Dance Performance - Little Sparrow

Little Sparrow is a collection of work choreographed by Ashley Ray Garcia and guest choreographer Jasmine Uras. This performance embodies the concept of our relationship with memory, and how it shapes us throughout our lives. It heavily conceptualizes the moments we wish to hold onto, the moments we wish to leave behind, and the moments we forgot even happened at all. How do our relationships with our own memories shape who we are as we grow older? Little Sparrow displays a delicate tenderness as the dancers navigate through shared memories, moments, and life experiences. A selection of work within this performance is inspired by the exhibition Momenti currently on view at the Villa Terrace Museum & Gardens.

Ashley Ray Garcia is a dancer and choreographer from Michigan. She received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Through her love of traveling, she has had the opportunity to perform in France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Garcia has shown work at Central de La Danse (Paris, France), ACDA and Get It Out There MKE (Wisconsin), Collage Dance Festival, and RAD Fest (Michigan). In April 2024, she directed and choreographed her own evening-length performance, For The Wolves.

Her most recent works have been choreographed on Wild Space Dance Company, Danceworks Performance MKE Company, and Fable Dance Company. Ashley is currently a company member and has collaborated with Wild Space Dance Company, Danceworks Performance Company, and various freelance artists and projects. In the summer of 2025, she joined the faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp to teach modern technique, pre-pointe, modern rep, and composition/improv workshops. She has also taught workshops and master classes in Michigan, Wisconsin, France, and the Czech Republic. Garcia enjoys choreographing, performing, and improvising, and looks forward to gaining knowledge through both exploration and experience. She is also a published author of her poetry book, Forget-Me-Not, which has been featured in various dance performances.

Jasmine Uras is a Milwaukee-based dance artist, educator, and movement researcher whose work bridges performance, pedagogy, and expressive therapies. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance, a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, and Pilates Movement Practice Certification from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she was recognized with the Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award and multiple academic honors.

Jasmine’s artistic and teaching practice is rooted in somatics, improvisation, and the integration of movement as a tool for emotional expression and human connection. Her performance work has been presented in both the United States and internationally, including at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris, France and the American College Dance Association Conference. She continues to perform as a company and guest artist with Milwaukee-based dance organizations, contributing to contemporary dance as both a performer and collaborative creator.

Across all contexts, Jasmine’s work is unified by a commitment to movement as a transformative practice—one that fosters resilience, self-awareness, and connection within artistic and therapeutic spaces.