Wild Space Dance Company

Tag: Wild Space Dance Company

Wild Space Dance Company wants you to get “Caught up in the Moment”

Sound, music and movement intersect to create a moving work of art in Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company’s performance of “Caught Up in the Moment” Friday, March 31 at Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show, at $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for students, are available online or through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.Four members of the Wild Space Dance Company performing a dance from the program Caught Up in the Moment.

The performance unfolds in interconnecting vignettes of shifting solos, duets, trios and quartets as audience members share the stage with the eight dancers as they invent impromptu movement set to eclectic, improvised live music by percussionist/composer Tim Russell and saxophonist/composer Nick Zoulek.

Choreographed by Artistic Director Debra Loewen and intern Nicole Spence, dancers sing, hum and create sounds with costumes and props to create textured layers of sound and music while Russell and Zoulek respond to interlocking dances.

“Each element — sound, music and movement — inspire and respond to each other during the creative process,” said Loewen. “This performance captures those moments of invention and connection as they happen. Having the audience on the stage puts them in the center of this artistic interplay and offers opportunities for dancers to create something unique to their interaction with the audience.”

Wild Space has been as an artist-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, teaching dance classes, theatre movement workshops and choreographing for selected productions.

Founded by Loewen, Wild Space Dance Company is celebrating its 30th season of inventive performances and innovative outreach programs. 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.

It has toured performance work to Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, South Korea and Japan.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.”  Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

It’s “All About Life” When Wild Space Dance Company Performs April 12 in Stansbury Theatre

The elements of life become an exhilarating tangle when members of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company present “All About Life” Saturday, April 5 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets, at $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749.

WildSpace_AllAboutLife_newsblogThe performance features Wild Space affiliate artists Mauriah Kraker, Monica Rodero and Daniel Schuchart in the evening-length collaborative work.

“All About Life” unfolds like a memoir in chapters that present the deep and disconnected aspects of daily life. The show weaves together a number of smaller stories to present a larger picture of life with all its expectations, reality, endings, beginnings and secrets.

Wild Space Dance Company has served as a company-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, bringing professional dance to the Lawrence community and providing students principles of dance art in performance through classes and workshops taught by company artistic director Debra Loewen and members of her company.

Named 2011 Artist of the Year by the Milwaukee Arts Board, Loewen has led Wild Space Dance Company for more than 25 years. Known for its site-specific dance events and artistic collaborations, the company merges dance with visual art, architecture and music to create inventive choreography and emotionally-charged performances. It has toured performance work to Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, South Korea and Japan.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Wild Space Dance Company Bringing “Luscious Layers” to Lawrence University

Weaving together nature, music, prose and a generous helping of humor, members of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company present “Luscious Layers/Fevered Sleep” Friday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

 Tickets, at $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

The performance features Wild Space affiliate artists Monica Rodero and Daniel Schuchart, and vocalist/performer Amanda Schoofs in an evening of original work and premieres.

“Luscious Layers” fuses the sweet and forbidden, dreamy desires and tempting realities into full-bodied dances, including “In This Condition,” a solo piece about objects, actions and places that flows from spoken word to Mozart through movement, and “Here,” a duet blending dance and vocals.

Wild Space Dance Company has served as a company-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, bringing professional dance to the Lawrence community and providing students principles of dance art in performance through classes and workshops taught by artistic director Debra Loewen and members of her company.

Named 2011 Artist of the Year by the Milwaukee Arts Board, Loewen has led Wild Space Dance Company for 25 years. Known for its site-specific dance events and artistic collaborations, the company merges dance with visual art, architecture and music to create inventive choreography and emotionally-charged performances. It has toured performance work to Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, South Korea and Japan.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

Wild Space Dance Company Brings “Delicious” Performance to Stansbury Theatre

Inspired by appetite, the culinary arts and the pursuit of satisfaction, Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company serves up a moveable feast of inventive dance and wry humor in “Delicious” Friday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets, at $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

Photo credit: Matt Schwenke

The  menu for “Delicious” includes flying dishes, favorite and feared recipes and onstage directions on good dinner manners. Through interwoven vignettes of theatrical movement and full-bodied dance, performers reveal desires and disappointments in the pursuit of satisfaction.

“Creating a performance inspired by the art and act of cooking reflects my own love of the culinary experience,” said Debra Loewen, artistic director of Wild Space. “Like preparing a meal, dance begins with directions, ingredients like dancers, props and costumes are added, and then there is time to rehearse until a final performance is ready to be served.  To invent movement for ‘Delicious,’ we looked at the similarities of the cooking and choreographic process, and the desires that drive us to find a sense of fulfillment in food and life.”

Wild Space Dance Company has served as a company-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, bringing professional dance to the Lawrence community and providing students principles of dance art in performance through classes and workshops taught by Loewen and members of her company.

Named 2011 Artist of the Year by the Milwaukee Arts Board, Loewen has led Wild Space Dance Company for 25 years. Known for its site-specific dance events and artistic collaborations, the company merges dance with visual art, architecture and music to create inventive choreography and emotionally-charged performances. It has toured performance work to Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, South Korea and Japan.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,445 students from 44 states and 35 countries.

 

Get “Happy” in Wild Space Dance Company Performance in Stansbury Theatre

Inspired by the quest for joy, exuberance and delight, seven members of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company present the critically acclaimed program “Speaking of Happiness” Friday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

Witty, insightful, compelling and emotionally charged, “Speaking of Happiness” conveys sentiments of warmth and tolerance through intimate gestures and small human interactions in 24 overlapping episodes performed in 80 minutes. One reviewer described the program as “ingenious in a thousand small ways.”

The program is a collaboration among Wild Space Artistic Director Debra Loewen and choreographers Monica Rodero and Dan Schuchart. Dancers with Wild Space for the past eight years, Rodero and Schuchart serve as artists-in-residence in Lawrence’s theatre arts department.

According to Loewen, the production grew out of a conversation she had with Rodero and Schuchart about ideas and writings on the subject of happiness.

“This performance looks beneath the surface at our elusive pursuit of happiness and asks, ‘How do we find it? Why does it matter?”’ said Loewen. “It weaves the obvious with the mysterious, outward appearance with hidden emotions and how we think and express happiness.”

Wild Space Dance Company has served as a company-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, bringing professional dance to the Lawrence community and providing students principles of dance art in performance through classes and workshops taught by Loewen and members of her company.

Described as “richly imaginative and witty” by the New York Times, Wild Space Dance Company was founded in 1986. Known for site-specific dance events and artistic collaborations, Wild Space combines dance with visual art, film, text, architecture and unusual environments in an effort to expand the audience for contemporary dance throughout Wisconsin.

Milwaukee’s Wild Space Dance Company Performs “Heads Up” at Lawrence University

An eclectic program of four new dances exploring narration in motion will be presented by members of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company in its performance of “Heads Up” Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

Wild-Space-%27Heads-Up_web.jpg

The performance features “Trace Elements,” a whirlwind convergence of classic film-noir orchestrations and contemporary dance along with excerpts from the company’s recent premiere of “By Accident and Necessity,” featuring shifting video images by renowned Milwaukee photographer Tom Bamberger.

Landscapes, both human and natural, are at the heart of “Heads Up” according to Wild Space Artistic Director Debra Loewen. The vastness and sensual beauty of the natural world are explored in two dances, while landscapes of human interaction are revealed in the other two.

“One dance is a meditation on time and space and another becomes an elegant elegy for the loss of wilderness,” said Loewen. “The other two dances feature an intimate and complicated lover’s duet and a big, zany, over-the-top performance set to a collage of music from Alfred Hitchcock films. A veritable layered landscape of who done it.”

Wild Space Dance Company has served as a company-in-residence at Lawrence since 2000, bringing professional dance to the Lawrence community and providing students principles of dance art in performance through classes and workshops taught by Loewen and members of her company.

“Deb Loewen’s choreography is always literate and theatrical while testing the boundary of abstract dance and narrative power of theatre,” said Tim Troy, professor of theatre arts and J.Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama. “The yearly showcase by Wild Space is an integral part of our theatre department’s season.”

Founded in 1986 and known for its artistic collaborations, Wild Space Dance Company combines dance with visual art, film, text, architecture and unusual environments in an effort to expand the audience for contemporary dance throughout Wisconsin.

Dance Marathon Craze Revisited in Wild Space Dance Company Performance at Lawrence University

The dance marathon craze of the 1930s will be recreated when Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company performs “Physical Evidence” Friday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets for the performance, at $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, can be purchased at the Lawrence University Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

Described as a “high-energy tribute to a bygone era” in a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Physical Evidence” follows determined dance contestants and their quest for fame and fortune. Derby races, juggling and endurance stunts create a vibrant backdrop for Wild Space’s inventive choreography.

This will be only the second performance of an updated version of “Physical Evidence,” following its revival show last November in Milwaukee. The biggest hit ever staged in Wild Space’s history, a slightly different version of “Physical Evidence” originally premiered in the spring of 2004.

“Our performance is inspired by the frenzy and challenge of the dance marathons and what drove people to test the endurance of their body, minds and souls,” said Debra Lowen, artistic director of Wild Space, which began a company-in-residence appointment at Lawrence in 2000. “Characters are drawn from real-life contestants in a 1931 Milwaukee marathon, with each company member adding personal touches.”

In telling the contestants’ story, “Physical Evidence” goes back in time — literally and figuratively. The 10-dancer performance begins at the end of the marathon, when the winner is selected and the remaining contestants go home. An emcee connects the retrograde narrative with a running commentary, much like the original marathon hosts. The emcee also engages the audience, which becomes the spectators for the fictional marathon.

Popular during the Depression, dance marathons attracted participants who physically fit, eager to win and willing to adapt their life story to the entertainment the promoters were selling. The marathons offered the spectacle of weary dancers pushed to their limit, rivalry and romance — both real and concocted — and the survival of the fittest. Sprinkled throughout the long dancing sessions were vaudeville comics, specialty acts and weddings that happened over and over again from town to town.

But it was the contestants’ struggle to survive that captivated audiences for more than a decade. Dance marathon participants, to a certain degree, were the forerunners of today’s reality entertainment “stars” on such programs as ”Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “American Idol” and even professional wrestling. In dance marathons, everyday life became celebrity and celebrity shaped the reality of the participants.

Wild Space’s appearance also will feature a bonus performance of excerpts from company member Katie Sopoci’s recent graduate concert. Spirited along by several of Meryn Cadell’s ingenious vocal poems, this quirky, physical romp follows one woman and her many encounters through a life interrupted by musings, misfortunes and mischief. One piece, “I wish I was a cat,” highlights the best of Spoci’s unique, rigorously physical choreography, liquid phrasing and her animalistic to meticulous movements. Sopoci is a master of fine arts candidate at UW-Milwaukee.

Hailed as “richly imaginative and witty” by the New York Times, Wild Space Dance Company was founded in 1986. Known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, Wild Space merges contemporary dance with music, unusual environments and visual art in its innovative performances. In addition to Lawrence, it is a company-in-residence at Milwaukee’s Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts.