In our annual student dance concert, Carthage’s emerging artists are provided the platform to develop their unique sense of self and style through dance. All pieces are student choreographed, and revolve around the themes that speak to individual members of the Carthage dance program. Showtimes are Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wartburg Auditorium.
Thank you for attending the Department of Theatre’s 2023 student dance concert, Away From The Mirror. This production has become an important component to the dance minor program by providing a platform for our emerging dance artists to develop their inspirations into dances, share in the leadership and management of their own production, and engage in community discourse about their work. The primary mission is to cultivate space for dance learning and dance sharing. The dances you will see this evening have culminated from a series of three feedback showings throughout the current semester. During each showing, all ten works were presented as drafts at different stages of development. Each choreographer was given feedback from the combined faculty and student responders as well as guest responder and Milwaukee-based dance artist, Gina Laurenzie. We are thrilled and grateful to present these works for tonight’s production. Following the Friday evening performance, we will host a postshow discussion. We hope you can join us. Please enjoy the show!
– Stacy Pottinger, Artistic DirectorFor more insights into Away From The Mirror works, please join the Artistic Director and choreographers in a Talk- Back immediately following the Friday, March 31st performance. The Talk- Back will take place in the Wartburg Auditorium. We look forward to addressing viewer’s questions and hearing thoughts about the program.
Trinity Alexander
Madison Bazylewicz
Taylor Bulanek
Nicky Caldwell
Jackie Chiakas
Selina Costabile
Hannah Donegan
Liz Duffy
Caitlyn Feldpausch
Caroline Huttner
Theresa Kalb
Abbey Keen
Alicia Lederhaus
Logan Luis
Mara Lysne
Stephanie Majer
Ava McClure
Snap
Choreography, Caitlyn Feldpausch
Ellie Neybert
Katherine O’Donnell
Kailee Pulda
Kortni Robinson
Alexa Sisarica
Gabrielle Tifft
Kyliah Vruwink
Alisa Lynn Wilbert
Katie Wilde
Music, Hot Liquorice by Dick Walter, Start a Riot by Duckworth & Shaboozey, Pégate by Ricky
Martin
Music Editing, Caitlyn Feldpausch
Dancers: Madison Bazylewicz, Selina Costabile, Caitlyn Feldpausch, Alicia Lederhaus, Kailee
Pulda, Katie Wilde
Pink Matter
Choreography, Kortni Robinson
Music, Pink Matter by Frank Ocean
Dancers: Trinity Alexander, Theresa Kalb, Ellie Neybert, Kortni Robinson, Gabrielle Tifft; Kyliah Vruwink
Through It All
Choreography, Caroline Huttner and Mara Lysne
Music, Satellite by Harry Styles
Dancers: Caroline Huttner, Mara Lysne
Understudies, Hannah Donegan, Ava McClure
Intrusive
Choreography, Jackie Chiakas
Music, Not My Responsibility by Billie Eilish
Dancers: Selina Costabile, Logan Luis, Gabrielle Tifft, Alisa Wilbert
Accepting Limitations
Choreography, Alicia Lederhaus
Music, Cast Away by Etherwood
Dancers: Elizabeth Duffy, Alicia Lederhaus, Katherine O’Donnell, Alexa Sisarica
Where Do We Go?
Choreography, Logan Luis
Music, Le Souvenir des temps gracieux by Joep Beving
Dancers: Logan Luis, Mara Lysne, Ava McClure, Kailee Pulda
Mystery Alive
Choreography, Taylor Bulanek
Music, Original composition and recording by Taylor Bulanek
Dancer: Abbey Keen
Effortless
Choreography, Gabrielle Tifft
Music, Wow by Post Malone, edamame by bbno$ (feat. Rich Brian), GIRL LIKE ME by Black Eyed Peas & Shakira, Reverse by Sage The Gemini, Hot Sauce by NCT DREAM, fast by Sueco, They Want It, But No by Tobe Nwigwe & Fat Nwigwe
Music Editing, Gabrielle Tifft
Dancers: Selina Costabile, Caroline Huttner, Logan Luis, Alisa Wilbert, Hannah Donegan
Fallin’
Choreography, Theresa Kalb
Music, Fallin’ by Alicia Keys
Dancers: Nicky Caldwell, Theresa Kalb
Expression!
Choreography, Kailee Pulda
Music, Rhythm Of The Night by Valeria
Dancers: Hannah Donegan, Caroline Huttner, Ava McClure, Kailee Pulda
There is no intermission
Artistic Director ......................................................................................................... Stacy Pottinger
Guest Responder Gina Laurenzie
Selection Committee .................................................................... Caitlyn Feldpausch, Aria Novak, Katherine O’Donnell, Stacy Pottinger, Kailee Pulda, Costume Design Kim Instenes
Technical Director and Light Design ................................................................. William Newcomb
Stage Manager................................................................................................................ Sarah Loster
Assistant Stage Managers Katherine Layendecker, Grace Hanson
Light Board Operator .................................................................................................... Nicole Smith
Sound Operator........................................................................................................... Kendall Burns
Run Crew Jessica Skonessy
Costume Crew ............................................................................................................ Tiffany Borger
biographies
Stacy Pottinger (Artistic Director) holds a B.F.A. in dance performance from Southern Methodist University, an M.A. in dance education from the State University of New York College at Brockport, and an M.F.A. in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ms. Pottinger joined the faculty at Carthage College, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as Director of the Dance Minor and Assistant Adjunct Professor of Theatre in 2009. She has instructed a number of the Dance Minor courses at Carthage College including Applied Dance Technique courses in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern as well as Dance Theory and Practices, Dance Theory and Composition, Dance Choreography and Repertory and Dance History. She has mentored student choreography at Carthage for the past eleven years, led numerous trips to the American College Dance Festival conferences, and has served on multiple response panels, including that of Danceworks, Inc. Art to Art Series in Milwaukee, Faculty Feedback Panels for the American College Dance Festival North-Central Regional Conference Informal Concerts (2017 and 2014), and for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 2015 spring dance concert. In addition to her titles as Director of the Dance Minor, Professor, and Artistic Director for Department of Theatre dance productions, Ms. Pottinger is Faculty Advisor for Carthage’s NDEO Student Chapter and National Honor Society for the Dance Arts (NHSDA). From 2018 to 2022 she served as Treasurer for the Wisconsin Dance Council (WDC) and is currently serving her fourth year on the WDC Board of Directors.
Kim Instenes (Costume Design, Faculty Advisor) holds an MFA in Costume Design and Technology from Ohio University, and a BA in Theatre from UW-Whitewater. Her faculty credits include UW Parkside, UW Whitewater, UW Milwaukee and Lawrence University. In addition to teaching at these schools she has designed costumes and makeup for a number of productions including Imaginary Invalid, Pride and Prejudice, Trojan War, Sweeney Todd and Translations. Kim continues to work as a freelance costume and make-up designer in the Milwaukee/Chicago area. Professional design credits include The Giver and Best Christmas Pageant Ever, as well as the musical Big at First Stage Milwaukee, Jeeves Intervenes and Heroes at Milwaukee Chamber, Romeo and Juliet at Milwaukee Shakespeare, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Renaissance Theatre Works, Utah Shakespearean Festival and the Racine Theatre Guild. Design work at Carthage includes, Up The Hill by Keith Huff, Spring Awakening, No Name and new play, by Laura Jacqmin, Ghost Bike, to name a few. Ghost Bike won her a Certificate of Merit from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for costume and makeup design and an invitation to show her work at the Festival.
William Newcomb (Light Design, Faculty Advisor) holds a B.F.A. degree in Technical
Theatre from Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas, and an M.F.A. degree in Arts Administration from Southern Utah University. He was assistant manager of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre for two years before coming to Carthage in 2009. Other credits include technical director of the Wells Fine Arts Center at Tarleton State University, assistant technical director at Oberlin College, scene shop foreman at Ohio Light Opera, and assistant production manager of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Will Newcomb teaches Play Production I: Stagecraft in addition to managing the scene shop.
Gina Laurenzi (Guest Responder) graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Arts in dance. Before beginning her chapter in Milwaukee, she performed with Giordano II and Inaside Chicago Dance among other Chicago artists. For seven years, Laurenzi owned and operated her own studio, Laurenzi Dance. In her hometown of Kenosha, Laurenzi presented work regularly and mentored many local artists through the performance groups she founded including; Project Innovate: A Performing Dance Company, Captivate Dance Co. and Momentum Dance Project. Laurenzi has set work on dancers of the UW-Milwaukee Dance Dept., Water Street Dance Milwaukee, Danceworks Youth Performance Company, Danceworks Performance MKE (DPMKE), the Milwaukee Highschool of the Arts, Makaroff Youth Ballet (Appleton, WI) and Milwaukee Ballet summer intensive students. Laurenzi is a guest instructor at several local dance studios and is on faculty at Danceworks where she is currently the Studio Manager. Laurenzi is an Associate Lecturer at UW-Milwaukee and the Artistic Director of the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project. Laurenzi has performed with DPMKE (formerly Danceworks Performance Company) since 2013 and as a company member has had the opportunity to work with Dani Kuepper, Daniel Burkholder, Kym McDaniel and Dawn Springer among others. Laurenzi’s own work has been shown at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, Next Act Theatre, Danceworks Studio Theater, Milwaukee Fringe Festival.
Taylor May Bulanek (Choreographer) is a senior with a double major in Musical Theatre and Music Education Vocal with a Dance minor. Before Carthage, Taylor May has danced in many different genres for over fifteen years, has been in over thirty different musicals, and been on dance teams for Showcase Dance Studio, CTY Production Dance, and MVP in High School JV Poms. Outside of school, Taylor May has worked on various types of projects & jobs. Voice Acting works have been in multiple & different professional YouTube channels’ Story Time Animations, Comic & Anime Dubs, & Audio Books, Content Creator for Distill, Self Acting & Dancing Tapes for several jobs in Advertising, Student Projects, & Instruction Videos, using the freelance website UpWork as a professional freelancer. Vocal & Dance Coach to various ages from 8 years old to adults in person & via Zoom. Composition & arranged pieces have been in Choreography works along with self vocals. Choreography works have been for dance recitals at Carthage College including musical composition arrangement & singing made to go with the choreography. Arrangements & Choreography for acapella group involved as a member in Uprising. Taylor May would like to thank all of her dancers, family, friends, and dance teachers for their support and encouragement, and making this dance a reality and giving her the opportunity to teach a wonderful group of people a dance that has been on her mind to create since high school.
Jacqueline Chiakas (Choreographer) is currently a senior Psychology major with a minor in dance. Jackie is originally from Des Plaines, Illinois. She trained at the Des Plaines School of Dance (DPSD) for fourteen years, specifically in ballet, jazz, modern, tap, hip-hop, and was a member of their competition team, Artistry in Motion. She was a dance teacher and choreographer at Rolling Meadows Dance Company for three years. She has also taught dance to elementary school students through a program by DPSD for District 62 schools, designed for students who may not have the privilege to attend dance classes outside of school. This
is her fifth dance show at Carthage and also the first show in showcasing her choreography. Jackie would like to thank her family for their constant support in pursuing her passion for dance. She would also like to thank Rich, Jenny and Stacy for granting her the knowledge and techniques to advance further in her dance training and creative processes.
Caitlyn Feldpausch (Choreographer/Selection Committee) is a senior mathematics major with minors in geoscience and dance. Caitlyn previously trained in multiple dance styles at Kenosha Academy of Performing Arts. This is her third choreographed work for Carthage College. The first work, Innocence Project, was performed in Away from the Mirror 2021 and was a finalist in Inaside Chicago Dance’s Virtual Choreography Competition. The second work, Galactic Expeditions, was performed in the Fall 2021 production NOTHING TOO small. Caitlyn was on the selection committee for Away from the Mirror 2019 and has served as treasurer of Carthage’s chapter of the National Dance Education Organization since Fall 2021. She has performed in each semester’s dance production since freshman year. After Carthage Caitlyn will be attending graduate school.
Caroline Huttner (Choreographer) is a junior Elementary Education major with a Dance minor. She is from Orland Park, IL, and has been dancing at various studios in the area since she was 4 years old. Caroline has spent many years competing with her studios’ companies. She has studied and performed ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, tap, and acrobatics. This is her sixth dance show at Carthage College and her third choreographic piece for a Carthage dance show. Outside of dance, Caroline has served as President and is currently serving as Secretary of Carthage’s chapter of the National Dance Education Organization. She is also a member of the Firebirds Dance Team and the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Caroline would like to thank her family and friends for endlessly supporting her.
Theresa Kalb (Choreographer) is a junior double majoring in Studio Art and Dance. This is the fourth dance show she has been in at Carthage, and her second show as a choreographer. Theresa started dancing at the age of four in her hometown Santa Clara, CA, and has been in love with it since. While she has a predominately ballet background, she has enjoyed learning new styles at Carthage like jazz, tap, hip hop, music theatre and modern dance. She has also enjoyed teaching younger dancers at day camps, the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha, and at her studio back home in California. She is a member of the National Dance Education Organization. Theresa would like to thank Rich Ashworth and Stacy Pottinger for being inspiring and supportive mentors.
Logan Luis (Choreographer) is a junior Elementary Education major with minors in dance and French. This is her sixth dance show at Carthage, and the third concert showcasing her choreography. Logan is from Arlington Heights, IL and grew up training in ballet, modern, jazz, acting, and contemporary dance classes. She trained at Northwest Ballet Academy in Schaumburg, IL and participated in The Nutcracker, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, and several other classical ballets in her time there. She also choreographed multiple pieces for her high school’s Orchesis Dance Company. Logan is currently a member of Carthage’s chapter of the National Dance Education Organization and a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She would like to thank her friends for all the love and encouragement throughout the process of preparing for a show. She would also like to thank her parents and Stacy Pottinger for all the support in helping her grow as a dancer and as a choreographer.
Alicia Lederhaus (Choreographer) is a senior Criminal Justice major with minors in Dance and Political Science. She is from Fremont, WI., and has danced at various different studios in many different styles. Alicia started dancing at a young age; however, most of her dance
experience was gained from participating in musical theater through middle and high school, where she performed in many productions. This is her third dance show and first time choreographing a piece at Carthage. She is excited and thankful to have this opportunity to present her work on stage. Outside of dance, Alicia was a captain for the Carthage Mock Trial Team this year, which she has been a part of these last three years at Carthage. She would like to thank her family and friends for their continued support over the years and for pushing her to never give up.
Mara Lysne (Choreographer) is a sophomore Marketing major minoring in Dance, Spanish, and Communications from Moorhead, MN. She has been dancing since a young age, studying kickline, ballet, jazz, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and hip hop. Before Carthage, Lysne danced Pre-Professionaly with the Fargo-Moorhead Ballet and Gaspers School of Dance, focusing mainly on ballet, pointe, and jazz. Away from the Mirror is her fourth show at Carthage and her first time choreographing for a show. Outside of dance, Lysne is the President of the National Dance Education Organization, the Director of External Relations & Project Leader for Cloth for Change through Enactus. She also has membership in several other organizations along with two on-campus jobs. Lysne would love to thank her family and friends for their endless support and encouragement, as she would not be where she is today without them.
Kailee Pulda (Choreographer/Selection Committee) is a senior who studies Economics, Data Science, and Dance. She has been constantly developing her dance skills & knowledge since 7th grade, and every semester here at Carthage is amazed at how much more she learns. Her previous works here at Carthage have included Nella Mia Anima, a tap piece in last year’s Away From the Mirror production, and Desire, a contemporary piece in the Fall 2022 production titled In The Moment. Alongside participation as a dancer in previous dance shows over the years, she currently holds leadership positions in Alpha Chi Omega social sorority, and works a full time job at Kroger Fulfillment Center in Pleasant Prairie. She is always thankful for the opportunity to dance, smile, and grow with her closest friends on the Wartberg Stage, and hopes you enjoy all the works presented tonight.
Kortni Robinson (Choreographer) is a junior Sociology major with a double minor in Women’s and Gender Studies and Dance. Kortni is from Flossmoor, IL and has danced the majority of her life. Most of her dance training took place at Mayfair Dance Academy and the American Dance Center in which she studied various styles, but fell in love with modern/contemporary dance in particular. This is Kortni’s 5th Carthage dance show and her second choreographed work at Carthage. Prior to Carthage, Kortni choreographed pieces for her high-school dance recital and routines for her dance team. Outside of dance Kortni is a member of the National Dance Education Organization and on the e-board for the Pi Theta sorority. Kortni would like to thank her friends and family for their support and encouragement. She’d also like to thank Stacy Pottinger for allowing her the opportunity to present her work and her continuous enthusiasm for the show.
Gabrielle Tifft (Choreographer) is a senior Technical-Direction Theatre Major, with Minors in Costume Design and Dance. Some of her most recent involvement at Carthage has been the mainstage productions of MEMENTO MORI as assistant technical director, ANTIGONE as sound designer, and SOMETHING ROTTEN as stage manager. She could be seen onstage for the dance productions of IN THE MOMENT, SHIFT, NOTHING TOO SMALL, and AWAY FROM THE MIRROR (2022). Gabrielle is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, Alpha Chi, and the National Dance Education Organization. She would like to thank her friends and family for their continued support as well as Stacy Pottinger for this opportunity. Enjoy the show!
Theatre Faculty
Breannin Beelow........... ..................................................................... Adjunct Instructor of Theatre
Maureen Chavez-Kruger........... Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre
Kim Instenes......... .......................................... Associate Professor of Theatre, Costume Designer
Adrianna Jones........... ........................................................................ Adjunct Instructor of Theatre
Herschel Kruger............ Department Chair, Professor of Theatre
Martin McClendon.............. .............................................................................. Professor of Theatre
William Newcomb............ ............................... Assistant Professor of Theatre, Technical Director
Emily Ritger................. Adjunct Instructor of Theatre
Dr. Neil Scharnick............. ................................................................ Associate Professor of Theatre
Zachary Simonini................. ............................................................. Adjunct Instructor of Theatre
Nicole Thompson-Phillips................. Adjunct Instructor of Theatre
Musical Theatre Faculty and Staff
Dr. Corinne Ness................ Professor of Music, Dean of Arts and Humanities, Director of Music Theatre Studies
Melissa Kelly Cardamone.......... Staff Accompanist
Matthew Hougland ................................ Assistant Professor of Music & Music Theatre Specialist
Thomas Novak............ ............................................................ Adjunct Instructor of Music Theatre
Dance Faculty
Jennifer Barreca .................................................................................................. Instructor of Dance
Stacy Pottinger............. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre Director of Dance Minor
Rich Ashworth............... ....................................................................... Adjunct Instructor of Dance
Fine Arts at Carthage acknowledges that the land on which our building stands is part of the traditional Potawatomi, Sioux, Peoria, Kickapoo, and Miami peoples past, present, and future. These homelands reside along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes. We honor with gratitude the land itself, and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place—alive and strong, and this calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.