Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey.
If those names are unfamiliar, don't worry — you won't have to recognize the three famous pioneers of modern dance to appreciate the Milwaukee Ballet's showcase of several modern dance works at the Pabst Theater later this month.
Between March 23 and 26, the Milwaukee Ballet will move out of its traditional venue at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts to perform four pieces that are no "Nutcracker" or "Swan Lake."
Artistic Director Michael Pink said via e-mail that the Pabst, with its smaller stage, provides a more intimate setting for the performers and the audience.
According to the ballet's marketing and public relations director, Molly Verette, the company has performed at the Pabst for eight years. Pink said the performances have historically been contemporary.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for the dancers to experience a variety of different and mostly new work," Pink said.
Newcomers to dance performances should find appeal in the works to be presented at the Pabst, Pink said.
"At the Pabst you will be more aware of the physical energy and the relationship of form to music," he said. "Dance is an expression of movement and ideas to music, it is unspoken; therefore, it allows the audience to connect with a work on whichever level they choose."
The Tribune spoke with the four choreographers via e-mail to discuss the inspiration behind their creative products.
Pink said his work was inspired by one of composer Maurice Ravel's piano sonatas and Wisconsin artist Schomer Lichtner's painting of a red dress. He said the working title of the short, abstract work is along the lines of 'Don't touch. You can look, but don't touch.'
The program will feature the debut of "Meditation," choreographed by Simone Ferro, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Dance. The music was composed by Josh Schmidt, an alumnus of UW-Milwaukee's music department.
Ferro said as a dancer and teacher, she has lived in three different countries in South America, Europe and North America, and the source of her choreography is her many cultural and social experiences.
"I consider myself a sponge, reacting to what I see with my aesthetic and moral beliefs and from my experience living in different cultures. This is from where my choreography comes from."
Milwaukee has proven to be a stimulating muse, Ferro said.
"Milwaukee's immigration and economic patterns are fascinating to me," Ferro said. "I have found in Milwaukee a great deal to lot to offer and much to reflect on."
Ferro said she was intrigued by the ideas of adaptation and transformation, that "we all adapt and transform ourselves in order to succeed, to be accepted and to grow in what we do."
The piece incorporates these themes when a dancer takes on a new identity, when male and female dancers reverse roles and when "performers evolve from into some new adaptation brought about by their inner desires, conflicts, and a need to continually evolve and change," Ferro said.
Former principal dancer Diego Carrasco, who was with the company for 12 years, will return to Milwaukee to present "Passages," which he said emerged from his personal "reclamation and discovery" of his Mexican heritage. He did not speak Spanish before embarking on the creation of this work. Taking Spanish lessons became the catalyst for his goal to "integrate my art with my new explorations into my cultural heritage," he said.
"'Passages' is a work that emerges from my sympathies for those desperate enough to attempt crossing the border illegally under very dangerous conditions and an affinity I feel towards people in general that attempt to cross the many borders and boundaries present in our daily lives," Carrasco said.
Darrell Grand Moultrie choreographed "Vital Sensations," a piece that fuses Latin music with ballet and modern dance. He said even more simply, his creation can be viewed as an example of how music inspires a choreographer.
"The piece is, without a doubt, exciting, sexy and fun with some great sensual moments, like the solo in the third section, that you can seek your teeth into," Moultrie said.
Tickets for the Milwaukee Ballet's performance at the Pabst are now available.
Verette said Marquette students will receive a 50 percent discount with a valid student ID if they purchase their tickets the day of the performance at the Pabst Theater box office or by calling the Milwaukee Ballet's ticket office, (414) 902-2103.