If the snow doesn't have you kicking up your heels, UWM Dance Department's upcoming "Winterdances: Human / Being" concert might get you into the swing of the season.
The concert -- which includes new works by faculty members Ferne Caulker Bronson, Ed Burgess and Elizabeth Johnson, as well as revived works by Dani Kuepper and Darci Brown Wutz and a new duet by guests Edwin and Robert Olvera -- takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5 and is repeated at the same time on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6 and 7 and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8 at UWM's Mainstage Theatre, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. An informal reception follows the Friday night performance.
"This concert is a microcosm of the Dance Department," says Ed Burgess, chair of the dance department, which currently celebrates its 45th anniversary on campus.
"(It is) tremendously satisfying to be celebrating, with this show, the vitality and passion of our continued commitment to versatile training and presenting diverse work," says Burgess, who has been in the department for two decades.
"Human / Being" uses movement to explore what it means to be human and the ways in which we relate to one another and to the world in which we live. The show, Burgess says, reflects the department's history and its interaction with the wider Milwaukee dance community.
"Edwin Olvera and Roberto Olvera are alumni pursuing international performance careers, and Ferne Caulker Bronson, Dani Kuepper (Danceworks) and Elizabeth Johnson (Your Mother Dances) are all artistic directors of local companies," he says.
"Ferne (director of Ko-Thi) has been with the department since 1971, and Elizabeth joined us in the last few years. Dani and the Olvera twins represented the department at different times at the national American College Dance Festival in Washington, D.C., and Darci Brown Wutz has brought us musical theatre dance forms."
In his own contribution to the show, Burgess focuses on friendshop.
The name of the performance, however, is unlikely to win him a lot of friends. It's titled, "THOUGH THE WORLD AROUND THEM REMAINED IN DECLINE AND CERTAIN DEATH APPROACHED FROM EVERY DIRECTION THE 3 MEN, TOTALLY BUMMED OUT BY THE INCREASING HOSTILITY OF A DECAYING CIVILIZATION AND NEARLY DEPLETED OF ENERGY AS A RESULT OF BEING BATTERED AND WOUNDED BY THE MANY VICISSITUDES OF LIFE, RESOLVED TO MARCH BRAVELY ON INTO WHAT WAS LEFT OF A ONCE PROMISING FUTURE AND IN DOING SO, MANAGED TO FIND THE STRENGTH TO SURVIVE ONE MORE DAY."
Tickets for "Human / Being" are $20, $12 for students, seniors and UWM alumni, faculty and staff. There are also flexible subscription and family packages available. Tickets are available at the Peck School of the Arts box office at (414) 229-4308.
The UWM Dance Department's season also includes "Hair" (April 21-26), choreographed by Elizabeth Johnson; "Summerdances: Mavericks & Pioneers" (June 12-14); New York-based choreographer Keely Garfield's thesis concert at the Danceworks Studio (July 17-18); and "Dancemakers," a showcase of MFA student choreography (July 24-25).
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
