Baker Artist Portfolios

I am a dancer/choreographer and my work is rooted in post-modern dance, aerial dance and contact improvisation. Currently, I’m the artistic director of Air Dance Bernasconi celebrating 25 years this 2024.   I am interested in creating movement on the ground and in the air and sometimes together to become equal counterparts. I am influenced by everyday gestures, situations, (abstract or literal), spoken word/poetry, world events, and the environmental elements of earth air, water, fire. I push myself and my dancers to reach beyond their comfort zone, to think outside of the box and to shift their perception on what the possibilities of dance might be and what it might evoke in our audiences.

While viewing my work it is important that audiences not only gain a visual experience but also a strong kinesthetic and visceral one, too.  I want to invoke an emotional response that leaves my audiences feeling like they’ve just experienced something rare and unique. Something kinesthetic and also something even familiar maybe on a subconscious level. 

I believe dance is universal.  We all know how to move in our own beautiful and idiosyncratic ways...….it’s just a matter of what we call it.  When I look outside and see the wind moving through the trees….that’s dance.
         We all come from a gravity-less environment…our mother’s womb….hovering and floating in amniotic fluids.  We’ve all been there, we just forgot. ~ Robert Davidson

I’m interested in presenting the human spirit soaring beyond the limits of the body and mind and I thrive when working with different populations and abilities. I use movement explorations and contact improvisation as common ground so that a dance unfolds according to what each mover is capable of. Some of my greatest teachers have been people with cerebral palsy or MS because they have unique perspectives and circumstances.  It allows me to see and experience the world through through their language and guidance as teacher and then we find a common ground while moving together. We inspire together with a movement idea or a set of guidelines and then wait to see what unfolds. In performance, I hope audiences can connect to their highest and transcend beyond the wheelchairs.

Background:

Master of Arts in Dance Education from Columbia University and B.A. from University of Maryland, College Park. I've danced with leading NYC post modern dance choreographers including David Gordon, Stephen Petronio, Pooh Kaye, and Bill T. Jones and trained and danced with aerial dance pioneers Nancy Smith, Terry Sendgraff and Robert Davidson in Boulder, CO from 1995-1999 and was an established soloist with Frequent Flyers Productions.  I relocated to Baltimore in 1999 and introduced aerial dance to the Baltimore/DC area. I also teaches and performs regularly at the International Aerial Dance Festival since 1999 and returned last summer (2023) to mark the 25th anniversary teaching the history of low-flying trapeze based on the book Aerial Dance I co-authored with Nancy Smith. Our book highlights 11 aerial dance pioneers and the history of how it came into modern dance through various post modern dancers.  

I am also a pioneer of mixed ability dance and founded ArtsAbility (for kids) and Forces of Ability (for adults) two dance projects/performing companies that bring mixed ability dance to the stage.  I established the first mixed ability aerial dance workshop in 2003 at the Aerial Dance Festival. I also founded and introduced Aerial Yoga to the yoga and aerial dance communities at the Aerial Dance Festival in 2002 combining my passions for yoga and aerial dance.  Since then it has spread throughout the world.