Martha Zepeda

Martha L. Zepeda Pamintuan (2006) is a Bay Area native, choreographer, dance artist, dance educator, fitness professional and Assistant Professor of Dance at Long Beach City College. Pamintuan earned her M.F.A. on a full scholarship from the University of California, Irvine in 2010 and a B.A. in Dance with an emphasis in Performance and Choreography, and a Minor in Kinesiology from San Francisco State University in 2006. Pamintuan is the Co-Artistic Director, Co-Founder and Co-Choreographer of LV Dance Collective, a Contemporary Fusion Dance Performance Company spanning from the Bay Area to most recently Southern California. She is the former Cultural Arts Program Director of the East Oakland Sports Center (EOSC) and Founder and Artistic Director of the EOSC Introductory School of Dance and EOSC Performance Group. Pamintuan is a certified Zumba instructor, Ballet Barre instructor, Water Fitness instructor, Spinning instructor and CPR/AED First Aid Instructor trainer. Pamintuan has toured internationally for various dance projects in Chile, Vietnam, Spain and Ghana. She is also a competitive long distance runner and a former Collegiate Swimmer for SF State. Pamintuan’s dance career officially began at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., under the direction of Dawn James. Although, she started dancing at a late age she dreamt of being a dancer since she was a little girl. Following high school, she continued her training at SF State, Lines Ballet, ODC, Shawl Anderson and Ballet Hispanico, to name a few. Her passion for dance kept strong, pushing through as a dance artist studying, choreographing, performing and teaching nationally and internationally. While at UCI Pamintuan earned several travel grants and a Diversity Fellowship. Her Masters thesis “Experiences of Men en Pointe & the Anthropometry, Range of Motion, & Injuries of Their Ankles and Feet” and 50-minute thesis documentary “Men That Pointe” researches male pointe dancers of Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo and former male pointe dancers of Les Ballet Grand Diva. During her time as Cultural Arts Program Director Pamintuan was awarded the City of Oakland Parks & Recreation Employee of the Year for 2014. She appeared on KQED Forum “Affordable Fitness in the Bay Area” broadcasting Nationally through NPR (National Public Radio). She also earned various grants for student programming and dance studio equipment, including the Thompson Bliss Grant and Youth Scholarship Grants - Friends of OPR. Finally, Pamintuan’s choreography has been earned various choreographic awards, including the sjDANCEco Best Choreography for “Size 9” and collaborative work “Quest for Truth.” Martha aims to inspire, motivate and share her voice through dance. Come join her in class!