About WDC
A Non-Profit Organization Devoted to Dance as a Fine Art
The Wisconsin Dance Council serves the needs of dance education in Wisconsin and is devoted to dance as a fine art.
We promote the appreciation of all types of dance as an art form and as a means of cultural expression.
Holidays: The Wisconsin Dance Council makes every effort not to schedule meetings, conferences, or events on religious holidays.
Newsletter Sign Up
State Affiliate
Wisconsin Dance Council is a Proud State Affiliate of NDEO
The National Dance Education Organization envisions a nation that affords every citizen equal access and opportunity to quality dance arts education regardless of gender, age, race or culture, socio-economic status, ability or interest.
About WDC
A Non-Profit Organization Devoted to Dance as a Fine Art
The Wisconsin Dance Council serves the needs of dance education in Wisconsin and is devoted to dance as a fine art.
We promote the appreciation of all types of dance as an art form and as a means of cultural expression.
Holidays: The Wisconsin Dance Council makes every effort not to schedule meetings, conferences, or events on religious holidays.
Awards nominations and scholarship applications for 2024 are closed.
2024 Conference Registration
Newsletter Sign Up
About WDC
A Non-Profit Organization Devoted to Dance as a Fine Art
The Wisconsin Dance Council serves the needs of dance education in Wisconsin and is devoted to dance as a fine art.
We promote the appreciation of all types of dance as an art form and as a means of cultural expression.
Holidays: The Wisconsin Dance Council makes every effort not to schedule meetings, conferences, or events on religious holidays.
Awards nominations and scholarship applications for 2024 are closed.
2024 Conference Registration
Newsletter Sign Up
Our purposes are exclusively educational and charitable and as such are:
Our purposes are exclusively educational and charitable and as such are:
Since its beginning in 1966, the Wisconsin Dance Council has:
Since its beginning in 1966, the Wisconsin Dance Council has:
Wisconsin Dance Council is excited about our potential for the future.
We have made significant accomplishments toward the promotion of dance. Let’s keep moving on!
Wisconsin Dance Council is excited about our potential for the future.
We have made significant accomplishments toward the promotion of dance. Let’s keep moving on!
2024 Board Members
WDC Officers – Executive Committee
2024 Board Members
President
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Simone Ferro is a choreographer, educator and researcher. She joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001 where she served as M.F.A. program director and as department chair for many years. After a professional career as soloist with dance companies in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Geneva, Switzerland, she completed her graduate work in dance at the University of Iowa. She is a Laban Certified Movement Analyst by the Columbia College of Chicago. Simone has collaborated extensively with local dance, theater and opera companies, including the Milwaukee Ballet, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Opera Theater, Danceworks Performance Company, Wild Space Dance Company and Theatre Gigante. She is a strong advocate for the Milwaukee and the Midwestern artistic community where she collaborates with visual artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers and scholars of different fields. Her choreographic work encompasses a wide range of thematic approaches from social justice issues, from historical and women’s themes to the analysis of more intimate human relationships.
Simone is recipient of several awards, including a UWM Graduate School Research Grant, an Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, a Research Growth Initiative (RGI) grant, Choreographic Fellowship from the Wisconsin Arts Board and was honored with a 2013 University of Iowa Alumni Fellowship. Most recently, Simone has received a Fellowship by the UWM’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and has been awarded a Fulbright to continue developing her research in Maranhão in the Spring 2022.
For the past 15 years, she has traveled to Brazil with her husband and research partner, Meredith W. Watts, to document and research popular culture and the traditional Bumba-meu-boi folk festivities in the Northeastern state of Maranhão. She has posted dozens of video-clips in her personal website where she has pioneered a repository of the Bumba-meu-boi. Simone has recently completed a manuscript she is jointly writing with her husband on the Leadership of Women in the Popular Culture of Maranhão.
Simone’s Milwaukee Through Embodied Research has worked with more than fifteen research students over the past six years. The project addresses social and environmental justice and community resilience through oral histories in the central city community of Sherman Park and Washington Park. It includes a variety of community activities including site-specific interventions in foreclosure homes, performances in porches and living rooms, parks, alleys, restaurants and public spaces. https://milwaukeeembodiedresearch.squarespace.com/projects-bedford
She is currently in her second term as the president of the Wisconsin Dance Council and is on the board of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
Mauriah Donegan Kraker
Stacy Pottinger has directed the Dance Minor Program at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI since 2009. Ms. Pottinger has a B.F.A. in dance performance from Southern Methodist University, an M.A. in Dance Education from the State University of New York College at Brockport, and an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She teaches Applied Dance Technique courses in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern as well as Composition, Improvisation, and Dance History. Ms. Pottinger’s recent research inquiries include Dance Integration studies and repertory-based literacy programming through the Dancing Legacy Repertory Etudes Collection. She has mentored student choreography at Carthage for the past fourteen years, led numerous trips to the American College Dance Festival conferences, and has served on multiple response panels, including that of Danceworks, Inc. Art to Art Series in Milwaukee, Faculty Feedback Panels for the American College Dance Festival North-Central Regional Conference Informal Concerts (2017 and 2014), and for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 2015 spring dance concert. In addition to her titles as Director of the Dance Minor, Professor, and Artistic Director of Carthage College dance productions, Ms. Pottinger is Faculty Advisor for Carthage’s NDEO Student Chapter and National Honor Society for the Dance Arts, she has served four terms on the Wisconsin Dance Council Board of Directors (two as Treasurer), and she is a member of Dancing Legacy’s Educator’s Cohort.
Dan Schuchart is an interdisciplinary artist and teacher. He creates and produces independent work in collaboration with Monica Rodero and their work has been presented throughout the US. Schuchart earned BFA degrees in Dance and Painting/ Drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an MFA in Experimental Choreography from the University of California- Riverside, a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis at Columbia College Chicago, and recently became certified as a Fascial Fitness Trainer through the Fascia Training Academy. Since 2002, he has worked with Wild Space Dance Company as a company member, choreographer, and Artistic Associate. Dan is currently a Senior Lecturer at the UW-Milwaukee Department of Dance, and in 2016, he was the recipient of the UWM Dance Department New Work Award. Outside of dance, Schuchart has worked as a scenic painter, including for the movie Public Enemies, and scenic charge for the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Florentine Opera, and Skylight Music Theatre.
Dan Schuchart
UW-Milwaukee
Peck School of the Arts – Dance Department
Senior Lecturer
MFA, GL-CMA
Anindita Neogy Anaam is a leading exponent of Indian classical dance Kathak and a well-known instructor, performer, and choreographer presently based in Wisconsin, United States of America. Anindita Anaam is an internationally acclaimed Indian classical Kathak artist who has performed in major festivals in India, Germany, US, and Canada. She is presently serving as the State Affiliate Director for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), a premier institution for K-12 dance education in the nation. In this capacity, she plays a crucial role in advancing dance education at the state level.
Anindita has presented her art in major festivals like New York Kathak Festival, Native Arts, Canada, The Grand Oshkosh, FOX Cities Performing Arts Center, Harris Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, LIVE Chicago at Navy Pier, John Michael Koehler Art Center, Harris Theater, Alvin Ailey, and so on. She is also the Artistic Director for Sargam Kathak classes and has established herself as a performer and educator in the US. Affectionately known as “Andy,” she is a disciple of doyens of Jaipur and Lucknow schools of Kathak, Pandit Rajendra Gangani and Pandit Jai Kishan Maharaj.
Her dance is a blend of both the schools of Kathak, and her recital is a powerful combination of grace and charm. Anindita is known for her focus on the movement and geometry aspect of Kathak and is well-regarded for her performances on world music and Indian classical string instruments.
Presently she is serving as the Communications Director for the City of Appleton.
Ann Brusky is the Director of Public Programs at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of JMKAC public programs, including performing arts, community arts, education, and preschool. As such, she generates strategies to engage diverse constituencies and promote JMKAC’s important role as a vital and invigorating multidisciplinary resource. Prior to her role in public programs, she was the Performing Arts Manager and responsible for curating the performing arts seasons including dance, music, theatre, and film. Brusky holds a B.S. in Communications with Theatre emphasis from UW-Oshkosh along with an M.A. in Arts Administration from Goucher College (MD). Brusky also serves on the board of the Robert E. Gard Foundation. She has been involved with the Wisconsin Dance Council for six years and has served on the Board.
President
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Simone Ferro is a choreographer, educator and researcher. She joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001 where she served as M.F.A. program director and as department chair for many years. After a professional career as soloist with dance companies in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Geneva, Switzerland, she completed her graduate work in dance at the University of Iowa. She is a Laban Certified Movement Analyst by the Columbia College of Chicago. Simone has collaborated extensively with local dance, theater and opera companies, including the Milwaukee Ballet, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Opera Theater, Danceworks Performance Company, Wild Space Dance Company and Theatre Gigante. She is a strong advocate for the Milwaukee and the Midwestern artistic community where she collaborates with visual artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers and scholars of different fields. Her choreographic work encompasses a wide range of thematic approaches from social justice issues, from historical and women’s themes to the analysis of more intimate human relationships.
Simone is recipient of several awards, including a UWM Graduate School Research Grant, an Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, a Research Growth Initiative (RGI) grant, Choreographic Fellowship from the Wisconsin Arts Board and was honored with a 2013 University of Iowa Alumni Fellowship. Most recently, Simone has received a Fellowship by the UWM’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and has been awarded a Fulbright to continue developing her research in Maranhão in the Spring 2022.
For the past 15 years, she has traveled to Brazil with her husband and research partner, Meredith W. Watts, to document and research popular culture and the traditional Bumba-meu-boi folk festivities in the Northeastern state of Maranhão. She has posted dozens of video-clips in her personal website where she has pioneered a repository of the Bumba-meu-boi. Simone has recently completed a manuscript she is jointly writing with her husband on the Leadership of Women in the Popular Culture of Maranhão.
Simone’s Milwaukee Through Embodied Research has worked with more than fifteen research students over the past six years. The project addresses social and environmental justice and community resilience through oral histories in the central city community of Sherman Park and Washington Park. It includes a variety of community activities including site-specific interventions in foreclosure homes, performances in porches and living rooms, parks, alleys, restaurants and public spaces. https://milwaukeeembodiedresearch.squarespace.com/projects-bedford
She is currently in her second term as the president of the Wisconsin Dance Council and is on the board of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
Mauriah Donegan Kraker
Stacy Pottinger has directed the Dance Minor Program at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI since 2009. Ms. Pottinger has a B.F.A. in dance performance from Southern Methodist University, an M.A. in Dance Education from the State University of New York College at Brockport, and an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She teaches Applied Dance Technique courses in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern as well as Composition, Improvisation, and Dance History. Ms. Pottinger’s recent research inquiries include Dance Integration studies and repertory-based literacy programming through the Dancing Legacy Repertory Etudes Collection. She has mentored student choreography at Carthage for the past fourteen years, led numerous trips to the American College Dance Festival conferences, and has served on multiple response panels, including that of Danceworks, Inc. Art to Art Series in Milwaukee, Faculty Feedback Panels for the American College Dance Festival North-Central Regional Conference Informal Concerts (2017 and 2014), and for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 2015 spring dance concert. In addition to her titles as Director of the Dance Minor, Professor, and Artistic Director of Carthage College dance productions, Ms. Pottinger is Faculty Advisor for Carthage’s NDEO Student Chapter and National Honor Society for the Dance Arts, she has served four terms on the Wisconsin Dance Council Board of Directors (two as Treasurer), and she is a member of Dancing Legacy’s Educator’s Cohort.
Dan Schuchart is an interdisciplinary artist and teacher. He creates and produces independent work in collaboration with Monica Rodero and their work has been presented throughout the US. Schuchart earned BFA degrees in Dance and Painting/ Drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an MFA in Experimental Choreography from the University of California- Riverside, a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis at Columbia College Chicago, and recently became certified as a Fascial Fitness Trainer through the Fascia Training Academy. Since 2002, he has worked with Wild Space Dance Company as a company member, choreographer, and Artistic Associate. Dan is currently a Senior Lecturer at the UW-Milwaukee Department of Dance, and in 2016, he was the recipient of the UWM Dance Department New Work Award. Outside of dance, Schuchart has worked as a scenic painter, including for the movie Public Enemies, and scenic charge for the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Florentine Opera, and Skylight Music Theatre.
Dan Schuchart
UW-Milwaukee
Peck School of the Arts – Dance Department
Senior Lecturer
MFA, GL-CMA
Anindita Neogy Anaam is a leading exponent of Indian classical dance Kathak and a well-known instructor, performer, and choreographer presently based in Wisconsin, United States of America. Anindita Anaam is an internationally acclaimed Indian classical Kathak artist who has performed in major festivals in India, Germany, US, and Canada. She is presently serving as the State Affiliate Director for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), a premier institution for K-12 dance education in the nation. In this capacity, she plays a crucial role in advancing dance education at the state level.
Anindita has presented her art in major festivals like New York Kathak Festival, Native Arts, Canada, The Grand Oshkosh, FOX Cities Performing Arts Center, Harris Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, LIVE Chicago at Navy Pier, John Michael Koehler Art Center, Harris Theater, Alvin Ailey, and so on. She is also the Artistic Director for Sargam Kathak classes and has established herself as a performer and educator in the US. Affectionately known as “Andy,” she is a disciple of doyens of Jaipur and Lucknow schools of Kathak, Pandit Rajendra Gangani and Pandit Jai Kishan Maharaj.
Her dance is a blend of both the schools of Kathak, and her recital is a powerful combination of grace and charm. Anindita is known for her focus on the movement and geometry aspect of Kathak and is well-regarded for her performances on world music and Indian classical string instruments.
Presently she is serving as the Communications Director for the City of Appleton.
Ann Brusky is the Director of Public Programs at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of JMKAC public programs, including performing arts, community arts, education, and preschool. As such, she generates strategies to engage diverse constituencies and promote JMKAC’s important role as a vital and invigorating multidisciplinary resource. Prior to her role in public programs, she was the Performing Arts Manager and responsible for curating the performing arts seasons including dance, music, theatre, and film. Brusky holds a B.S. in Communications with Theatre emphasis from UW-Oshkosh along with an M.A. in Arts Administration from Goucher College (MD). Brusky also serves on the board of the Robert E. Gard Foundation. She has been involved with the Wisconsin Dance Council for six years and has served on the Board.
Directors
Esrom Williams, Jr. is an eclectic choreographer, educator and dancer investigating the lines between classical and contemporary dance styles. His interdisciplinary studies in western and ethnic dance has guided his movement creations, while investigating topics of race, gender, mental health, hybridity, and social justice in his works. As a dance artist, he tries to explore beyond the boundaries, limitations, and criticisms that slip through our fingers. Hailing from an Indo-Jamaican heritage that pushes his movement exploration and identities in Asian Indian American Contemporary Dance, Esrom has created a challenged tonality between the American culture and diasporas from the Caribbean. Over the past 8 years, Esrom has supported building three k-12 dance programs for school districts across the nation and has been working diligently on creating an explorative space for dance artists with his project based dance company Ataraxia Dance Theatre. Going into his third year with the Green Bay Area Public School district at The Fine Arts Institute at East High and Washington Middle for the Arts, Esrom is looking forward to guiding the expansion of dance innovation and artistic understanding not only within Green Bay, WI but throughout the United States.
Anne Marie Brunner-Abderholden was born in Holland and spent most of her childhood in Switzerland. At age seven, she joined the Opera Ballet School in Zurich. After a nine-year professional ballet career, Anne Marie went on to complete an advanced degree in classical ballet (extended Vaganova) pedagogy from the Music College in Cologne, Germany. She taught at the Opera Ballet School in Zurich, at the Swiss School for Professional Dancers and at the Theater Ballet School in Krefeld and Monchengladbach, Germany. In 1991, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin where she taught for the Monona Academy of Dance. She was a choreographer for the Wisconsin Dance Ensemble and the Performing Arts for Children. In 2002, Anne Marie founded Valley Academy for the Arts in Neenah, WI. Anne Marie currently holds positions on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Dance Council and the Neenah Arts Council. Many of Anne Marie’s students have been accepted into prestigious programs such as Kirov Academy Washington DC, The Nutmeg Conservatory, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, Bolshoi Academy, and the Milwaukee Ballet summer program. In addition, many have gone on to acclaimed college dance programs and professional dance careers.
Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working in flamenco dance. Her work explores the evolution of the ‘Flamenca’ archetype, the diverse roots of flamenco and the poetry at the heart of the form. She is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer’s Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation, DanceMission and the Teatro Pradillo of Madrid. Following her training in Spain, Kerensa performed internationally at the Barbican Centre in London, the Tivoli in Barcelona, Madrid’s Teatro Calderón and the Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Kerensa relocated to Milwaukee in 2019 and opened Studio K Flamenco, a 501c3 organization committed to preserving the cultural integrity of flamenco. Through youth programs in public schools, annual theatrical performances like the Flamenco Nutcracker, ongoing classes and the FlamencoMKE performance series, Studio K is committed to furthering the art of flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond.
Maria Hackbarth began her study of ballet at the age of 7 and went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point with a BFA in Dance. During her time at UWSP, she performed in several student choreographed showcases as well as faculty and guest artist choreographed productions. As a dancer, she has worked with various companies and artists including Elation Dance Theater, Mary Anthony, Ko-Thi Dance Company and Doug Verone.
Realizing her passion for choreography, Hackbarth began Warped Dance Company in 2007 and created WDC’s Youth Ensemble in 2013. Since then she has been creating works and performance projects for many formal and alternative venues, as well as traveling both nationally and internationally, receiving praise and recognition for her innovative choreography. Recently, Maria has extended Warped Dance Company’s capabilities into the next level and began training both the Youth and Professional companies in Aerial Silks, after earning her Level 1 Training Certification in 2014.
Hackbarth’s artistic vision and choreographic style borrows from the neo-classical and contemporary ballet styles but opens the door to a more modern interpretation. Her works include many and varied lifts, floor work and new alternatives to traditional partnering, rejecting the more “flowy” and “traditional” modern ballet compositions. Instead, she provides more lines and shapes giving the viewer an edgier peek into the world of modern and contemporary ballet. This type of choreography forces the dancer to dig deep into core strengths of ballet and move away from the predictable forms they have traditionally been forced to accept and repeat. Additionally, it encourages the dancer to explore their choreographic range, as Hackbarth works in a highly collaborative environment. This allows the dancer the opportunity to push their strengths, both mentally and physically.
Molly King received her BA in dance as well as her teaching certification at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Having studied various classical disciplines of dance, King found her passion in ballet, modern, contemporary and community-based forms (such as folk dance, hip hop, yoga, and creative movement). King is a registered yoga teacher (RYT 200) with Yoga Alliance. She received her MA in special education at Cardinal Stritch University. King has been teaching for the Étude Group schools in Sheboygan for eighteen years. Throughout her career, King has collaborated and led programming with multiple dance residencies through the John Michael Kohler Arts Center and has taught a variety of classes for the community including mommy + me yoga, adult ballet classes, teen yoga, and site-based dance workshops. Outside of teaching, she is an active performer for a German folk dance group in Milwaukee, Pommersche Tanzdeel Freistadt. King is founder and educator for The Étude Group, a K-12 series of three public charter schools in the Sheboygan Area School District. In addition to teaching a variety of movement classes at the Étude Elementary, Middle and High School, she is also a junior/senior advisor at the Étude High School, and co-teaches a variety of interdisciplinary courses and facilitates a project-based, experiential learning class at Étude High School. King serves on a leadership team overseeing all three schools. The team’s current task is transitioning the high school to a new reporting model– a portfolio-based transcript, with help from a partnership with Mastery Transcript Consortium. Finally, Ms. King handles the event planning for Exhibitions of Learning which occur at the end of each school semester. She is responsible for organizing the schedule, developing the logistical timeline, communicating event details, and overseeing the execution of Exhibitions.
Contessa (Cole) Lobley is the Principal/CEO of CC Consulting Group, LLC and Hey Puddin, LLC. She is also Executive Director/Founder of TBEY Arts Center, Inc. TBEY is a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization that provides after-school & summer arts education, tutoring, and mentoring programs for Milwaukee youth ages 6-19. TBEY was founded over 22 years ago, by Lobley at the age of 16. After seeing the arts being cut from many schools, she recognized the need for arts programs to keep Milwaukee youth involved in something positive. She has held a position in community relations at a leading company in Milwaukee, WI, and has held a position within the arts field as an arts administrator. Active in the arts, youth, education, and entrepreneurship programs and initiatives, Lobley has served as a member of the “Catch a Rising Star Foundation”, a foundation developed to assist the “arts” schools in Greater Milwaukee, and “Peace Learning Center”, a conflict resolution program for youth. She sat on the Committee of Usher’s New Look Foundation for the Milwaukee Chapter, a summer camp that helps to empower youth through community service projects. She was a board member of the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and she is an advisory committee member for the Arts Midwest’s GIG Fund and Black Cat Alley. In addition, Lobley has sat on several arts and youth grant panels and review committees.
Lobley received her master’s degree in Cultural Foundations of Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Education with a sub-major in a community-based organization and administrative leadership and a Business Minor from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Ms. Lobley plans to further her education and receive her doctorate in nonprofit management in 2024. She is also a member of the elite leadership development program; Forward 48 cohort Spring 2022. Lobley has received several acknowledgments, such as her recent honor as a 2022 Women of Influence (Category: Nonprofit Leadership) by the Milwaukee Business Journal. She is also featured in The KNOW Milwaukee chapter November 2021 KNOW publication as a “Woman of Impact” and received “The CEO of Me Business Award” from the Center of Teaching Entrepreneurship, Inc as a young entrepreneur, which was recognized by the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee and its members in November 2010. Lobley was also featured in the inaugural edition of the May 2011 Publication of Who’s who in Black Milwaukee. Lobley has instructed nonprofit and entrepreneurship classes for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education and Milwaukee Public School Recreation Programs. As an active mentor, volunteer, and advocate for the arts, youth development, and entrepreneurship initiatives, Lobley holds a strong commitment to making the Greater Milwaukee area a better place to live and work.
Lavanyaa Surendar, Bharathanatyam Dancer/ Curator/ Arts & Cultural Educator/ Committed to developing a happy community through Arts. Ultimately to contribute to shaping the future of arts + culture, creating space for new creative processes, new ways of storytelling, new voices and developing artistic talent in the community, Lavanyaa is committed to innovation and revolution of the arts sector for the benefit of all. Having a certification in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, Lavanyaa specializes in ‘Neuroaesthetics’. She has written several articles among which,” while-we-experience-art-sports-do-we-feel-connected-to-something-large-why?” has been featured in Neo narthaki.
http://neonarthaki.com/while-we-experience-art-sports-do-we-feel-connected-to-something-large-why/
She also developed a dance based workout ‘Art & Anatomy’, that premiered in Lawrence University, Appleton. She was also an active member of ‘The Newyork Dance Talks’ and has presented ‘Abigyan Shakuntalum’ at the conference. She works closely with the American Mental Health Organization to use Arts as interventional treatment.
Lavanyaa ( WI Arts Board Master artist) is the founding President of Ziksa-An Art Forum, which connects artists through professional channels and helps art thrive. She was an Educational Co-chair for the Sheboygan Theatre company wherein she proposed educational opportunities and career building focus for students of STC. She is also a Director on the board of Art Garage in Green Bay. She has also worked with Maker Faire to use arts (Dance) as a community engagement tool. She holds a second Masters in Arts & Cultural Management from Colorado State University and is trained in South Indian Carnatic Music under her mother in law Guru. Smt. Revathi Narasimhan (Founder of Chari Cultural Center). Under the guidance of Dr. Sujatha Mohan she is also working on Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts “Natya Shastra”.
Born in Laos and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Yeng Vang-Strath is a passionate educator and advocates to bring more dance curriculum into the public school systems. She graduated from Alverno with a Master’s in Education and certification of Administration and Curriculum Design. She earned her undergraduate from Peck School of the Arts-Dance at the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin. She performed with Wild Space Performance Company for seven years and currently serves on the board of directors. Yeng was a contributing writer for the 2019 Wisconsin Dance Standards and her primary focus is to promote dance education to our public schools.
Erin Zintek is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she started her training under Kellie Plathe from Accent On Dance. Erin graduated from the University of Iowa with a BFA in dance. Pre-professionally and professionally Erin has danced with Charlotte Adams and Dancers, David Dorfman and Dancers, Poetic Rebound Co., Bill Young, KO& Co., Esther Lapointe, Lyfe Dance Company, Top Shake Dance, and created her own modern company The Erin Zintek Movement Project. During the summer of 2008, she traveled to Brazil to study capoeira and participate in company class with the company Balé Folclórico. Besides teaching dance, Erin is a certified Pilates instructor, certified yoga instructor, and is the co-creator of The Ellové Technique®. She formerly taught at BodyVox, Nike World Headquarters, The Portland Ballet, and Multnomah Athletic Club, where she was the Dance Head Coach to the pre-professional dance company. Erin also served on the executive board for Oregon Dance Education Organization.
In 2008 Megan Zintek graduated summa cum laude with her BFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with over 20 years of experience in her field. She has immersed herself in dance pedagogy since the age of 12, continually sharing her artistry and love of movement with children and adults. It has been her dream, from the first dance class she ever had the privilege of teaching, to open her own dance studio. She felt a calling to give others the same opportunity to grow, mature and express themselves with confidence and strength, just as she had been given as a young girl. Bella Via was not a spur of the moment idea… Megan diligently worked to obtain every tool possible that would ensure her dream not only come to fruition, but would be a powerful force in the dance community.
While receiving her undergrad, she had the privilege of working with and performing for André Tyson, Darci Brown Wutz, Li-Chao Ping, and Simone Ferro. She also had the opportunity to dance in works created by guest artists Daniel Gwirtzman, Laura Dean, and Uri Sands. She studied under the tutelage of Ed Burgess, Janet Lilly, Luc Vanier and Fern Caulker-Bronson. Beyond her studies, she has danced with Wildspace Dance Company, as well as the Catey Ott Dance Collective. During the summer of 2008, she traveled to Brazil to study Capoeira and dance with the company, Bale Folclorico. Megan was chosen to choreograph works for Here Comes Trouble and Art to Art in Milwaukee, and had the privilege of being cast in the film Missed Connections, which premiered in the 2011 Milwaukee Film Festival. She has been a company member of Elizabeth Johnson’s Your Mother Dances since 2008, keeping her connected and inspired within the dance community of Milwaukee. In 2012 she was interviewed and featured on Fox6 WakeUp promoting the launch of her fitness program, BellaBarre.
In 2015 and 2016, she was thrilled to return to UW-Milwaukee as a member of the faculty, teaching Jazz at the very university that inspired and motivated her growth as a teacher and artist. She is privileged to return in the Spring of 2019 as Rehearsal Director for a guest artist’s piece in UWM’s faculty show, SpringDances.
Megan is honored to have been nominated onto the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Dance Council. This wonderful organization parallels perfectly with everything Megan believes, and strives to further dance education in our communities.
Bella Via was named by Megan’s mother, whom she lost in the summer of 2009. Her mother had been her #1 fan and biggest supporter in attaining her dreams. She instilled in Megan the belief that she could do anything she set her mind to, inspiring Megan to encourage that personal belief in others. In the memory of Susan Zintek, Megan opened the doors of Bella Via in October of 2011. Bella Via, aptly named by her Mother, means “the beautiful way” in Italian. Megan’s hope is that it certainly will be for anyone who walks through the studio door.
WDC Interns
Katie Pratt is currently a third year student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
pursuing a B.S in Dance and a B.A in International Studies. She began her pre-professional
dance career at Rowland Ballard School of Ballet in Houston, Texas training primarily in ballet.
At UW Madison, Katie has performed under the direction of Liz Sexe and Kate Corby during the 2023 UW Dance Department Faculty Concerts, and performed Corby’s piece “Blossom” at the 2024 American College Dance Association Festival. In August 2023, she had the opportunity to attend the Perry-Mansfield summer intensive with the support of the UW dance department and train with the Limón Dance Company. Currently, she is currently an Arts Administration intern with the Wisconsin Dance Council, student assistant with the UW-Madison Language Program Office, and ballet instructor for Storybook Ballet. Katie is also the cohort representative for the 2026 UW-Madison graduating class and works as a peer mentor within the UW-Madison dance department. Although she has many interests, she hopes to combine her love of dance, language, and global studies to promote arts advocacy across the world.
Directors
Esrom Williams, Jr. is an eclectic choreographer, educator and dancer investigating the lines between classical and contemporary dance styles. His interdisciplinary studies in western and ethnic dance has guided his movement creations, while investigating topics of race, gender, mental health, hybridity, and social justice in his works. As a dance artist, he tries to explore beyond the boundaries, limitations, and criticisms that slip through our fingers. Hailing from an Indo-Jamaican heritage that pushes his movement exploration and identities in Asian Indian American Contemporary Dance, Esrom has created a challenged tonality between the American culture and diasporas from the Caribbean. Over the past 8 years, Esrom has supported building three k-12 dance programs for school districts across the nation and has been working diligently on creating an explorative space for dance artists with his project based dance company Ataraxia Dance Theatre. Going into his third year with the Green Bay Area Public School district at The Fine Arts Institute at East High and Washington Middle for the Arts, Esrom is looking forward to guiding the expansion of dance innovation and artistic understanding not only within Green Bay, WI but throughout the United States.
Anne Marie Brunner-Abderholden was born in Holland and spent most of her childhood in Switzerland. At age seven, she joined the Opera Ballet School in Zurich. After a nine-year professional ballet career, Anne Marie went on to complete an advanced degree in classical ballet (extended Vaganova) pedagogy from the Music College in Cologne, Germany. She taught at the Opera Ballet School in Zurich, at the Swiss School for Professional Dancers and at the Theater Ballet School in Krefeld and Monchengladbach, Germany. In 1991, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin where she taught for the Monona Academy of Dance. She was a choreographer for the Wisconsin Dance Ensemble and the Performing Arts for Children. In 2002, Anne Marie founded Valley Academy for the Arts in Neenah, WI. Anne Marie currently holds positions on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Dance Council and the Neenah Arts Council. Many of Anne Marie’s students have been accepted into prestigious programs such as Kirov Academy Washington DC, The Nutmeg Conservatory, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, Bolshoi Academy, and the Milwaukee Ballet summer program. In addition, many have gone on to acclaimed college dance programs and professional dance careers.
Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working in flamenco dance. Her work explores the evolution of the ‘Flamenca’ archetype, the diverse roots of flamenco and the poetry at the heart of the form. She is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer’s Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation, DanceMission and the Teatro Pradillo of Madrid. Following her training in Spain, Kerensa performed internationally at the Barbican Centre in London, the Tivoli in Barcelona, Madrid’s Teatro Calderón and the Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Kerensa relocated to Milwaukee in 2019 and opened Studio K Flamenco, a 501c3 organization committed to preserving the cultural integrity of flamenco. Through youth programs in public schools, annual theatrical performances like the Flamenco Nutcracker, ongoing classes and the FlamencoMKE performance series, Studio K is committed to furthering the art of flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond.
Maria Hackbarth began her study of ballet at the age of 7 and went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point with a BFA in Dance. During her time at UWSP, she performed in several student choreographed showcases as well as faculty and guest artist choreographed productions. As a dancer, she has worked with various companies and artists including Elation Dance Theater, Mary Anthony, Ko-Thi Dance Company and Doug Verone.
Realizing her passion for choreography, Hackbarth began Warped Dance Company in 2007 and created WDC’s Youth Ensemble in 2013. Since then she has been creating works and performance projects for many formal and alternative venues, as well as traveling both nationally and internationally, receiving praise and recognition for her innovative choreography. Recently, Maria has extended Warped Dance Company’s capabilities into the next level and began training both the Youth and Professional companies in Aerial Silks, after earning her Level 1 Training Certification in 2014.
Hackbarth’s artistic vision and choreographic style borrows from the neo-classical and contemporary ballet styles but opens the door to a more modern interpretation. Her works include many and varied lifts, floor work and new alternatives to traditional partnering, rejecting the more “flowy” and “traditional” modern ballet compositions. Instead, she provides more lines and shapes giving the viewer an edgier peek into the world of modern and contemporary ballet. This type of choreography forces the dancer to dig deep into core strengths of ballet and move away from the predictable forms they have traditionally been forced to accept and repeat. Additionally, it encourages the dancer to explore their choreographic range, as Hackbarth works in a highly collaborative environment. This allows the dancer the opportunity to push their strengths, both mentally and physically.
Molly King received her BA in dance as well as her teaching certification at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Having studied various classical disciplines of dance, King found her passion in ballet, modern, contemporary and community-based forms (such as folk dance, hip hop, yoga, and creative movement). King is a registered yoga teacher (RYT 200) with Yoga Alliance. She received her MA in special education at Cardinal Stritch University. King has been teaching for the Étude Group schools in Sheboygan for eighteen years. Throughout her career, King has collaborated and led programming with multiple dance residencies through the John Michael Kohler Arts Center and has taught a variety of classes for the community including mommy + me yoga, adult ballet classes, teen yoga, and site-based dance workshops. Outside of teaching, she is an active performer for a German folk dance group in Milwaukee, Pommersche Tanzdeel Freistadt. King is founder and educator for The Étude Group, a K-12 series of three public charter schools in the Sheboygan Area School District. In addition to teaching a variety of movement classes at the Étude Elementary, Middle and High School, she is also a junior/senior advisor at the Étude High School, and co-teaches a variety of interdisciplinary courses and facilitates a project-based, experiential learning class at Étude High School. King serves on a leadership team overseeing all three schools. The team’s current task is transitioning the high school to a new reporting model– a portfolio-based transcript, with help from a partnership with Mastery Transcript Consortium. Finally, Ms. King handles the event planning for Exhibitions of Learning which occur at the end of each school semester. She is responsible for organizing the schedule, developing the logistical timeline, communicating event details, and overseeing the execution of Exhibitions.
Contessa (Cole) Lobley is the Principal/CEO of CC Consulting Group, LLC and Hey Puddin, LLC. She is also Executive Director/Founder of TBEY Arts Center, Inc. TBEY is a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization that provides after-school & summer arts education, tutoring, and mentoring programs for Milwaukee youth ages 6-19. TBEY was founded over 22 years ago, by Lobley at the age of 16. After seeing the arts being cut from many schools, she recognized the need for arts programs to keep Milwaukee youth involved in something positive. She has held a position in community relations at a leading company in Milwaukee, WI, and has held a position within the arts field as an arts administrator. Active in the arts, youth, education, and entrepreneurship programs and initiatives, Lobley has served as a member of the “Catch a Rising Star Foundation”, a foundation developed to assist the “arts” schools in Greater Milwaukee, and “Peace Learning Center”, a conflict resolution program for youth. She sat on the Committee of Usher’s New Look Foundation for the Milwaukee Chapter, a summer camp that helps to empower youth through community service projects. She was a board member of the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and she is an advisory committee member for the Arts Midwest’s GIG Fund and Black Cat Alley. In addition, Lobley has sat on several arts and youth grant panels and review committees.
Lobley received her master’s degree in Cultural Foundations of Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Education with a sub-major in a community-based organization and administrative leadership and a Business Minor from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Ms. Lobley plans to further her education and receive her doctorate in nonprofit management in 2024. She is also a member of the elite leadership development program; Forward 48 cohort Spring 2022. Lobley has received several acknowledgments, such as her recent honor as a 2022 Women of Influence (Category: Nonprofit Leadership) by the Milwaukee Business Journal. She is also featured in The KNOW Milwaukee chapter November 2021 KNOW publication as a “Woman of Impact” and received “The CEO of Me Business Award” from the Center of Teaching Entrepreneurship, Inc as a young entrepreneur, which was recognized by the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee and its members in November 2010. Lobley was also featured in the inaugural edition of the May 2011 Publication of Who’s who in Black Milwaukee. Lobley has instructed nonprofit and entrepreneurship classes for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education and Milwaukee Public School Recreation Programs. As an active mentor, volunteer, and advocate for the arts, youth development, and entrepreneurship initiatives, Lobley holds a strong commitment to making the Greater Milwaukee area a better place to live and work.
Lavanyaa Surendar, Bharathanatyam Dancer/ Curator/ Arts & Cultural Educator/ Committed to developing a happy community through Arts. Ultimately to contribute to shaping the future of arts + culture, creating space for new creative processes, new ways of storytelling, new voices and developing artistic talent in the community, Lavanyaa is committed to innovation and revolution of the arts sector for the benefit of all. Having a certification in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, Lavanyaa specializes in ‘Neuroaesthetics’. She has written several articles among which,” while-we-experience-art-sports-do-we-feel-connected-to-something-large-why?” has been featured in Neo narthaki.
http://neonarthaki.com/while-we-experience-art-sports-do-we-feel-connected-to-something-large-why/
She also developed a dance based workout ‘Art & Anatomy’, that premiered in Lawrence University, Appleton. She was also an active member of ‘The Newyork Dance Talks’ and has presented ‘Abigyan Shakuntalum’ at the conference. She works closely with the American Mental Health Organization to use Arts as interventional treatment.
Lavanyaa ( WI Arts Board Master artist) is the founding President of Ziksa-An Art Forum, which connects artists through professional channels and helps art thrive. She was an Educational Co-chair for the Sheboygan Theatre company wherein she proposed educational opportunities and career building focus for students of STC. She is also a Director on the board of Art Garage in Green Bay. She has also worked with Maker Faire to use arts (Dance) as a community engagement tool. She holds a second Masters in Arts & Cultural Management from Colorado State University and is trained in South Indian Carnatic Music under her mother in law Guru. Smt. Revathi Narasimhan (Founder of Chari Cultural Center). Under the guidance of Dr. Sujatha Mohan she is also working on Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts “Natya Shastra”.
Born in Laos and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Yeng Vang-Strath is a passionate educator and advocates to bring more dance curriculum into the public school systems. She graduated from Alverno with a Master’s in Education and certification of Administration and Curriculum Design. She earned her undergraduate from Peck School of the Arts-Dance at the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin. She performed with Wild Space Performance Company for seven years and currently serves on the board of directors. Yeng was a contributing writer for the 2019 Wisconsin Dance Standards and her primary focus is to promote dance education to our public schools.
Erin Zintek is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she started her training under Kellie Plathe from Accent On Dance. Erin graduated from the University of Iowa with a BFA in dance. Pre-professionally and professionally Erin has danced with Charlotte Adams and Dancers, David Dorfman and Dancers, Poetic Rebound Co., Bill Young, KO& Co., Esther Lapointe, Lyfe Dance Company, Top Shake Dance, and created her own modern company The Erin Zintek Movement Project. During the summer of 2008, she traveled to Brazil to study capoeira and participate in company class with the company Balé Folclórico. Besides teaching dance, Erin is a certified Pilates instructor, certified yoga instructor, and is the co-creator of The Ellové Technique®. She formerly taught at BodyVox, Nike World Headquarters, The Portland Ballet, and Multnomah Athletic Club, where she was the Dance Head Coach to the pre-professional dance company. Erin also served on the executive board for Oregon Dance Education Organization.
In 2008 Megan Zintek graduated summa cum laude with her BFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with over 20 years of experience in her field. She has immersed herself in dance pedagogy since the age of 12, continually sharing her artistry and love of movement with children and adults. It has been her dream, from the first dance class she ever had the privilege of teaching, to open her own dance studio. She felt a calling to give others the same opportunity to grow, mature and express themselves with confidence and strength, just as she had been given as a young girl. Bella Via was not a spur of the moment idea… Megan diligently worked to obtain every tool possible that would ensure her dream not only come to fruition, but would be a powerful force in the dance community.
While receiving her undergrad, she had the privilege of working with and performing for André Tyson, Darci Brown Wutz, Li-Chao Ping, and Simone Ferro. She also had the opportunity to dance in works created by guest artists Daniel Gwirtzman, Laura Dean, and Uri Sands. She studied under the tutelage of Ed Burgess, Janet Lilly, Luc Vanier and Fern Caulker-Bronson. Beyond her studies, she has danced with Wildspace Dance Company, as well as the Catey Ott Dance Collective. During the summer of 2008, she traveled to Brazil to study Capoeira and dance with the company, Bale Folclorico. Megan was chosen to choreograph works for Here Comes Trouble and Art to Art in Milwaukee, and had the privilege of being cast in the film Missed Connections, which premiered in the 2011 Milwaukee Film Festival. She has been a company member of Elizabeth Johnson’s Your Mother Dances since 2008, keeping her connected and inspired within the dance community of Milwaukee. In 2012 she was interviewed and featured on Fox6 WakeUp promoting the launch of her fitness program, BellaBarre.
In 2015 and 2016, she was thrilled to return to UW-Milwaukee as a member of the faculty, teaching Jazz at the very university that inspired and motivated her growth as a teacher and artist. She is privileged to return in the Spring of 2019 as Rehearsal Director for a guest artist’s piece in UWM’s faculty show, SpringDances.
Megan is honored to have been nominated onto the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Dance Council. This wonderful organization parallels perfectly with everything Megan believes, and strives to further dance education in our communities.
Bella Via was named by Megan’s mother, whom she lost in the summer of 2009. Her mother had been her #1 fan and biggest supporter in attaining her dreams. She instilled in Megan the belief that she could do anything she set her mind to, inspiring Megan to encourage that personal belief in others. In the memory of Susan Zintek, Megan opened the doors of Bella Via in October of 2011. Bella Via, aptly named by her Mother, means “the beautiful way” in Italian. Megan’s hope is that it certainly will be for anyone who walks through the studio door.
WDC Interns
Katie Pratt is currently a third year student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
pursuing a B.S in Dance and a B.A in International Studies. She began her pre-professional dance career at Rowland Ballard School of Ballet in Houston, Texas training primarily in ballet. At UW Madison, Katie has performed under the direction of Liz Sexe and Kate Corby during the 2023 UW Dance Department Faculty Concerts, and performed Corby’s piece “Blossom” at the 2024 American College Dance Association Festival. In August 2023, she had the opportunity to attend the Perry-Mansfield summer intensive with the support of the UW dance department and train with the Limón Dance Company. Currently, she is currently an Arts Administration intern with the Wisconsin Dance Council, student assistant with the UW-Madison Language Program Office, and ballet instructor for Storybook Ballet. Katie is also the cohort representative for the 2026 UW-Madison graduating class and works as a peer mentor within the UW-Madison dance department. Although she has many interests, she hopes to combine her love of dance, language, and global studies to promote arts advocacy across the world.
