Photo credit: Maureen Janson Heintz
Catey Ott Thompson
Milwaukee’s dance landscape is proudly growing in the number of creating artists and companies, but I believe there are growing pains, as well. Independent artists and small groups struggle to find rehearsal space, schedule dancers, find affordable venues and then bring a full audience to the events. The more established dance companies occasionally have scheduling and audience issues, as well.
The dance community members are all so busy tending to their own projects and supporting the dance artists dearest to them that there is unfortunately little time to expand out to see all of what is going on, even for those who truly do their best to support the community at large. Audience building and sustaining needs to be part of the effort, and the involved dance artists need to continue to realize their importance—both on stage and in the audience for the community’s shows.
Catey Ott Thompson graduated from UW-Milwaukee’s Dance Department and left Milwaukee for New York City in 1995. She returned in 2005 for a dance MFA from UWM, founded the Catey Ott Dance Company here and returned to New York when she finished her degree. In 2012, married and a mom, she came home to teach at Milwaukee Ballet School and Marquette University and to successfully reestablish her dance company here with several shows each year. The company also returns periodically to NYC where it has an enthusiastic following. In 2015, she co-founded the Milwaukee Dance Theatre Network which labors to support local dance across the spectrum.
