THE CREATIVE TEAM
Colin Gawronski
LIGHITNG DESIGN
Colin Gawronski is a lighting designer native to Milwaukee who has worked extensively with Danceworks, Inc, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Sunstone Studios and Black Arts MKE/Bronzeville. They have worked with other local companies such as Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Ballet, Wildspace, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Studio K Flamenco, Aarambh Khatak, and In Tandem Theatre. Colin has also worked with Theatre Lila, Third Avenue Playworks and Forward Theater. Favorite productions include: Three Other Sisters, Stew, Out of Many One, Rusalka, ‘Neath the Hills of Bastogne, /ˌmaskəˈrād/, Dutchman, Black Nativity, Secrets from the Wide Sky, The Nether, A Room Shaped Story, Daddy Long Legs, Spalding Grey: Stories Left to Tell, Stories From a Life, The Glass Menagerie, Serendipity, Birds of North America, Romeo and Juliet: A Theatre Lila Invention, Lamps For My Family, and Vagabondare. Give Love Always.
ARTISTIC COORDINATOR
Creative Programs
Cuauhtli Ramírez Castro
Cuauhtli Ramirez Castro (he/they) is a Mexican performing artist and dancer. They studied Performing Arts at the University of Guanajuato having a multidisciplinary approach, combining contemporary dance and acting techniques in his training. They have performed at the International Cervantino Festival (2016), as well as the Guanajuato International Film Festival (2015). They graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography (2021). During their time in Milwaukee, they have performed and collaborated in works by Maria Gillespie, Emma Draves, Bernard Brown, Li Chiao Ping, Joe Goode, Mair Culbreth, Amanda Lee, Cedar Becher, etc. In 2023 They were one of eight artists selected to co-create work for Dance for Diversity, an screen dance project by Elizabeth Roskopf with the intention of uplifting the voices of bipoc artists. They currently dance with Danceworks Performance MKE and Wild Space Dance Company.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Christal Wagner
Christal Wagner (she/they) is an Alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee dance department (BFA) where she is also adjunct faculty. She is a screendance artist and has produced work as a cinematographer, performer, editor and director for Joe Goode, Josh Halverson, Maria Gillespie, Danceworks Inc, Milwaukee Dance Theatre Network, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, UWM Dance, The Saint Kate Arts Hotel, The Cactus Club, and Li Chiao-Ping Dance where she was a 2020 SEED Creation Fund grant recipient. Christal is the artistic director of Danceworks Performance MKE and has danced for Your Mother Dances, Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Dawn Springer Dance Projects, Skylight Music Theatre and spent 14 years as a company member with DPMKE. Christal is a cofounder of the music and dance trio Cadance Collective, co-creating pieces through processes where music and dance are worked on simultaneously through improvisational practices and original soundscapes. In 2020 Christal Wagner became the Saint Kate Art Hotel’s FIRST artist in co-residence. She is the recipient of 8 Wisconsin Jerry Awards for her work in musical theatre and has choreographed over 20 musicals in the city of Milwaukee. Christal’s mission is to support and elevate the voices of her community, collaborators, and fellow artists.
ARTISTIC COORDINATOR
Development and Partnerships
Zoe Mei Glise
Zoe Mei Glise (she/her) is a movement-based artist located in Milwaukee, WI. She is Danceworks’ Development and Partnerships Artistic Coordinator and dances professionally with Danceworks Performance MKE (DPMKE), Wild Space Dance Company, and Gina Laurenzi Dance Project (GLDP). Zoe earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she worked with artists including Daniel Burkholder, Mair Culbreth, Parijat Desai, Emma Draves, Yumelia Garcia, Maria Gillespie, Gina Laurenzi, Marina Magalhães, Caitlin Mahon, Tatiana Malinkine, Dan Schuchart, Christal Wagner, and Joe Goode, with whom she created “Real Words”, a dance film supported by an NEA grant that was presented at the North Central American College Dance Association (ACDA).
Previously, Zoe has danced and performed professionally with Madison Contemporary Dance, Nova Linea Contemporary Dance, and Studio K Flamenco, and has presented her individual works nationally and internationally at the Emergence Festival (Chicago, IL), Dance for Hope MKE (Milwaukee, WI), National Conference on Undergraduate Research (Bozeman, MT), Get It Out There (Milwaukee, WI), and at the Centre National de la Dance (Paris, France) as part of the Camping Residency.
Zoe has furthered her training through intensives with Joffrey Ballet (New York, NY), Bandaloop (San Francisco, CA), Stewart/Owen Dance (Asheville, NC), FLOCK (Chicago, IL), Wasatch Contemporary Dance (Provo, UT), Nova Linea Contemporary Dance (Waukesha, WI), and the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts (Winona, MN). In fall of 2025, she was one of four artists selected to create work for the Wisconsin Dance Council’s Emerging Artist Mentorship Program. Most notably, in September 2024, Zoe premiered her debut evening-length work, “Uncommon Ground”, which blended her two passions–dance and rock climbing.
ARTISTIC COORDINATOR
Operations & Production
Ashley Ray Garcia
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, Melissa Anderson, Dani Kuepper, Dan Schuchart, Caitlin Mahon, and Marina Magalhães. Through her love of traveling, she has had the opportunity to perform in France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Garcia has shown work at Central de La Danse (Paris, France), ACDA and Get It Out There MKE (Wisconsin), Collage Dance Festival, and RAD Fest (Michigan). In April 2024, she directed and choreographed her own evening-length performance, For The Wolves. She has always had a passion for creating community and supporting dancers in her independent projects. At the end of 2024, she was selected by the Wisconsin Dance Council as one of three to present work for the Emerging Artist concert at the beginning of 2025.
Her most recent works have been choreographed on Wild Space Dance Company, Danceworks Performance MKE Company, and Fable Dance Company. Ashley is currently a company member and has collaborated with Wild Space Dance Company, Danceworks Performance Company, and various freelance artists and projects. In the summer of 2025, she joined the faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp to teach modern technique, pre-pointe, modern rep, and composition/improv workshops. She has also taught workshops and master classes in Michigan, Wisconsin, France, and the Czech Republic. Garcia enjoys choreographing, performing, and improvising, and looks forward to gaining knowledge through both exploration and experience. She is also a published author of her poetry book, Forget-Me-Not, which has been featured in various dance performances.
THE CHOREOGRAPHERS
Adelaide Wateski
Adelaide Wateski is a 22-year-old junior dance major pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance and Choreography at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She has been dancing for 20 years and is continuously working to improve and evolve as an artist through dedication to her craft. Her work is rooted in strong musicality and expressive movement, blending personal inspirations with contemporary technique. Adelaide is especially inspired by creating for Get It Out There, viewing the process as an opportunity to explore personal movement, take risks, and deepen her choreographic voice. She is passionate about crafting work that feels clean, joyful, and meaningful for both dancers and audiences.
Allan Zablocki
Allan Zablocki is a Milwaukee based dancer, choreographer, and cultural practitioner. He holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he received the Halle Huhm Memorial Award for Excellence in Asian-Pacific Dance Research. During his time in Hawai’i, he trained in traditional Okinawan dance, dancing with Monkey Waterfall under the direction of Yukie Shiroma. He also holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Allan currently serves as the Co-Artistic Director and choreographer for Dnipro Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, a nonprofit that focuses on promoting and preserving Ukrainian culture and dance.
Amanda L Laabs
Amanda L. Laabs received an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University (TWU), where she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography and a minor in Somatics. Laabs received a research fellowship at UWM under the mentorship of Professor Maria Gillespie and presented this research at UWM’s 11th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Laabs taught workshops at the Somatic Movement Arts Festival and the American College Dance Association. Laabs has been reviewed in the L.A. Dance Chronicle and Shepherd Express. Laabs holds many certifications including Breathwork, Meditation and Mindfulness, Pilates Teacher and Jumpboard, Anatomy and Physiology, RYT-200, and Responsive Bodywork.
Beck Kimbro
Beck Kimbro is a seasoned dancer, choreographer, and performer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With 16 years of experience, Beck’s foundation lies in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, and tumbling, cultivated at Merrilee Studios in Illinois. They honed their skills further by performing with the competitive dance team for seven years and subsequently teaching ballet, tap, and jazz classes while choreographing for both recreational student recitals and the competitive team for four years. Beck graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in dance and has now taken classes in African and diaspora movement, modern, and hip-hop. Beck has been able to achieve choreographing for the 2023 UWM dance collective, as well as choreographing, performing, and co-producing the 2024 and 2025 UWM dance collective.
Catey Ott Thompson
Catey Ott Thompson, director of Catey Ott Dance Collective since 2005, has a BFA and MFA in dance from UWM under the direction of Ed Burgess, Marcia Parsons, Janet Lilly, and Simone Ferro. Catey now resides in Milwaukee after dancing in NYC for 14 years for Soundance, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Sean Curran, Bill Young, Li Chiao-Ping, Eun Jung Choi, Aviva Geismar, Chris Ferris, Mary Seidman, and many others. Her company has performed over 100 works at various venues in NYC and MKE including Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, 92Y, Dance New Amsterdam, Green Space, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Spoke the Hub, Solar One, The Flea, Muller/The Works Studio, Danceworks Studio Theater, MKE Fringe Festival, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, Marquette University, Lake Arts Project, Pius XI High School, Milwaukee Ballet’s Ballet Beat, and others. Catey currently teaches contemporary, modern, ballet, dance history, composition and choreography, and repertory at Marquette University and Milwaukee Ballet, and was the founder of MKE Dance Theatre Network.
Dianne Kotsonis
Dianne Kotsonis (She/they) is dancer and creative in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in Brookfield, Dianne went on to get a bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, along with certificates in Pilates and business. After graduation in 2019 she worked with Li Chiao-Ping Dance as the Special Projects Manager, as well as performing in the company for two seasons and teaching Pilates in Madison. After returning to the Milwaukee area Dianne took a break from performing and found artistic expression with animation courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College. In fall of 2024 Dianne joined the Danceworks Apprentice Company where she still creates and performs alongside her other visual and fiber art endeavors.
Emma Becker
Emma Becker is a dancer, Choreographer, and Educator with a BFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She started studying ballet at the age of 5 in the Central Wisconsin School of Ballet and Modern dance as a student at UWM, she is still training in both today. Emma has attended the Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensive, the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, as well as workshops with Carlos Lopez, choreographer/dancer and director of repertoire at ABT. While getting her degree at UWM, Emma has worked with Choreographers like Kia Smith, Alfonso Cervera, Katie Pile, Maria Gillespie, Gina Laurenzi, and Mair Culbreth. She has also performed in other shows like Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Emergence show, in Milwaukee Ballet’s Emergence performance, as well as past Danceworks MKE’s Get it Out There performances. Emma is currently teaching at Kinetic Dance Arts, dancing with Wildspace, as well as working on many other projects.
Evander Stoll
Evan is a dancer, choreographer, and nonprofit professional working in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Currently, he is a member of Isthmus Dance Collective with recent choreography presented in Shifting Gears Bike Path Festival and contemporary and hip hop performance in DELVE ‘23 and ‘24 under José Antonio Cruz Arzón and Raka Banyo. Through Isthmus and freelance work, they also teach contempo fusion and dance fundamentals centering transgender dancers.
Recently, he has performed with Scratch Dance under Erica Pinigis and UW-Milwaukee’s Graduate Dance program under Tiffany Kadani and Miranda Nichols Braseth. He performed and choreographed with Kinesis Dance Theater and La Crosse Dance Center before taking a hiatus for health reasons in 2021 completing his MA in Rhetoric, Professional Writing, and Community Engagement from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Gina Laurenzi
A mover, maker, researcher and educator, Gina Laurenzi graduated from the University of WI – Milwaukee where she earned her MFA in dance. With roots in jazz dance and contemporary ballet, Laurenzi’s professional dance career began in Chicago. In Milwaukee, Laurenzi’s performance career expanded as a contemporary company dancer with Danceworks Performance MKE and Wild Space Dance Company. In 2015, Gina created the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project to present and develop her own choreographic ideas. Originally from Southeast Wisconsin, Gina was previously a Co-artistic Director at Danceworks and dance lecturer at the University of WI – Milwaukee. Gina aims to craft curious and dynamic works of dance that spark wonder and invite reflection with recent choreographic works exploring awe and the human impact on the planet. Currently residing in Texas, Laurenzi continues her research as an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Kayla Siedlecki
Kayla Siedlecki (she/her) is a Milwaukee-based artist originally from West Chester, PA. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 with degrees in Actuarial Math and Finance. At the University of Pittsburgh, she continued her dance studies through classes at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and as a performer and choreographer in student-run clubs. During her time in Milwaukee, Kayla has performed with Catey Ott Dance Collective, UWM’s Upstart, Kim Miller’s Social Choreography, and Danceworks’ GIOT. She is honored and excited to perform with DAPC for a second season.
Lia Smith-Redmann
Lia Smith-Redmann is a Wisconsin-based dancer and choreographer. She studied dance and theatre throughout the Five College Consortium in Massachusetts and received her Bachelor’s in Dance and English from UW-Milwaukee. She is a Guest Choreographer for Fable Dance Company, an awardee of the Wisconsin Dance Council’s Emerging Artist Mentorship Program, and a collaborating artist with Hyperlocal MKE, the Catey Ott Dance Collective, and the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project. She is a two-time university dance research fellow and a Slovenian Arts Award recipient. She has trained with internationally acclaimed artists, notably Chan Ming Shu, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and Ailey II, and performed the works of choreographers such as Alfonso Cervera, Maria Gillespie, Daniel Burkholder, Dan Schuchart, and Ishmael Koney. Her work has been performed at the St. Louis Contemporary Dance Festival, West Michigan Dance Festival, Dance City Festival, Still Inspired Future Artists, MADCO Dare to Dance, and American College Dance Association, among others.
Libby Steckmesser
Libby Steckmesser is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, who graduated with a BFA in dance and a minor in somatics at UW-Milwaukee. Her dance training began in 2006 at the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance in Manitowoc, WI. She has studied many forms of dance such as tap, jazz, ballet, African Diaspora, modern, hip-hop, and more. She currently focuses on improvisational dance, rooted from internal research. She has performed and studied in Milwaukee with many notable local artists and companies, as well as in Chicago, and Paris. She conducted movement research alongside Maria Gillespie for 2 years in her SURF projects, beginning her professional career in 2022. In 2024, she showcased her senior thesis at ACDA in Minnesota. Her most recent work, “What Are YOU Looking At?” premiered at Danceworks MKE in April 2025. She is currently a teaching and outreach artist for Danceworks MKE, as well as a freelance performer.
Maggie Seer
Maggie Seer (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and improvisor who earned her BFA in Dance Performance from UW–Milwaukee. She has performed with Danceworks Performance MKE, Skylight Music Theatre, Wild Space Dance Company, Hyperlocal MKE, the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Present Music, and most recently in Glise’s Uncommon Ground. Maggie has choreographed for Danceworks’ Get It Out There series, taught dance to all ages, and choreographed musical theatre productions across SE Wisconsin, while maintaining a decades-long career in nonprofit fundraising and leadership.
Mallory Ebbens
Mallory Ebbens is a passionate performer, choreographer, and dance educator from Appleton, Wisconsin. Currently based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mallory is gaining her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance as well as a Somatics minor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. As a choreographer and dance educator, Mallory believes in creating inclusive and supportive environments for her dancers while creating work that moves and inspires audience members. Mallory has had the opportunity to perform in the 2019 Walt Disney World Holiday Spectacular Parade, and she has performed in works from notable dance choreographers, Kate Jabolonski, Caesar Salinas, Jay Fagan, and Connie Sweeney at Chicago’s National Association of Dance Masters. Through college Mallory has performed in works by Maria Gillespie, Daniel Burkholder, David Rosseve, Mair Cullbreth, and many student choreographed works.
McKenna Kubly
Born and raised in Lake Geneva Wisconsin, McKenna quickly found her passion for dance at 4 years old. She began competitive dance and trained in styles such as jazz, musical theatre, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, and hip-hop through her studio Accent on Dance Mukwonago. She competed solos, duets, and numerous group dances/productions. In high school, McKenna was also very active with the musical program. After graduating high school, she now choreographs her high school’s musicals and has won a Jerry Award for her choreography as she’s extremely passionate for musical theatre dance. She was apart of her college’s, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, dance team and has been actively teaching and choreographing at many dance studios while also getting her BFA degree in dance, and bound to graduate spring of 2026! This year, McKenna is set to travel with Fly Dance Competition as both a judge and to work backstage. She’s excited for this new opportunity and ready to be inspired by the upcoming generation of dancers.
Phairra Ahmani Jones
As a Dance major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I bring eight years of experience teaching professional dancers at Rockford Dance Company and various academies in Rockford and Roscoe, Illinois. My dance journey includes a year at the University of Whitewater-Wisconsin before transferring to Milwaukee. My passion for dance surpasses all other impactful moments in my life, and I firmly believe in the transformative power of dance through activism to change the world.
Rae Zimmerli
Rae Zimmerli (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and photographer raised in Overland Park, Kansas and living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a BFA in contemporary performance and choreography and is a current freelance dance artist, an apprentice for Danceworks MKE, and artistic director of Fable Dance Company. Her choreographic work has been presented at Milwaukee Fringe Festival, American College Dance Association, Danceworks MKE, Camping Dance Festival (Paris, FR), Chicago Danztheatre, and more. She has performed work by Kia Smith, Katy Pyle, YNOT, Simone Ferro, Dawn Springer, Maria Gillespie, Dan Schuchart, Gina Laurenzi, Jaclyn Brown, and others.
Sofía Delgado
Gender-, genre-, and general deviant, Sofía Delgado (any pronouns) is what happens when blue-collar ballet dancers reproduce. A multi-hyphenate, interdisciplinary performance artist, her deep roots in classical concert-dance contrast with a referential queerpunk aesthetic, sharp sense of humor, and healthy disregard for authority, weaponizing theatricality, musicality, and historicity against preconceived assumptions and unstudied biases. Armed with a degree in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Chicago and a dream, her work seeks to dismantle established socioeconomic hierarchies by imagining more democratic collective futures, reminding us that the best dancers are of the people, for the people, and by the people. Sofia excels at harnessing liveness, character, and schtick in roles like Sancho Panza (Don Quixote), Puss-in-Boots (Sleeping Beauty), and musical 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, where she debuted original choreography set to narrative derived from film photographs. Sofía is a Milwaukee-born, Midwest-based performer, choreographer, and teacher with Wild Space Dance Company and Above the Clouds.
Tom C Hjelmgren
-Member of DIPC since 2019 Performance works include but not limited to: Butterfly Effect, ‘O’, etc…
-Performed in GIOT since 2019 in self choreographed as well as other choreographer’s work.
Works include but not limited to: We’re All in This Together (2019), Gravity (2019), Aspects, (2025)
-TimeSlips: Ann Basting – National Center for Creative Aging. Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Association.(2016)
-Quasimondo Physical Theater: Animolecules (2016)
-Li Chiao Ping Dance: Fluid Measure (2016)
-Performed in various Danceworks pieces since 2015
Fairy Queen Fantasy (2015), Handel’s Bestiary (2017) Tokens of Appreciation. (2020),
Sonder (2021), Echoes of Hope (2025)
Student at Danceworks since 2011
Audience member at Danceworks since 2002
-On Display: Catey Ott – Choreographer, 2016 – 2024.
-Freelance dancer/mover in Chicagoland area from 1976 – 1983
Studied At Giordano Dance Chicago and Hubbard Street Dance. 1976 -1983
-Air Traffic Control Specialist from 1982 – Present
Tracey Gessner
Tracey is excited to be returning to performing again after a long hiatus. She completed a BA in dance at Columbia College Chicago, but since then life has taken her in a different direction. Previously a stay-at-home-mom to two amazing (now fully grown) children, she is now enjoying her rediscovery of dance at Danceworks and DIPC.
Tracey is also an avid long distance runner, having completed over 50 marathons and ultramarathons. She would like to thank Danceworks for the opportunity to perform on stage again for the first time in over 20 years.
Zoe Mei Glise
Zoe Mei Glise (she/her) is a movement-based artist based in Milwaukee, WI. She is Development and Partnerships Artistic Coordinator at Danceworks and performs with Danceworks Performance MKE, Wild Space Dance Company, and Gina Laurenzi Dance Project. She holds a BFA in Contemporary Dance from UW–Milwaukee. Zoe’s work has been presented nationally and internationally. In 2024, she premiered her evening-length work, Uncommon Ground, blending dance and rock climbing and interdisciplinary performance practice.