PSA: No Studio’s Dance Fest 2025: A Celebration of Movement and Culture: August 2, 2025!

Ailey II by Nir Arieli. Photo courtesy of No Studios

MILWAUKEE, Wis: Nō Studios, a center for the creative arts and activism in downtown Milwaukee, is thrilled to announce that tickets for Dance Fest 2025 are officially on sale on the Nō Studios website. Now in its fourth year, Dance Fest continues to grow, bringing together a powerful lineup of world-class talent, including Ailey II, Madison Ballet, House of Jit, Visceral Dance, Madd Rhythms, Water Street Dance Milwaukee, and more.


Hosted in partnership with New York’s Joyce Theater, one of the only theaters in the U.S. built specifically for dance, this year marks a new milestone as Ailey II headlines the festival. The event will take place at the Marcus Performing Arts Center’s Peck Pavilion on Saturday, August2, 2025, setting the stage for a celebration of artistry and cultural vibrancy. Festival-goers will experience a wide variety of dance genres, including ballet, salsa, African-inspired, Irish stepdance, and contemporary.


“Dance Fest brings together some of the most exciting and original performers from around the country,” said John Ridley, founder of Nō Studios. “With Ailey II leading the lineup, this year’s festival is shaping up to be something truly special; a one-day event where creativity, culture,and community take center stage in Milwaukee. This is an opportunity to witness extraordinary talent from across the Midwest and beyond.”


Dance Fest will once again be curated by Morgan Williams, a celebrated choreographer and the founder of Water Street Dance Milwaukee. “Every year, Dance Fest brings together some of the most inspiring and diverse dance companies from across the country.” said Williams, “It’s a powerful reminder of how dance transcends boundaries and unites us in the spirit of creativity and celebration. I can’t wait for the community to witness the magic we’ve curated this year.”


The event will be emceed by Danni Gee, Director of Programming for New York City’s The Joyce Theater. “Our mission at The Joyce is to celebrate the full spectrum of dance, and Dance Fest brings that to life in such a vibrant way,” said Gee. “We’re thrilled to partner with Nō Studios again to showcase artists who are expanding the language of movement. With ticket sales now live, I urge everyone to secure their spot for a front-row view of this incredible celebration.” Danni is also partnering with Tempo, Wisconsin’s largest professional women’s organization, for an onstage conversation.

Photo courtesy of No Studios


Dance Fest 2025 will feature performances by:
● Ailey II (New York, NY): The next generation of dance, AILEY’s second company is renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the next generation with the creative vision of emerging choreographers.
● Water Street Dance Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI): Dedicated to exploring diversity within their art, artists, and audiences, the company is renowned for their athletic, innovative, and entertaining performances. They were named to Dance Magazine’s “25
to Watch” list in 2024.
● Madison Ballet (Madison, WI): Wisconsin’s second-largest dance organization is under the direction of Ja’ Malik and is focused on building a better community through art.
● House of Jit (Detroit, MI): Celebrating the legacy and energy of Detroit’s street dance
culture.
● Visceral Dance (Chicago, IL): A contemporary dance company pushing boundaries through powerful choreography.
● Madd Rhythms (Chicago, IL): Chicago’s premier tap company, celebrated for their rhythm and innovation.


Dance Fest will take place at the Marcus Performing Arts Center’s outdoor Peck Pavilion, along the Milwaukee River. The family-friendly festival will also include youth dance performances, community-focused daytime programs, live music, guided yoga, and a market with local vendors. It will also feature a conversation with Danni Gee Vendors are encouraged to apply for participation at info@nostudios.com, and the full event schedule will be posted to nostudios.com/dance-fest-2025 in the coming weeks.

Water Street Dance Milwaukee by Katstiennon. Photo courtesy of No Studios.


“Hosting Dance Fest at Peck Pavilion is an honor,” said Kevin Giglinto, President & CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center. “This festival not only brings world-class dance to Milwaukee but also aligns with our own commitment to the community with diverse and powerful performing arts experiences. We’re thrilled to open our doors to the vibrancy and energy that Dance Fest brings each year.”


Dance Fest is sponsored by the Marcus Performing Arts Center, The Joyce Theater, and media partner WISN 12 News. To buy tickets, please visit nostudios.com/dance-fest-2025.

Extra Credit Reading: The program is here

Red Bull Theater Sponsors An Annual Short New Play Festival (Contest), So I Wrote This Play.

Red Bull Theater is an Off Broadway Theater organization that specializes in producing inviting presentations of the classics, Shakespeare, Moliere, Ben Jonson, etc. both in full blown stage presentations and readings. Some times they also put up video versions so that those of us in the hinterlands can enjoy their performances.

I discovered Red Bull during the pandemic. Unwilling to surrender to the lock outs and stay at home orders, Red Bull put together a remarkable string of Zoom readings with each actor working from their safe space. Each offering saw not only better and better acting but increasing skills at making Zoom imitate live readings. The backgrounds became uniform across the platform and costuming got a bit more elaborate…and they obviously put time into rehearsing ‘passing’ items back and forth and displaying ‘faux signs’ of affection. I wrote about a number of their Zoomies at the time. I was wholly entertained!

So needless to say, I still stream as many of their video presentations as I can…and I am a subscriber to their email newsletters. So earlier this year I got the announcement about soliciting new plays for their 15th Annual Short Play Festival. They were looking for 10 minute or less plays to read at the festival that supported their mission of classical works and fit in the theme of Defiance. I happily reproduced their press release as a public service announcement here on AIP and immediately forgot about it.

But my creative, or should we say pesky, subconscious wasn’t willing to let it go that easily. So about a week or so later, I started being awoken with snippets of text and plot lines that persisted into my waking moments. Now, Red Bull wasn’t the only driving force here. I had just completed auditing an English course at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee titled modern drama. We read and discussed a number of provocative plays including David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face, Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, and others…so I have been heard to exclaim that I was under the influence. Thank you Professor Berkowitz!

So…where do I start…and where did I start then? As I said I was awoken with text. That isn’t unusual for me. When I toiled as a computer programmer ideas or bug fixes often would awaken me mid-sleep. And since then a number of poems have appeared and the core for scene one and scene last for my WIP cabaret piece. I just need the middle 90 minutes. LOL. My goal is to finish it this year. So yes, the outline popped into my head one night and I tossed and turned for several more to flesh it out and name characters and fill in some details. I kept telling myself to put it away but I resisted or persisted. And I completed it.

What’s it about? Well it plays off those modern plays that I read about gender and environment and character development and contemporary theater practices. And the premise is around auditions for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A defiant male actor auditions for the role of Juliet. So this opens the whole dialogue about the possibility of theater being a gender neutral playing field, contemporary presentation vs. practices at the Globe, and some other contemporary societal background noise. For a play of just a few pages I think I captured some angst, some defiance, and there is certainly some humor. And I cheated (?) by pulling a small speech from Shakespeare’s piece for our auditioner to read. I titled the play What Light?

Did he get the part? No. Was my play one of the six selected? No.

But I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun. I pushed myself outside my usual comfort zone on a national level instead of just the home town, although few beyond those of you reading this will ever know. And I thought about a lot of things that I don’t normally consider. Should the character’s names mean something other than just a name? In this case I gave them names that mean something in the narrative. Well at least in my mind. How does a playwright comment in the play to the actors and director about on stage activities or gender/race/age assignments for the roles or scenic/set/siting without stepping on their toes in performance? I may have taken a swipe at the Milwaukee Rep’s Romeo and Juliet too but don’t tell anyone. And I learned about how difficult it is to write voices and words for others but how much fun it was when I was done and I submitted it.

Will I do it again? I can’t be sure but I won’t rule it out. But I am officially a playwright!

Here’s the details on the actual reading at Red Bull. Wish I were in New York City!

A few Red Bull reviews if you are so inclined:

RBT: The Woman Hater

Red Bull Theater Reads John Lyly’s Gallathea

Red Bull Theater Reads MJ Kaufman’s GALATEA!

Red Bull Theater’s Reading of Ben Jonson’s Volpone!