LINDESY THANK YOU. NEW THIS MORNING, NO STUDIOS IS RELEASING THE NEXT EPISODE IN THEIR CREATING MILWAUKEE MINI DOCUMENTARY SERIES FOR A WHILE NOW, THEY’VE BEEN TALKING OR TAKING THE TIME RATHER, TO SHOWCASE LOCAL ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS. HERE’S A LOOK AT THEIR FOURTH EPISODE MILWAUKEE IS A COMPLEX HISTORICAL TAPESTRY WITHIN CONCRETE WASTELANDS AMIDST CREAM CITY, BRICK RISES OUR CITY OF TODAY BUSINESS SPROUTS IN THE FACTORIES OF YESTERYEAR. OLD HAUNTS BECOME NEW DESTINATION OPTIONS. IN THIS SERIES, WE SPEAK TO ARTISTS WHOSE WORK WAS WOVEN BY THIS LANDSCAPE AND TRACE THE THREAD BACK TO THIS NEW MILWAUKEE. MY NAME IS ELIZABETH ROSKOFF. I AM A CONTEMPORARY DANCER, CHOREOGRAPHER, DANCE EDUCATOR HERE, A PIANIST AND I AM A MOTHER TO MY DAUGHTER ALENA. I WAS BORN IN SOUTH KOREA AND I WAS RAISED IN APPLETON, WISCONSIN. I STARTED DANCING AT THE AGE OF SIX BUT DIDN’T BECOME A CONTEMPORARY DANCER UNTIL I GOT TO COLLEGE. MAGE CONTEMPORARY IS A CULMINATION OF YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU BRING AS AN ARTIST AND AS A HUMAN. YOU’RE TELLING MY PARTS OF THE STORY AND HOW I CAN CONNECT WITH OTHERS THROUGH MY MOVEMENT. GROWING UP IN THE MIDWEST HAS REALLY SHAPED ME TO BE THE PERSON WHO I AM TODAY. BUT ALSO IT’S REINFORCED BEING WHO I WANT TO BECOME. BEING IN MADISON, THAT WAS A TURNING POINT FOR ME WHERE WHEN I JOINED LEECH HELPING DANCE, SHE HELPED ME REALIZE THAT I CAN BE PROUD, THAT I DON’T HAVE TO BE ASHAMED TO BE WHO I AM. WE ARE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MILWAUKEE. I AM A BALLET LECTURER HERE. I WANT TO CREATE A SPACE FOR THEM WHERE THEIR EXPERIENCES ARE VERY MUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF DANCE HISTORY AND PRACTICE, WHERE THEY CAN FEEL A SENSE OF BELONGING AND THEY DON’T HAVE TO FEEL SEPARATE OR OTHERED. AND ESPECIALLY WHEN I’M WORKING WITH DANCERS OF COLOR AS ONE OF THE ONLY ASIAN DANCERS IN THE DANCE SPACES WHERE I PERFORM IN THE CHOREOGRAPHERS THAT I’VE WORKED WITH HAVE ALWAYS FAVORED THE STORIES AND VOICES OF THE OTHER WHITE DANCERS IN THE SPACES. PEOPLE OF COLOR HAVE TO FIGHT, PROVE OURSELVES SELVES TO KNOW THAT WE ARE ENOUGH. WE ARE WORTH IT. I’VE LEARNED AND HOW TO DANCE WITH COURAGE AND CONVICTION. BEING A DANCER, BEING AN ARTIST, IT REALLY ALLOWS YOU TO STRIP YOURSELVES OR BARE YOUR SOUL TO THE WORLD. YOU’RE REALLY SHOWING YOUR WOUNDS AND YOUR SECRETS ON STAGE AND ALL THESE PARTS OF YOUR WHOLE AUTHENTIC SELVES THAT MAYBE YOU CAN’T EXPRESS THROUGH WORDS. BUT YOU CAN SPEAK ABOUT IT THROUGH YOUR OWN BODY. I AM UNAPOLOGETIC, FULLY EMBRACING WHO I AM AS A KOREAN AMERICAN WOMAN AND DANCER BY SHARING MY STORY OF IDENTITY THROUGH MY MOVEMENT. IT GIVES ME THE AGENCY TO BE FORCIBLY VISIBLE WHILE CARRYING THE EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE THAT I INHERIT FROM MY ANCESTORS. I KNEW THAT I WANTED TO LEARN MORE AND POTENTIALLY MEET MY BIRTH PARENTS. SEE THE PLACE WHERE I WAS BORN IN. I AM PLANNING TO TRAVEL TO SOUTH KOREA AND I’M GOING TO BE WORKING WITH KOREAN CHOREOGRAPHERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY KOREAN DANCE PRACTICES. BEING KOREAN IS NOT ABOUT WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO. BEING KOREAN IS ABOUT WHO I AM TRYING TO BE, WHO I ALREADY AM, AND WHO I HAVE BEEN ALL MY LIFE. AND JOINING US NOW IS THE STAR HERSELF, ELIZABETH ROSKOFF. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. I JUST HAVE TO ASK, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO SEE PART OF THAT DOCUMENTARY PLAY OUT? IT FEELS INCREDIBLE. I’M SO HONORED TO BE SHARING MY STORY THROUGH THIS MINI DOCUMENTARY WITH THE MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY. ABSOLUTELY. YOU SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOURSELF. WE ARE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU. I HAVE TO ASK AS WELL, WHERE DOES YOUR DANCE PASSION COME FROM. HMM. I FEEL LIKE MY RESEARCH WITHIN MY WORK COMES FROM MY KOREAN IDENTITY AND HOW I AM USING DANCE AS A VEHICLE TO RECLAIM MY IDENTITY AND TO SHARE THE PARTS OF MYSELF THAT I’VE KEPT HIDDEN AND INVISIBLIZED FOR SO LONG. AND NOW I’M FINALLY READY TO SHARE MORE ABOUT WHO I AM AND MY STORY. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO FIND A CAREER? SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE DOING THAT ALLOWS YOU TO SHOWCASE EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE AND YOUR IDENTITY? WAS IT KIND OF TRIAL AND ERROR? HOW DID YOU KIND OF GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW? I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN EVER SINCE I WAS A CHILD, I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT I WANTED TO BE A PERFORMER AND I FELT THIS NATURAL INSTINCT OF WANTING TO EXPRESS MYSELF. AND I FELT LIKE CREATING MOVEMENT AND INSCRIBED MY STORY THROUGH MY BODY IN MOTION WAS THE WAY TO DO THAT. SO I FELT LIKE THE PINNACLE OF MY RESEARCH IS THROUGH MY PERFORMANCE AND HOW PEOPLE CAN TRULY SEE ME FOR WHO I AM AND NOT JUST WHAT I LOOK LIKE. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO DANCERS OF COLOR. I WOULD SAY TO BE WHO, EXACTLY? WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH. YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO HIDE OR THIS FIGHT TO PROVE YOURSELF. I FEEL LIKE THAT BEING EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU