Shake a Leg podcast is off the ground!
We are thrilled with the launch of this new dance-topical podcast produced by our very own IDC members, Maritess Escueta and Erica Pinigis.
This podcast features lively discussions on dance, and dance history related topics. The podcast will also be featuring guests, trivia, and just plain fun conversation.
Have you ever heard of the dancing plague of 1518? This event involved hundreds of citizens of Strasbourg dancing uncontrollably for days. Similar plagues have occurred throughout history. What caused them? Learn a little more about Erica and Maritess as they discuss this and other topics as well as the first public introduction to our organization.
You can listen to episode zero on anchor.fm/ShakeALeg and subscribe for future episodes. You can also follow the podcast on Facebook @shakealegpodcast
Technical Director - Nicholas Vasilakes
Music by Timothy Russell, Nicholas Vasilakes, and Todd Zucker
About the hosts:
Maritess Escueta began her dance training at the Academy of Dance Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey under the instruction of Viorica Stampfel, Jennifer James Church, Nicholas and Shayne Mishoe, and Bridget Denise Trochiano. As a young dancer, she had the privilege of performing works by Peter Anastos, Emery LeCrone, and Andrea Schermoly. After a year as a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet Chicago, where she performed works by Gerald Arpino, Maritess received her BA in dance and sociology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. She is a recipient of the Creative Arts Achievement Award in Dance at CWRU and the Lily Dreyfuss award. In addition to dancing, teaching, and choreographing, Maritess loves exploring the intersection of race and dance in the US through dance scholarship. Now based in Madison, Maritess is excited to be working on Shake a Leg and talking about one of her favorite topics, dance!
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 Bay Area groups including Facing East Dance & Music, Paco Gomes & Dancers, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble and Bianca Cabrera’s Blind Tiger Society as well as a founding member of Slick Babble Dance Project and H2O Dance. 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 continuing creating through Scratch Dance and collaborating with other dance artists to create the Isthmus Dance Collective and affiliate projects like the Shake a Leg podcast.
