Audrey Baran

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 nonprofit contemporary dance company Baran Dance, she is dedicated to expanding definitions and representation in 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 national festivals such as Dance City Festival, Dance Digital - Sadler Well’s, Small Plates Dance Festival, Richmond Dance Festival, Sites in the City, FEMMEfest, the National Dance Educators Organization Conference, and Bill Evans Somatic Dance Conference. 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.