Isthmus Dance Collective

×

Expand

Erica Pinigis

A collage of the choreographers for the 2025 Isthmus Dance Collective DELVE incubator..

Choreographers for the 2025 Isthmus Dance Collective DELVE incubator, clockwise from top center: Edward Salas, Krysten Hagedorn, José Cruz-Arzón, Natalia Armacanqui, Erica Pinigis and Liz Sexe.

The Dance Experience Lab for Vibrant Exchange (DELVE) incubator is a program of the nonprofit Isthmus Dance Collective, which offers pro and advanced nonprofessional dancers the chance to collaborate in creating new works with local choreographers. This year’s concert features new work by choreographers Natalia Armacanqui, José Cruz-Arzón, Krysten Hagedorn, Erica Pinigis, Edward Salas and Liz Sexe. Performances at 7:30 p.m. on May 16 and 3 and 7:30 p.m. on May 17.

media release: IDC’s DELVE Incubator provides an opportunity for dancers and choreographers to create and explore artistically, while making new connections and performing for local audiences. Professional and advanced amateur dancers will work in the creation of new works that will be included in IDC’s May 2025 performances with this year’s panel selected choreographers: Natalia Armacanqui, Edward Salas, Liz Sexe, José Cruz-Arzón, Erica Pinigis, and Krysten Hagedorn.

Friday, May 16, 7:30pm and Saturday, May 17, 3pm and 7:30pm

Tickets: isthmusdancecollective.org/tickets

$25 general admission

$15 student/senior

Liz Sexe, in her endlessly creative experimental fashion, is crafting a contemporary improvisational dance party that's just as fun as it is technically exacting.

José Cruz-Arzón's incredible 21 dancer cast has street dance bumping up against jazz funk to highlight and contrast masculine and feminine movement.

Utilizing her expertise in mesmerizing programmable LED props, Krysten Hagedorn is weaving together circus flow arts with tutting and contemporary jazz/funk in a dazzling juxtaposition of the light and darkness inside each of us.

Natalia Armacanqui's global dance fusion expertise brings out the divine feminine in each of the dancers through both ancestral and contemporary forms and her distinctly unique and innovative vision.

In a collaborative process with Poet Andrea Musher as well as the aerialists in the cast, Erica Pinigis is bringing back to life Musher's “If It Weren't For Her Stays, a work of choral poetry that uses corsets as metaphor for the complex and often paradoxical ways that patriarchy is enacted on women's bodies. Pinigis draws from a lifelong passion for the work of the mothers and grandmothers of American Modern Dance, like Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan in a piece of bound flow, aerial dance, and dozens of yards of fabric. In a bold step outside of his comfort zone, Edward Salas is exploring martial arts and house music influences in his premiere, also utilizing play in his constantly evolving rehearsal process.

In true IDC form, these works highlight the incredible and often unseen diversity of contemporary dance in Madison -. It's Global Contemporary - an expression of our current moment from the perspectives of Madison’s rich diversity in dance. This year, featuring East Asian and Peruvian heavy global fusion, modern dance with a martial arts influence, contemporary dance with circus flow arts, Jazz funk with street styles, contemporary dance with aerial silks, and club dance informed contemporary dance. The Isthmus Dance Collective continues in its mission to nurture dance in the Madison area through an inclusive and collaborative genre bending performance opportunity with an intensive laboratory rehearsal process.

Isthmus Dance Collective is also celebrating its first major grant, recognising the value of the DELVE Incubator’s inaugural cohort in 2024, and which will provide funding to ensure the DELVE Incubator continues in 2026 and 2027 sustainably and with increased support for the artists.

The innovation of the DELVE Incubator is partially due to the radical inclusivity of pairing dancers with choreographers who may have differing technical backgrounds and networks, and supporting all dance artists involved through an exploratory, boundary pushing process. This process honors the skills and knowledge of all involved, builds community across often unseen divisions in Madison, provides opportunity for professional development for dancers, and expands the diversity of dance offerings for the Madison area.

Throughout history, dance visionaries have charted new roads by thinking and exploring beyond the tradition and disciplines of the past and from finding inspiration in other forms of dance and art. The DELVE (Dance Experience Lab for Vibrant Exchange) Incubator doubles down on our local values of radical inclusivity that embraces and elevates the incredible and often unseen diversity of contemporary dance in Madison. Dancers and Choreographers alike will be expected to expand beyond their current domains and learn from each other as they explore in new styles and forms. This Global Contemporary dance is not limited to the concept of contemporary dance as regarded in the Western Hemisphere but includes contemporary tendencies from other cultures and disciplines.

Learn more at www.isthmusdancecollective.org and follow us on social media @isthmusdancecollective.