Soles-Stice
Erica Pinigis
Carlos Ramirez (left) and Aubry Dalley, dance artists and members of the Isthmus Dance Collective.
media release: Isthmus Dance Collective Presents Soles-Stice
June 2, 2022 6:00pm and 8:00pm, Olin Park Pavilion Madison.
$15 Tax Deductible Donation
Isthmus Dance Collective made its public debut last Summer as the organizer of the Shifting Gears Bike Path Dance Festival, hosting dozens of other local professional dance artists and approximately 800 spectators along the Madison bike path.
The Collective is now delighted to share Soles-stice as an intimate introduction to the work of collective members. The title of the show is a play on words connecting the coming Summer Solstice with one of a dancer’s instruments, the sole of the foot. Soles-stice is an invitation to celebrate longer days of light, warmth, community, and bright spirits through dance.
Works by IDC members and dance artists Jacob Brooks, Aubry Dalley, Erica Pinigis, Liz Sexe, Marlene Skog, Amy Slater, and Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez include themes of rhythm, child-like exuberance in nature, friendship, and passing of time. Elements such as skateboards, interactive lighting, live music, and references to famous visual artworks are creatively interwoven in the performance.
Isthmus Dance Collective sets itself apart from other dance organizations as a non-hierarchical, democratic, and cooperatively organized non-profit corporation. Attend an Isthmus Dance Collective performance to see what is possible when dancers abandon competition and sidestep the limits of capitalism in favor of collective action and collaboration.
Tickets may be purchased online or at the door. Seating is unassigned. Funded in part by the Evjue Foundation via Dane Arts in partnership with Dane Arts Dance Arts.
ARTIST BIOS
Aubry Dalley
Aubry Dalley is an independent choreographer and dance teaching artist with a BA in Dance Education from Brigham Young University (Magna Cum Laude). She is currently a member of Isthmus Dance Collective in Madison, Wisconsin. Her teaching experience spans public and higher education including Brigham Young University where she was the Assistant Director for Contemporary Dance Theatre. While working in K-12 education, Aubry directed the dance program as well as chaired the Performing Arts Department at a public high school. Aubry has served as the associate director of Oquirrh West Project and has been honored to choreograph for the Utah Metropolitan Ballet, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Regalia, Wasatch Contemporary Dance Company, BYU’s Contemporary Dance Theatre and danceEnsemble, ON SITE mobile dance series, UVU Summer Concert, the Young DanceMakers, the ACDA Gala, Li Chiao-Ping SEED Festival, Oquirrh West Project, and the Shifting Gears Dance Festival. Her work has won awards in the Rocky Mountain Choreography Festival, Utah's Shakespearean Festival, Provo’s Take Two Choreography Competition, Utah Regional Ballet’s Choreography Design Competition, and the Alfred Lambourne Prize. Grants awarded include a 2020 Li Chiao-Ping SEED Festival Grant and Art for Uncertain Times Grant through the Center for LDS Arts. Aubry’s freelance performance work includes Scratch Dance and interactive and site specific shows such as Dance Engine and ONSITE mobile dance series. Aubry was a presenter at the 2021 National Conference for the National Dance Education Organization.
Jacob Brooks El
A Chicago native, began his dance training in 2002 at the Chicago Academy for the Arts under the instruction of Randy Duncan, Guillermo Leyva, Sandra Kaufmann, and the late Anna Paskevska. In 2006, he attended Columbia College Chicago's modern dance program under the direction of Margi Cole, Jeff Hancock, Carrie Hanson, and Emily Stein. He later on became an apprentice for Gus Giordano Dance and Luna Negra Dance Theater. He also attended Ballet Chicago under the intense training of Daniel Duel and Patricia Blair. Jacob has been a guest artist for such companies as, the West Indian Folk Dance Company, Momenta, Ballet Chicago, Chicago Festival Ballet, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Les Ballet Grandiva, Madison Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, and San Diego Opera. He is currently School Director of Madison Ballet.
Erica Pinigis
Erica Pinigis started dancing as a teen then went on to receive her BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota. 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, Zenon Block E performance group, the Eclectic Edge Ensemble, and Marylee Hardenbergh’s Global Site Performance. Erica migrated to the Bay Area where she was a company member of Facing East Dance & Music, Paco Gomes & Dancers, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, Slick Babble Dance Project, H2O Dance, and Bianca Cabrera’s Blind Tiger Society. Erica completed her MFA in performance and choreography at Mills College and was honored with the E.L Wiegand award for excellence in performance and choreography. Since returning to Madison, Erica and several colleagues founded the Isthmus Dance Collective, a non-profit cooperatively run organization that supports dance artists.
Liz Sexe
Liz Sexe is the choreographer/artistic director of Liz Sexe Dance Company established in 2014. She is described as a “clean and efficient mover,” and having “toughness under her grace.” In her processes, tasks inspire poetic movement, game theory finds logical, yet often unexpected phrasing, and athletic dancing is paired with deep intentionality. Her choreographic work has been featured at the World Dance Alliance Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Danceworks in Milwaukee, WI, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin in Spring Green, WI. She was an artist in residence at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the Bubbler at Madison’s Central Library. Most recently, Liz is interested in curating and creating more opportunities for Dance in the greater Madison area. She has collaborated with Dane Arts, LunArts, and various local dance companies and organizations in Madison to ensure moving artists have more opportunities to show their work.
Marlene Skog
Marlene Skog’s career as a performer and award-winning choreographer spans over thirty years at home and abroad. She is the Artistic Director of Marlene Skog Dance, a passionate educator and advocate for the arts. As a choreographer, Marlene's work is recognized for its emotional range, brilliant technique, and intentional fluidity between classical ballet and contemporary dance. Her work unpacks the enduring question of what it means to be human and is purposeful in its strong synthesis of movement, music and message.
A native New Yorker, Marlene's experience as a performing artist, teacher, and choreographer is vast. Connecting to the energy and pulse of the times, she continued her work in Sweden for fourteen years, where she founded her international company, Marlene Skog & Dancers, as well as Uppsala Dansakedemi, an establishment for dance arts. During her tenure, Skog developed a professional dance curriculum that was approved by the Professional Dance Board of Sweden and supported by the State. Marlene's unique vision prompted a noteworthy collaboration with renowned Swedish choreographer, Birgit Cullberg. Skog was commissioned to choreograph for multiple cultural events in Sweden, including the International Arts Festival—Norway, Scandinavian Cultural Conference, and the International Women’s Convention. She was awarded several unique honors including the prestigious Folkuniversitet Cultural Prize, Gotsa Knutsson, and NordBanken’s Cultural Awards. Marlene received her MFA from the University of Arizona, where her tenure was recognized with the Creative Achievement Award and the Green Valley Concert Association Fellowship Award in Choreography. Her work has been performed nationally across the Midwest and in New York City, Hawaii, Florida and North Carolina and internationally at the King’s Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland and at the World Dance Alliance in Vancouver B.C.
Currently, Marlene is on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Assistant Professor of Dance and the recipient of the Wisconsin Dance Council's Distinction Award.
Amy Slater
Amy Slater has lived in the Madison area since 2011. An Iowan by birth, she earned her undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and her Master of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Between her degrees, she spent 8 years in Minneapolis performing, choreographing, and teaching dance. She performed with the Christopher Watson Dance Company for seven seasons as well as with several independent choreographers in the Twin Cities. Her work has been shown at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a part of the American College Dance Association’s national conference. Amy has been a guest artist at the University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University, and St. Olaf College. She has also presented work in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the Dances at the Lakes Festival in Minneapolis, MN, and with DanceWorks and Dane Arts Dance Arts in Wisconsin. Amy has been a dance educator since 2006 and currently teaches dance technique and composition at UW-Whitewater in the Theatre/Dance department.
Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez
Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez began his dance training in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he studied under several teachers including Carmen Sandoval, Lucila Arce, Helen Hoth, and Alex Zybin. He later studied at the San Francisco and Pacific Northwest Ballet schools and was offered an apprenticeship with the American Festival Ballet at age 17. He then returned to Guadalajara where he danced with Ballet de Cámara de Jalisco before joining the Spokane Ballet as a soloist. In 1989, he joined the Eugene Ballet Company as a soloist and rose through the ranks to become a principal dancer. He has also performed as a principal dancer with Charleston Ballet Theater, and Ballet Idaho. He has toured internationally throughout Mexico, United States, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and Taiwan. Juan Carlos has worked with renown artists including Christopher Aponte, Toni Pimble, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Lisa de Ribere, Elisa Monte, Beth Corning, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, David Berkey, Pascal Riult, and Martin Løfsnes.
In 1997, Juan Carlos returned to college to study physics and computer science at Boise State University while performing with Idaho Dance Theater. He later earned a Ph.D. in physics from University of Guadalajara and currently works for the Wisconsin IceCube Particle and Astrophysics Center at UW-Madison.
In 2007, Juan Carlos returned to the stage, exploring modern dance, including works by Martha Graham with Kanopy Dance, and flamenco with Tania Tandias Flamenco & Spanish Dance. Juan Carlos has danced in several productions by the Madison Opera including their most recent staging of La Traviata.
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