Baran Dance seamlessly blends bold physicality, creative collaboration, and community engagement. Founded by Charlotte-based dance artist and educator Audrey Baran in 2012, we make contemporary dance work that is accessible and exciting for wide audiences and are known for collaborating with local musical, visual and literary artists, crafting multimedia movement experiences. Baran Dance offers continuing education for emerging and evolving dance artists through open company classes and mentorship programs as well as outreach programs with local immigrant support organizations. Whether on stage, in the studio, or throughout the Charlotte community, we MOVE to move YOU.
Audrey Baran (she / her) is a Filipina-American dance maker, performer, and educator based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She holds a MFA in Dance from Hollins University and a BA in Dance as well as a Graduate Certificate in Anti-Racism in Urban Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As the founder and artistic director of contemporary dance company Baran Dance, Baran is dedicated to broadening definitions and accessibility of contemporary dance throughout the Southeast by presenting collaborative, multimedia performances and mentorship programs for emerging and evolving dance artists. Her professional and educational choreography has been described as, “a fully human place with honesty, courage and creativity percolating simultaneously.”
Baran was a selected choreographer for the Joffrey Ballet Academy’s Winning Works 2022 Choreographic Competition and Charlotte Ballet’s Innovative: Direct from the LAB 2021. She was the 2019 UNC Charlotte Department of Dance Distinguished Alum, an inaugural recipient of the Creative Renewal Fellowship from Charlotte’s Arts and Science Council, and has received awards from the Gold Standard Foundation, Mobile Dance Film Festival, and Movies by Movers. In addition to producing over 20 independent professional dance concerts, Baran has presented work in the Small Plates Dance Festival, Richmond Dance Festival, Sites in the City, FEMMEfest, the National Dance Educators Organization Conference, Bill Evans Somatic Dance Conference, the North Carolina Dance Festival, Tobacco Road Dance Productions, Triangle Dance Project, Ladyfest CLT, and the Charlotte Dance Festival. Baran is also a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and MUNZ FLOOR® coach and thrives on sharing her research on the intersection of movement and mindfulness among diverse bodies in action.
Learn more at www.baran.dance
You can learn more about Audrey’s choreographic process in her recent podcast episode on The Dance Maker Podcast.
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