Jun 7th
2013Bio

Erica Pinigis is originally from Madison, Wisconsin, where she started her dance career at the Kanopy School for Contemporary Dance and Choreography. Erica received her BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota Dance Program. After graduating, she produced and choreographed “Ooh La Lounge: An Evening of Dance and Jazz” at the Suburban World Theater and the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. She was curated by the Red Eye Theater for her collaboration with Erinn Liebhard: Lulladreams and Insomnimares, and was an Artist in Residence at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts. Erica has performed in Madison and Minneapolis with the Kanopy Dance Company, Peel and Core Dance Company, University Dance Theater at the University of Minnesota, Zenon Block E performance group, the Eclectic Edge Ensemble, and Marylee Hardenbergh’s Global Site Performance. Erica migrated to the Bay Area in 2008. She has been a company member of several local groups including Facing East Dance & Music, Paco Gomes & Dancers, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble and Bianca Cabrera’s Blind Tiger Society. Erica completed her MFA in performance and choreography at Mills College where she was honored with the E.L Wiegand award for excellence in performance and choreography. Once again back in her home town, Erica is working with an incredible group of dance artists to create the Isthmus Dance Collective, a democratically run non-hierarchical non-profit organization that will support dance artists and their work and create more opportunity for community involvement in local dance. Erica is also a co-host of the dance podcast Shake a Leg – The Future is Dance, which aims to connect dance artists with dance lovers in a fun and lively conversation.