Carthage College, and Lawrence University. Katie holds an MFA in Dance from UW-Milwaukee, a Graduate Laban Certification in Movement Analysis from Columbia College - Chicago, and a BA in Theater/Dance with a minor in Vocal Performance from Luther College. BIOGR APHIES c o n t. Angela Frederick is happy to join Wild Space for her eighth season with the company. After graduating with a BFA in dance from UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, Angela established her presence in the Milwaukee arts scene by teaching dance and gymnastics, and performing with various local companies including Danceworks, the Florentine Opera Company, Dale Gutzman Productions, and City Ballet Theatre/Signatures Contemporary Dance Company. While performing with City Ballet Theatre, Angela made her move to Chicago and began working with Kinetic Dance Theatre. During her time in Chicago she was a company member with Perceptual Motion Inc, Irreverence Dance+Theatre, and Jayson Dance Co. Angela has choreographed and appeared in work with Solstance, Around the Coyote Dance Festival, and Dance Chicago. Angela can be seen in the Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival’s awardwinning film The Table. Since her return to Milwaukee, she has performed the role of Margot in the Florentine Opera’s The Merry Widow and has been enjoying dancing and teaching for UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Turners and for Wild Space at Lawrence University. Mauriah Donegan Kraker has created site specific projects on printing presses in Germany, in rivers in the Midwest, under bridges in Taiwan, and in Bangkok’s zombie buildings. Accepted as an MFA Candidate at Taipei National University of the Arts, she began her studies there as well as with Assembly Dance Theatre in Taiwan. In the States, she has worked extensively for Pilobolus Creative Services, appeared on Conan O’Brien, and now calls Wild Space her home. She recently completed a six-month mentorship with Doug Varone and Dancers (NYC) and presented work at the 92nd Street Y as part of the CHIN Project. Her work has been presented at Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, WTF Gallery in Bangkok, and all over the Midwest. Suzanne Lappas is a professional dance artist whose career has taken her from her native Indiana to the San Francisco Bay Area and home again, with some traveling and international touring along the way. Suzanne’s work is based in release technique, improvisation, contact improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. In San Francisco she was a collaborative member of Avy K Productions, Kunst-Stoff, Limbinal (co-founder), Lisa Townsend Company, MotionLab/La Alternativa, ODC Dance, Project Agora, Scott Wells & Dancers, and Smith-Wymore Disappearing Acts. She has also been a guest performer with David Dorfman Dance, the Joe Goode Performance Group, and Robert Moses’ Kin. Currently, she is creating and performing with Stephanie Nugent and Selene Carter. Performance accolades include “San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Ten Performances” and “Top Bay Area Artist.” Suzanne is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Theater Drama, and Contemporary Dance at IU Bloomington. Previous teaching engagements include Sonoma State University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis. Suzanne holds a BA in Political Science and French and a BS in Nursing. Stephanie Nugent is a choreographer, performer, and educator of contemporary dance, dance theater, and improvisation. Originally from North Carolina, with 18 years based in Southern California, Stephanie has toured internationally as a member of the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, Keith Johnson/Dancers, Victoria Marks, Malashock Dance and Company, and Nugent Dance. Her choreographic work seeks to inspire in audiences recognition of one’s own kinesthetic intelligence, and to stimulate discourse on important social subjects including violence, tolerance, and empathy. She offers workshops and residencies in contemporary dance technique, contact improvisation, composition, creative movement, and facilitates Hourglass, a participatory community event with live and electronic music and video, created with composer/violinist Robin Cox. Stephanie has earned BFA in Modern Dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA in Choreography and Performance from California State University, Long Beach. Reckless Wonders 5 BIOGR APHIES c o n t. Her honors also include a Lester Horton Award for Performance and the Individual Artist Award in Choreography from the Santa Barbara Arts Fund. She has served on full-time and tenured faculty at University of California-Santa Barbara and California Institute of the Arts, and as guest artist/ adjunct faculty at The Ohio State University and Brigham Young University. She currently teaches at Indiana University-Bloomington and Ball State University. Monica Rodero received a BFA in Dance from the UW-Milwaukee and her MFA degree in Experimental Choreography at the University of California-Riverside. Monica began her professional career with Wild Space, where she performed, collaborated, choreographed and taught as Associate Artistic Director. She frequently works as an independent choreographer and performer, and has produced and presented her own work including independent dance concerts, and interactive multimedia gallery events. Working in frequent collaboration with Daniel Schuchart, their choreography has been presented by UW-Milwaukee, UCR, Wild Space, Your Mother Dances, Danceworks, Kunzelmann-Esser Loft Galleries of Milwaukee, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, IndyFringe Festival, Project 418 in Santa Cruz, California, Saint Mark’s Church in New York City, and in Washington State by the Cody Rivers Show. With an emphasis in dance, yoga and other movement disciplines, Monica taught for UW-Milwaukee, Lawrence University, UCR, Milwaukee Public Schools, YMCA, Danceworks, and Wild Space. Daniel Schuchart is an interdisciplinary artist and teacher. He creates and produces work in collaboration with Monica Rodero and their work has been presented throughout the US, including California, New York City and Seattle. Dan earned BFA degrees in both Dance and Painting/ Drawing from UW-Milwaukee and an MFA in Choreography from the University of California-Riverside. For the past 14 years, Dan has worked with Wild Space Dance Company as a company member, choreographer, and recently as Associate 6 Wild Space Dance Company Artistic Director. Dan has taught dance and movement studies at Lawrence University, UCR, and been a guest teacher at UWMilwaukee, UW-Whitewater, Milwaukee Ballet, and the American College Dance Festival. Yeng Vang-Strath graduated with her BFA in dance from UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts in 2010. She is ecstatic to be performing again with Wild Space. While at UW-Milwaukee, she danced for Simone Ferro, Elizabeth Johnson and guest artist Suniti Dernovsek in Always Merry and Bright. She has danced and performed in San Diego with Mesa College, Jean Isaacs Dance Theatre, and Ballettiquette dance studio. In New York, she studied at the Broadway Dance Center with various professionals, including Kat Wildish, David Howard, and Finis Jung. Yeng is a very happy individual who simply enjoys dancing, teaching, performing, learning and most of all, being with her family. David Gipson, Lighting Designer/Stage Manager, is a freelance lighting designer and has been designing professionally for over 30 years. Milwaukee credits include The Good Father at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and The Snow Dragon at Skylight Music Theatre. He was a company member with Teatro Vista Theatre Company in Chicago and is the Resident Artist at Unity Theatre in Brenham, Texas. Among his Off Broadway credits are Runt of the Litter for MCC and at 37 Arts. Regional credits include The Late Henry Moss and Thief River at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Chicago credits include Our Town for Steppenwolf’s Arts Exchange; and Falling in Love with Love for the National Jewish Theater in Skokie, Illinois. He designed over 100 productions in Chicago, including productions for The Goodman Studio, Victory Gardens Theatre, Pegasus Players, Organic Theatre, Oak Park Festival, Teatro Vista, and City Lit Theatre. In Houston, he worked with Stages Repertory Theatre, Main Street Theatre, Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Catastrophic Theatre and The Ensemble Theatre, among many others. He has been a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 since 1997. A B O U T E X FA B U L A Ex Fabula is a Milwaukee non-profit that strengthens community bonds through the art of storytelling. Ex Fabula facilitates a monthly StorySlam series, storytelling workshops, community collaborations and other storytelling experiences where individuals share their true, personal stories, actively listen, empathize with each other, and meaningfully connect. Ex Fabula stories can also be heard on 89.7 WUWM on Saturdays and Sundays at 3 pm. Everyone has a story to share, and Ex Fabula looks forward to hearing yours. Ex Fabula ALLSTARS Wednesday, May 13 • Doors 6:30PM | Show 7:30PM | Turner Hall Ballroom At Ex Fabula’s monthly StorySlams, audience members can put their names in the hat for a chance to share a true, personal story on stage. Then, at Ex Fabula ALL STARS, Audience Favorite storytellers from the past season return to the stage with new 10-minute, true and personal stories on the theme of “Nitty Gritty.” Audience members can submit UltraShorts – 2-3 line true personal stories also on the night’s theme – which are read by the emcee throughout the evening. At the end of the night, the audience will crown the Season 6 Audience Favorite. For more details and tickets, visit www.exfabula.com A B O U T W I L D S PAC E Founded by Artistic Director Debra Loewen, Wild Space Dance Company is celebrating three decades of inventive performances and innovative outreach programs. Its mission is to expand the audience for contemporary dance through performance and outreach programs in the greater Milwaukee area and throughout southeastern Wisconsin, reaching diverse communities. Known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, Wild Space takes audiences on adventures through built and natural landscapes, visual art, history and the human condition through wry humor, clever choreography and emotionally-charged dance. The company has toured to Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, South Korea and Japan. A company-in-residence at Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts in Milwaukee and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wild Space performs and conducts workshops for young people at schools throughout Milwaukee. Over the past two seasons, Wild Space reached more than 17,000 people. Wild Space Dance Company is operated by Wild Space, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is an affiliate of the United Performing Arts Fund. WILD SPACE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Anne Wing Hamilton, President..........................................................................................................UW-Whitewater Kirsten Mulvey, Vice President.................................................................................... Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Tricia Knight, Treasurer........................................................................................................................ RitzHolman CPAs Karen Campbell, Secretary...................................................................................................... Community Volunteer Meghan Coffey...................................................................................................................................Foley & Lardner, LLP Daniel Grego, Ph.D. ...................................................................................................................... TransCenter for Youth Tony Horne................................................................................................... UW- Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts Margaret Howland..................................................................................................................ABOVE VIEW by Tiles, Inc. Will Hughes...................................................................................................................................... Northwestern Mutual Julie Kerksick.............................................................................................................................. Public Policy Consultant Lisa Lawless................................................................................................................... Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. Jean Novy........................................................................................................................................ Community Volunteer Kate Venne............................................................................................................................Capstone National Partners Wild Space Dance Company 820 E. Knapp Street, P.O. Box 511665, Milwaukee, WI 53203 414/271-0307, www.wildspacedance.org, [email protected] Artistic Director: Debra Loewen, Managing Director: Sheri Urban Reckless Wonders 7 DONORS HONOR ROLL Wild Space thanks the following donors (April 2014–April 2015) for their generous support. Major Donations-in-Kind Tom Bamberger Brewery Works/Schlitz Park RitzHolman CPAs Major Funders $2,500 - $10,000 Bader Philanthropies, Inc. The Brico Fund The Gardner Foundation The Greystone Foundation The Herzfeld Foundation Frieda and William Hunt Memorial Trust The Milwaukee Arts Board and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin Milwaukee County CAMPAC MPS Partnership for the Arts The Bert L. and Patricia S. Steigleder Trust United Performing Arts Fund The Joseph and Vera Zilber Family Foundation Program Sponsor $1,000 - $2,499 Daniel Grego, Ph.D. Gold Coast Event Management, Inc. Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Cottrell Balding Fund The Dorothy Inbusch Foundation, Inc. Park Bank Foundation The PPC Foundation, Inc. David & Julia Uihlein Foundation The Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts Wild Night Benefit/New York Tour Sponsors Foley & Lardner, LLP Jake Fuller & Jill Sebastian Pamela Frautschi & Richard Ippolito Daniel Grego, PhD Anne Hamilton & Fred Geilfuss Will Hughes Inifinity Benefit Solutions Carolyn White-Travanti & Leon Travanti Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C. Scott Wick/RBC Wealth Management Brew City Dreams Sponsors Karen Campbell & Kevin Ronnie Jennifer Goetzinger Daniel Grego Anne Hamilton & Fred Geilfuss Margaret Howland Allison Kaminsky & Sean Patterson Julie Kerksick Kirsten Mulvey & Bill Finn Jean Novy David Paris Andrea Roschke & John Gaebler Erica Wulff & Jesse Rawling Site-Specific Creator $500-$999 Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors Youth Foundation Will Hughes David Johnson Paul Kosidowski & Kathy Donius Mr. & Mrs. John Sorenson Cindy & David Worth Performance Presenter $250-$499 Sofia & Abe Askenazi Bird & Ray Bost Elaine Cerny & Robert Raccuglia Nancy & Stephen Einhorn Barbara Meyer Elsner Foundation Simone Ferro & Meredith Watts Tim & Sue Frautschi Kris Havlik & Frank Lenz Tony Horne Terry A. Hueneke Intuit Dance! Tricia & Pat Knight Herbert H. Kohl Charities Lynn Loewen Kirsten Mulvey & Bill Finn Outreach Supporter $100-$249 Anonymous Donors George Affeldt Leigh Albritton Barbara & William Boles Karen Campbell & Kevin Ronnie Kurt & Cathy Chandler Pegi Christiansen Clark Graphics Chris & Peggy Colby Grace La & James Dallman Sandy Duffy Bernie Erenberger, D.C. David Flores Janice Ereth & John Gilligan Dyann Hafner & Tom Addison Kathy Howell, PT Julie Kerksick Jeff & Carol Knitter Lisa & Michael Lawless Dr. Deborah McGriff & Dr. Howard Fuller Donna & Tony Meyer Nancy & Paul Meylink Randy & Beth Mueller Shan Nelson-Rowe Richard Pieper Dr. William Bradley & Jill Anna Ponasik Margie & Bob Shiel Stathas Family Foundation Eddie & Amanda Struebing David Tojek & Marcia Parsons Kate Venne Linda & Dan Wilhelms Jean Williams Dance Partner up to $99 Nancy Aten Cynthia Brown & Andy Moss Dick Blau Patricia Bridges Alan & Phyllis Brostoff Scott & Kathryn Campbell Paul & Susanne Carter Ricardo Diaz Margot Fuchs Peter Goldberg Michael Gordon & Michele Sumara Colleen & Peter Kraker The Lacasse Family Norm & Judy Lasca Mrs. Natalie Lloyd-Jones Dr. Anne Maedke Dena McPhetres Nancy & Paul Meylink Ms. Marlis Moldenhauer Charul & Neena Munshi Margaret Nyland Steve & Ann O’Connell Debra Ortiz Joseph Pabst Nancy Tawney Mr. & Mrs. William Teweles Mr. Tom Thoreson Deborah Wait In honor of Devon Wanasek Barbara Wanasek Cheryl Ward Tom & Barb Werderitch Robert & Lana Wiese Jim & Doreen Zeller Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Wild Space Dance Company. Your support will allow us to continue providing imaginative performances and vitally needed arts education in the community. 8 Wild Space Dance Company
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