Uncommon
Ground
A NOTE FROM THE CHOREOGRAPHER:
Uncommon Ground is a collection of pieces created by Zoe Mei Glise. This work explores movement on a horizontal level, vertical space, and how movement changes when you are no longer on common ground. How can climbing and dance become one? How do they relate—how do they differ?
This performance will include previous creations, as well as new works on the ground, and on uncommon ground. Six ferocious dancers: Lauren Fleury, Zoe Glise, Maggie Seer, Halle Sivertson, Katie Speltz, and Libby Steckmesser, will be floating through movement in this performance.
To my dancers, thank you for believing in me, especially when I did not believe in myself. For giving your all in rehearsals, and making the impossible quite possible. To the belayers, this show would not have been possible without your help and support, quite literally. Thank you for allowing me to load your brains with new information about an art form you may have not been quite so familiar with. To Jake, Kevin, Colin, and all else involved in the behind the scenes, thank you for documenting this milestone in my career, and for lighting the performance space with your epic magic. To Luiz, thank you for letting me learn and grow, for guiding me through my first major creation, and working with me on how to have professional conversations, reminding me I do have a voice, and people want to hear it. To Craig, and all the other route setters, thank you for setting the routes I needed to make this performance happen. Your work is not forgotten. To all my mentors, thank you for shaping me into the mover and creator I am today. I would not be creating this work if it were not for your wisdom. To Adventure Rock, Joe, Jim, Craig and all the Adventure Rock staff, thank you for the space, for your endless support, for everything you all have done to help; big or small--it is not little to me. To my parents, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do what I love, and thank you for supporting me in every way possible to get me to where I am today. To the audience, I am forever grateful for your support. Thank you for witnessing this milestone in my career.
With love,
Zoe Mei Glise
THE PERFORMERS:
Lauren Fleury
Halle Sivertson
Zoe Mei Glise
Katie Speltz
Maggie Seer
Libby Steckmesser
THE BELAYERS:
Kyle Alcaraz
Michael Quitzon
Abby Brack
Ken Thom
Chad Paul
Sophia Villarreal
The Program
Flight Risk
Dancers: Lauren Fleury, Zoe Mei Glise, Maggie Seer, Halle Sivertson, Katie Speltz, Libby Steckmesser
Belayers: Kyle Alcaraz, Abby Brack, Chad Paul, Michael Quitzon, Ken Thom, Sophia Villarreal
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Origamibiro
To Me...
Soloist: Katie Speltz
Belayer: Ken Thom
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise with Improvisation by Katie Speltz
Music: Garth Stevenson
Spaces Between the Lines
Dancers: Zoe Mei Glise, Maggie Seer, Libby Steckmesser
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Luke Howard | Grandbrothers
***Premiered March 2023 Danceworks Get It Out There with Zoe Mei Glise, Faith Rae, and Libby Steckmesser
…We Are
Soloist: Lauren Fleury
Belayer: Abby Brack
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise with Improvisation by Lauren Fleury
Music: Peter Sandberg
i'm with you, always
Dancers: Zoe Mei Glise, Halle Sivertson, Katie Speltz, Libby Steckmesser
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Garth Stevenson
**Premiered October 2023 Danceworks Get It Out There with Zoe Mei Glise, Faith Rae, Katie Speltz, and Libby Steckmesser
Alone [together]
Soloist: Maggie Seer
Improvisation: Maggie Seer with direction from Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Origamibiro
Together [alone]
Soloist: Libby Steckmesser
Improvisation: Libby Steckmesser with direction from Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Niklas Paschburg
Listen
Dancers: Halle Sivertson & Katie Speltz
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise & Tori Isaac
Music: Origamibiro
**Premiered July 2022 Danceworks Get It Out There with Zoe Mei Glise and Tori Isaac
Letter to the World
Dancers: Lauren Fleury & Zoe Glise
Belayers: Abby Brack & Michael Quitzon
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Martin Kohlstedt
On Me
Dancers: Lauren Fleury, Zoe Mei Glise, Maggie Seer, Halle Sivertson, Katie Speltz, Libby Steckmesser
Belayers: Kyle Alcaraz, Abby Brack, Chad Paul, Michael Quitzon, Ken Thom, Sophia Villarreal
Choreography: Zoe Mei Glise
Music: Zoë Keating
Artist Bios
Lauren Fleury is an active dancer, choreographer, and model in Milwaukee. She graduated UW-Milwaukee in 2023, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance and choreography. She has continued her artistry within the community through teaching master classes around Wisconsin with The Company Dance Arts, traveling around Milwaukee with Theatre Gigante, as well as being a dancer for peter Stathas Dance Company based in New York. Lauren Fleury has performed in works by reputable choreographers Kia Smith, Christa Smutek, Mair Culbreth, Sarah McClure, and Alfonzo (Fonzy) Cervera. In addition, Lauren has a passion for finding a balance between the world of commercial and concert dance. She hopes to implement this into her choreographic process and stylings. Her goal is to perform with a traveling contemporary company. Lauren wishes to educate and inspire younger dancers through her artistic journey.
Zoe Mei Glise (she/her) is a performer, and movement-based artist born in China and located in Milwaukee, WI. She is currently a company member with Danceworks Performance MKE, Wild Space Dance Company, and the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project. Previously, Zoe danced as a company member with Madison Contemporary Dance, and was Nova Linea Contemporary Dance’s first company apprentice.
Zoe received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Performance and Choreography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2022. Throughout her years at UWM, Zoe worked and performed with several guest artists and faculty members in performances and master classes including Mair Culbreth, Parijat Desai, Emma Draves, Yumelia Garcia, Gina Laurenzi, Marina Magalhães, Caitlin Mahon, Tatiana Malinkine, Dan Schuchart, and more.
With the help of the National Endowment for the Arts grant, Zoe had the opportunity to collaborate with Joe Goode and other students to create a dance film, which was presented at the North Central American College Dance Association (ACDA) in 2022. In the summer of 2022, Zoe was selected to travel to Paris, France to attend the Camping Residency at the Centre National de le Danse, where she trained, taught, and performed.
Maggie Seer (she/her) a dancer/choreographer/improvisor, received her BFA in Dance Performance from UW-Milwaukee in 2016. She has performed with Danceworks Performance MKE, Skylight Music Theatre, Wild Space Dance Company, Hyperlocal MKE, the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Present Music, and other local arts groups. She has choreographed several times for the Danceworks Get It Out There concert series, and was selected as a presenting choreographer for the 2020 Danceworks’ Emerging Choreographers concert. She has also taught dance in schools and studios to all ages, and choreographed musical theater productions for numerous high schools in SE Wisconsin. During the day, Maggie works as the Executive Director of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Wisconsin Chapter.
Halle Sivertson is a Milwaukee-based dancer whose foundation in ballet has evolved into a diverse exploration of contemporary and modern styles. After dancing for 14 years at the Central Wisconsin School of Ballet, she graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in Contemporary Dance Performance & Choreography and is now in her fourth season with professional company Danceworks Performance MKE. She found a passion for climbing in 2023. While a completely new challenge, she discovered that the coordination, flexibility, and body awareness skills she learned through dancing could translate onto the wall.
Katie Speltz is a Milwaukee-based dancer and choreographer originally from Winona, MN. She is currently pursuing her BFA in dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has traveled throughout the United States with Celebrity Dance Conventions. While traveling with Celebrity, she received a scholarship from Peridance Center in New York City. She attended numerous events across North America as an Intrigue Dance Intensive “Senior True Performer” and performed in the event’s faculty shows.
During her time at UWM, she has performed in the works of Mair Culbreth, Vershawn Sanders Ward, Maria Gillespie, Aysha Upchurch, Alfonso Cervera, Dan Schuchart, Kia Smith, Karlies Kelley, and Dawn Springer. She has attended and performed in the American College Dance Association North Central Conference, performed with Gina Laurenzi Dance Project, Jasmine Uras’ “Resonance,” Ashley Ray Garcia’s “For the Wolves,” Danceworks’ “Get It Out There,” and has presented work in UWM’s Dance Student Organization’s Dance Collective, in which she served as an organization officer. Most recently, she has joined DPMKE Apprentice Company for their upcoming season.
Libby Steckmesser (she/her) is a dancer, researcher, and choreographer, who graduated with a BFA in contemporary performance and choreography with a minor in somatics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her dance training began in 2006 at the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance in Manitowoc, WI, gaining knowledge in dance forms such as jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, and hip-hop. She has since collaborated with artists such as Maria Gillespie, Simone Ferro, DeMar Walker, Parijat Desai, Marina Magalhães, Dan Schuchart, and Rich Ashworth, where modern/contemporary, African diaspora, and improvisation is now a part of her practice.
She has performed in Danceworks’ "Get It Out There," UWM's Dancemakers, and with companies such as Hyperlocal MKE and the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project. In November 2023, she completed her senior thesis project and was given the opportunity to showcase her work in Winterdances 2024, as well as at the American College Dance Association in March 2024.
She has studied and performed at the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, as well as in Paris, France at the Camping Dance Festival in 2022. She has been working alongside Maria Gillespie in her Student Undergrad Research Fellowship “Wild Tongue,” which explores the intersection of translation and improvisational dance.
You were created to do good work. Work that empowers and inspires, liberates and transforms, restores and softens. Yes, work can be hard-- as it was meant to be. The verb itself calls us into action, rejecting passivity and demanding sustained effort. It provokes, agitates, and disturbs. But this work--the call for justice-- is good work. It defends the oppressed and frees the captive. It tears down walls and destroys barriers. It changes things. So when you’re feeling weary, or hopeless, or spent, remind yourself that the darkness is being flooded by marvelous light. Yes, this is work. And it is good.
-Danielle Coke