Past Researchers
Lyndsay sorg (Summer 2019-Spring 2021)
Lyndsay Sorg pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was awarded commencement honors in May 2021. Throughout her time as an undergraduate student, she studied Modern, Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Yoga, Aerial, Pilates, Improvisation, Composition, Applied Anatomy, Laban Movement Analysis, Alexander Technique, and more. She has performed in choreographic works by Kelsey Lee, Kylee Karzen, Katelyn Altman, Daniel Burkholder, Gabi Sustache, and Dan Schuchart. She was selected to perform and attend the American College Dance Association (ACDA) North Central Regional Conference in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Her interest in movement research led her to write a thesis entitled: Improvisation as a Therapeutic Mechanism, in Curing the Feeling of existentialism, for those with Physical and Mental Illnesses.
She was awarded multiple dance department scholarships as well as a Support for Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grant. Her SURF research included social justice through embodied research in the Sherman Park Community under the Department of Dance Chair, Simone Linhares Ferro. She spends much of her time working in Child Care looking after infants and children through ages five and up. This time spent with children has influenced her movement and continues to direct her into a pathway for developmental movement.
Maddie Prokop (Fall 2018- Fall 2020)
Maddie collected footage of each group's improvisation and edited them into a cohesive presentation of the developing research at each intervention. She also participated in these group improvisations, weekly meetings, and studied the sociopolitical circumstances of Milwaukee through articles and books such as “Evicted” by Matthew Desmond. Her role has since shifted to primarily fieldwork and movement interventions and she has taken over putting the finishing touches on the website.
Alex Seager (Summer 2019- Fall 2020)
Alex has participated in multiple site-specific movement interventions across Milwaukee at locations such as Tricklebee Café, Emily’s Garden, and Butterfly Park. She has transitioned into the role of video editing and has created videos of each individual group improvisation.
Caity Grubich (Fall 2018- Summer 2019)
Caity participated in group discussion, bringing her own background to the conversation, and worked with the team to read and assess the sociopolitical and cultural circumstances they were investigating. She worked to develop sections of the website, researching to come up with articles. She also participated in group improvisations around the west side of Milwaukee, bringing a new form of art to an area that does not normally have that exposure.
Megan Vélez (Spring 2018- Summer 2019)
Most of the research established thus far was abstracted information, so Megan worked to concisely document everything to this website. Weekly meetings were set in place to analyze and discuss literature and experiences on racial profiling in cities, ethnography, and architecture. The partnership with Tricklebee Café continued to blossom as biweekly interventions of modern improvisation in the restaurant became part of the community engagement and reshaping perceptions of a dance genre typically limited to a concert stage. Megan, along with Caity, found new methods of acquiring information as they went to various seminars about housing and ethnography.
Jimmi Weyneth (Fall 2017-Summer 2018)
Jimmi’s introduction to the research was through choreographic work, Curb Service, Please!, which Chelsey, Carly, and Megan also participated in. Through the choreographic process, dancers were asked to engage with the community for movement inspiration. Having this foundation, Jimmi worked with Chelsey interviewing numerous community members to add to their primary sources. Together, they expanded focus from Washington Park to Sherman Park, specifically at the Tricklebee Café. They initiated a conversation that led to a long-time collaboration between dancers and the restaurant. Jimmi also filmed and edited interactions, creating video documentation of research.
Chelsey Becher (Fall 2016- Summer 2018)
Chelsey worked with Carly to learn the history of a home. Through this, she was able to learn and appreciate the value people put on the property allowing her to comprehend the circumstances of living in certain neighborhoods of Milwaukee. Having this external understanding, Chelsey began conducting and transcribing interviews with various community members. This provided a greater knowledge base to begin to accumulate from a variety of differing sources.
Carly Broutman (Fall 2016- Summer 2017)
Carly, partnering with Chelsey, laid the groundwork for the operation. To gain proper background information on the subject, she educated herself with literature on the topic, the book Evicted by Matthew Desmond being the primary focus. Through this she was able to have an understanding of the different perspectives and be able to empathize with the community at large. Her aspect of the research was focused on analyzing the history of a home, which involved a thorough investigation of a building in Washington Park to identify the evolution of property in that neighborhood.