Wild Space Dance Company Presents Beyond the Shimmer

There are many great places to take in the nighttime Milwaukee skyline, but one of the best is the recently completed Jan Serr Studio at the top of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Kenilworth building.

So when Artistic Director Dan Schuchart was imagining a new dance theatre piece for Wild Space Dance Company–one that explored the vastness of outer space–the Jan Serr seemed like the perfect venue. As the title suggests, “Beyond the Shimmer” takes light and space as its primary material, using it, Schuchart says, “to explore themes of distance, possibility, and connection.”

The dance will unfold against the backdrop of a 60 by 40-foot window offering panoramic views of downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan. The 10-member ensemble will make the space shimmer with mirror balls, flashlights, mylar blankets and other devices to shape light, shadow, and space.

The piece’s journey to Jan Serr started in January 2025, with a 25-minute version featured at UW-Milwaukee’s Winterdances concert. It has been reset on the Wild Space company and will be presented in March at the 17th annual RADfest Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Schuchart is then expanding the piece into a 60-minute experience for the Jan Serr Studio. The new version features poetic and narrative text by Brian Rott, Artistic Director of Quasimondo Physical Theatre, which will be projected above the stage.

Beyond the Shimmer will serve as the evening’s “main course.” The evening opens with a new solo performed by Schuchart. Created by guest artist Alexandra Barbier, the piece is part of her nationally ongoing project, few things ahead of time, in which dances are crafted in a 48-hour period for a specific performer and location. Through this process, Barbier embraces constraint as a catalyst for adventitious choices, inventive tactics, and unexpected outcomes.

Audiences are invited to step into a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Through bold movement, evocative text, and stunning, multi‑sensory imagery, Beyond the Shimmer immerses viewers in a dazzling exploration of our collective search for meaning across space and time.

Community Workshop – Saturday, April 11, 2026, 3:30-5:00pm
Join Wild Space in the Jan Serr Studio for a community workshop providing an opportunity to experience and share elements of the creative process used in developing the work. FREE for ticketholders, $10 for everyone else.

TICKETS – https://ticketstripe.com/shimmer

Choreography: Alexandra Barbier (guest artist) and Dan Schuchart (Wild Space Artistic Director)

Dancers: Katelyn Altmann, Emma Becker, Angela Frederick, Cuauhtli Ramírez Castro, Ashley Ray Garcia,

Zoe Mei Glise, Jessica Lueck, Jenni Reinke, Elisabeth Roskopf, Dan Schuchart, Nicole Spence

Wild Space Dance Company is in its fourth decade of offering inventive performances, outreach, and community programs. Founded in 1986 by Debra Loewen, and now under the direction of Dan Schuchart, Wild Space is known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations that take audiences on adventures through built and natural landscapes, visual art, history and the human condition with wry humor, clever choreography, and emotionally charged dance. The mission of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company is to explore diverse cultural landscapes to create provocative new choreography, site-based performances, and educational opportunities. The company cultivates creative experimentation, innovation, and collaboration by investing in local artists, and engages audiences with dance in a shared experience of place and community. An affiliate of United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), Wild Space is a company-in-residence at Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts in Milwaukee. Wild Space is supported in part by grants from UPAF, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Herzfeld Foundation, Milwaukee County CAMPAC, and the Milwaukee Arts Board and Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. This production is additionally funded by our supporters Stephen Baker & Dr. Nadine A. Chang, Gardner Foundation, Pieper Electric, Inc./Ideal Mechanical, Bert L. & Patricia S. Steigleder Charitable Trust, and individual donors.

For additional information visit www.wildspacedance.org

Interview and further inquiry, message dan@wildspacedance.org

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.