Audrey Baran

Audrey Baran (she / her) is a Filipina-American dance maker, performer, and educator based in the land of the Catawba people / Charlotte, North Carolina. She holds a MFA in Dance from Hollins University and a BA in Dance from UNC Charlotte, where she is the Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Anti-Racism in Urban Education and is co-chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee of North Carolina Dance Educators Organization. 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 productions in a variety of venues. Her professional and educational choreography has been described as “a fully human place with honesty, courage and creativity percolating simultaneously.” Through every creative and pedagogical process, Audrey insists on horizontal dynamics and equitable collaboration among diverse bodies in motion. 

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 Movies by Movers Festival and the Charlotte Emerging Dance Awards. Baran has presented work in the 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, Charlotte Dance Festival and numerous self-produced productions. Baran is a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and thrives on sharing her research on the intersection of movement and mindfulness throughout the Queen City and beyond.