Last Weekend in Milwaukee…

Milwaukee is a diverse city with numerous events happening every weekend. The Third Coast Daily photo team visited several of them last weekend and has a photo gallery from the 33rd Annual Civic Dinner Dance at the 128th, Danceworks’ Mad Hot Ballroom competition, Art Jamboree at the Shops of Grand Avenue, Milwaukee Press Club Awards Gridiron Dinner and Museum Swap Day. Just a small sampling of what our fair city has to offer.

All photos by the TCD Photo Team: Angela Morgan, Sara Bill and Madeline Pieschel.

Thursday | 33^rd Annual Civic Dinner Dance at the 128^th Air Refueling Wing

Thursday, May 16^th was the 33rd Annual Civic Dinner Dance at the 128th Air Refueling Wing. The event was hosted by Colonel Ted Metzgar, Commander of the 128th Air Refueling Wing – Wisconsin Air National Guard and the communities of Oak Creek, Cudahy, St. Francis, and South Milwaukee. During the event, 87-year-old Bernice Czarnezki from South Milwaukee was named the honored citizen for her involvement throughout the community. Brew City Big Band got the guests dancing with their swing, Latin, polka, and waltz music from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s.

Saturday | Danceworks’ Mad Hot Ballroom, Art Jamboree, Press Club Awards 

Nearly 2,500 local students from forty-five schools gathered at the BMO Harris Bradley Center last Saturday, May 18, for the seventh annual, citywide Danceworks Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap (MHBT) Competition. The competition is modeled after successful New York City public schools’ dance programs, derived from the popular documentary Mad Hot Ballroom (which is a must see film if you haven’t already). Milwaukee’s Danceworks Mad Hot Ballroom integrates tap and ballroom dance classes into regular school curriculum, increasing student’s physical activity while teaching them valuable life skills and lessons. Saturday’s participating students received 24 hours of instructions from professional teaching artists over a 12 week period. The practice paid off, with students giving it their all and busting fancy moves that I only wish I knew how to do. The first heat of the day consisted of fourth through sixth grade students showcasing their skills in funk, Latin and swing styles of tap dancing, while the second featured a ballroom competition in which fifth and six graders paired up to perform the fancy tango, foxtrot, and cha-cha dances. Young dancers from Danceworks Youth Performance Company, ages 11 to 17, also showcased their more advanced moves later on in the day.

The Shops of Grand Avenue was a vibrant place Saturday as well, with ART Milwaukee’s Art Jamboree event transforming the shops of the mall into a gallery, performance theater, and market vendor culture center.  The fair featured nearly 100 artists and 50 vendors, bringing together a diverse group of locally talented artists and vendors. Live theater, music and dance acts were also a part of the eventful day, with performances by Danceworks, Skylight Music Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Rep, Renaissance Theaterworks, and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Bronzeville Jazz Quartet. Third Coast was also in on the action, with a gallery of work in our own Grand Ave. office that featured pieces from our own photographers Angela Morgan, Madeline Pieschel, Howard Leu, and Lacy Landre, and beautiful oil paintings done by Kat Murrell.

The Milwaukee Press Club held their annual Gridiron Dinner and Awards at the Intercontinental Hotel Saturday night. Third Coast Daily won three gold Excellence in Journalism Awards for Best Critical Review for Tom Strini, Best News Photograph for Lacy Landre and Best News or Feature Website. Congratulations to all members of the media on their nominations and all those who won.

Saturday | Museum Swap Day

Each year several of the museums in town offer a one day reciprocal membership to their members to visit the other museums in the city. Participants included the Milwaukee Art Museum, Discovery World, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Harley-Davidson Museum. Thousands of people were out for this event and many visited more than one museum in a day. The Milwaukee Art Museum also hosted their monthly Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays event with music and events for the kids and it was also the final day of the Color Rush photography exhibit.

See below for Third Coast Daily’s full photo gallery of Last Weekend in Milwaukee.