Choreo Kitchen - Session 1

Three choreographers have a single rehearsal to make a new dance in response to a box of mystery prompts. Prompts can range from a piece of writing, an image, an object, or song as limitations and unexpected connections become the springboard for making dance. The evening also includes live music and improvisation.

Choreographers: Katelyn Altmann, Ashley Ray Garcia, Ida Lucchesi

Dancers: Cuauhtli Ramirez Castro, Jessica Lueck, Nicole Spence, Jasmine Uras

Musician: Paul Westfahl

Program Order…

Welcome

Improvisation Set 1 - Group

Dance 1 - 1:26pm

Katelyn Altmann (choreographer), Jessica Lueck, Jasmine Uras

Music Improvisation

Improvisation Set 2 - Scores

Dance 2 - Leaving Posen

Ashley Ray Garcia (choreography and performance)

Dance 3 - Untitled

Ida Lucchesi (choreographer), Cuauhtli Ramirez Castro, Nicole Spence

Improvisation Set 3 - Closing

Informal Q & A

Katelyn Altmann (she/her)is a movement-based artist, choreographer, and improvisor currently residing in Milwaukee, WI. She received her BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. During that time, Altmann performed in works of Joe Goode, Simone Ferro, Maria Gillespie, Daniel Burkholder, Debra Loewen, Mair Culbreth, Dawn Springer, Esmé Boyce, Kym McDaniel, Melanie George, Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Holly Johnson and worked with artists such as Ishmael Huston-Jones, Kathleen Hermesdorf, and Irene Dowd among others. She is a current performance and collaborative artist with Wild Space Dance Company, Danceworks, Li Chiao Ping Dance, and Hyperlocal MKE. Katelyn has presented both her solo and collaborative work throughout Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle, and New York. Her work, “soft ground, stiff shoulder” was selected to be presented at the American College Dance Association’s North Central Conference. Katelyn has furthered her training by attending intensives such as Milwaukee Ballet, Point Park, Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation, Bates Dance Festival, Gibney Connect, and Moving Queries. During her time at UW-Milwaukee, Altmann received two Undergraduate Research Fellowships immersed in movement research. Katelyn’s work lives in embodied study, tested and realized through creation processes, improvisational strategies and performance. This takes shape through porous embodiment, visceral play, connection, and radical attunement.

Ashley Ray Garcia is a dancer and choreographer from Michigan. She received her BFA in Dance-Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During her time at UWM, she has worked with Maria Gillespie, Simeone Ferro, Mair Culbreth, Daniel Burkholder, Anthony “YNOT” Denaro, Dani Kuepper, and Dan Schuchart. Through her love of traveling, she has had the opportunity to perform in France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic.  Her choreographic focus right now centers around women’s rights/history and mental health awareness.  Her most recent performance/choreography, "Dear Édith,” was performed in Detroit, Michigan at the Collage Dance Festival. "Thinking of Mother," premiered at the Milwaukee Fringe Festival in August 2021. In March of 2022, her dance for film “In This Hallway” premiered at RAD Fest in West Michigan. Her senior piece, “In These Skirts” was chosen by the faculty at her university to perform ACDA in the adjudication concert in 2022. “In These Skirts” was also performed at Central de la Danse in Paris, France in June of 2022. She is currently a company member with Wild Space Dance Company and Danceworks Performance Company. Garcia enjoys choreographing, performing, and improvisation and looks forward to gaining knowledge through both exploring and experience.

Ida Lucchesi (she/they) is a dancer and social worker in Milwaukee, WI. She works at the intersection of movement exploration and communities that have historically been ignored. Ida focuses on themes of interpersonal relationships and community building and aims to connect the LGBTQ+ community to the benefits that come from art education.

Ida has produced and presented dance works in the Milwaukee Fringe Festival. They have worked with artists Andrea Burkholder, Posy Knight, and with Joe Goode on the piece Real Stories, a work supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2019.

Paul Westfahl is a Milwaukee based drummer, percussionist and educator. He received a BA in Percussion Performance from the University of Wisconsin Parkside in 2012. As a performer, he has performed all over the city with organizations more notably, The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Skylight Music Theater, Fireside Dinner Theater, First Stage and Milwaukee Children’s Choir.  He also maintains a demanding freelance schedule working with a variety of different bands crossing genres from Jazz and Fusion to Neo-Classical to Western Swing and American Roots music.  Since 2019, Paul has found himself engaging with the Milwaukee dance scene and works as an accompanist and composer for the UW-Milwaukee dance department, Danceworks and the Young Dance Academy.  Paul also teaches privately and is a frequent clinician for Milwaukee area schools through the Arts and Community Education (ACE) program.  He currently holds a position as adjunct  faculty at the Wisconsin Lutheran College, Ronald Reagan High School and with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.  Since 2015, Paul has dedicated himself to studying tabla and as is a disciple of Pandit Hindole Majumdar.

Thank you to MARN and all their staff for hosting and supporting this event.