Milwaukee Ballet Ends Season with Contemporary Show “MKE MIX”

Milwaukee, WI – April 17, 2024 – Milwaukee Ballet will finish its 2023/24 Season with contemporary triple-bill MKE MIX. Returning choreographers Nelly van Bommel and Gabrielle Lamb will create new works on the Company while new-to-Milwaukee choreographer Penny Saunders will restage her praised work Soir Bleu. Performances will run May 16-19 at The Pabst Theater.

“Contemporary shows like MKE MIX are integral to our art form and deeply special to us,” says Artistic Director Michael Pink. “It reveals to our audiences the full range of what ballet can be, far beyond the stereotypical images many hold in their minds. We are tremendously excited to stage works by these three creative women, especially given their history with the Company.”

Van Bommel and Lamb are both winners of Milwaukee Ballet’s biennial Genesis International Choreographic Competition, taking home the prize in 2007 and 2013, respectively. Saunders joins Milwaukee Ballet for the first time upon professional recommendation. This is the first time the Company will stage a triple-bill choreographed entirely by women.

After the performance on May 17, van Bommel will lead a brief choreographic workshop during which she will discuss and demonstrate her process of creating new works. This post-show event is free and open to all ticketholders of that evening’s performance.

Milwaukee Ballet has partnered with Colectivo Coffee for a special drink promotion in conjunction with the production. Colectivo will have a limited-time drink exclusively available in their Milwaukee cafes from May 5-11, a week before the show premieres.

The 2023/24 Season marks the inauguration of MKE MIX as an annual show in the Company’s lineup. It will return from February 7-16, 2025 at Milwaukee Ballet’s own Baumgartner Center for Dance. New subscriptions are currently available for purchase through the Milwaukee Ballet Box Office.

“Like Genesis, we hope MKE MIX is a performance that audiences will anticipate and enjoy year after year,” says Pink. “The works will always be fresh and exciting, but the high caliber of artistry and athleticism is guaranteed to remain unchanged.”

The Choreographers

A nationally renowned choreographer, Gabrielle Lamb has presented new works and won competitions around the country, including a Princess Grace Award. She was a 2020 Guggenheim fellow and currently directs Pigeonwing Dance in New York City, in addition to recently being selected as a 2024 Hearst Choreographer in Residence at Princeton University.

Penny Saunders is Artist in Residence at USC Kaufman School of Dance and Adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of Utah School of Dance. She is also Resident Choreographer at The Grand Rapids Ballet. Past accomplishments have included support from The New York City Ballet Choreographer Commissions Initiative, participation in the Guggenheim Works & Process and The National Choreographers Initiative, and reciept of the 2016 Princess Grace Choreographic Fellowship. Her works have been presented nationally and internationally to great acclaim.

Nelly van Bommel’s award-winning work has been featured in France, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. She is an Associate Professor in the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, State University of New York, currently serving as Director. A recipient of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2010, her work has been described as “magically teeter[ing] between tragedy and comedy, classical and folk, serenity and wildness.”

Performance Information

MKE MIX will take place from May 16-19 at The Pabst Theater. Tickets start at $44 and may be purchased online at www.milwaukeeballet.org or through the Milwaukee Ballet Box Office at 414.902.2103.

The performance schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 7:30 PM
• Friday, May 17, 2024 – 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 18, 2024 – 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 19, 2024 – 1:30 PM

Milwaukee Ballet’s 2023/2024 Season is presented by Donald & Donna Baumgartner with support from United Performing Arts Fund, Wisconsin Arts Board, CAMPAC, Milwaukee Arts Board, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.