Artistic Director
Lauren Baines
Artistic Director Lauren Baines has immersed herself in creating and producing theatre and dance throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since 2009. Her work has been seen at theatres, museums, and alternative sites including Dance Mission Theatre, the ZERO1 Garage, Montalvo Arts Center, the de Saisset Museum, the subZERO Festival, sjDANCEco's ChoreoProjects, and several festivals in New York.
In 2013, Baines was named an inaugural recipients of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards by the San Jose Rotary Club. Since then she has enjoyed residences at the Milkbar Projects Room in Oakland, Gullkistan in Iceland, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and upcoming at Montalvo Arts Center. She has also received funding from the Center of Cultural Innovation and other grants.
In addition to her own choreographic work, Baines dances with several Bay Area dance companies and has worked with several theatre companies, including being a founding member and later Managing Director for Cardboard Box Theatre Project. She occasionally teaches at local schools and studios, most recently serving as an Adjunct Lecturer at Santa Clara University, and her dance scholarship has been presented at the Society of Dance History Scholars and Congress on Research in Dance joint conference twice and as part of the LASER talks series organized by Piero Scaruffi.
Baines holds a MFA in Dance (Choreography & Performance) from Mills College and earned BA and BS degrees from Santa Clara University where she triple majored in Theatre Arts with a Dance Emphasis, Art History, and Psychology.
You can learn more about Lauren and her work as an artist, scholar, and a curator at www.laurenbaines.com
Photograph by Robert Schultze
Artistic Director Lauren Baines has immersed herself in creating and producing theatre and dance throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since 2009. Her work has been seen at theatres, museums, and alternative sites including Dance Mission Theatre, the ZERO1 Garage, Montalvo Arts Center, the de Saisset Museum, the subZERO Festival, sjDANCEco's ChoreoProjects, and several festivals in New York.
In 2013, Baines was named an inaugural recipients of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards by the San Jose Rotary Club. Since then she has enjoyed residences at the Milkbar Projects Room in Oakland, Gullkistan in Iceland, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and upcoming at Montalvo Arts Center. She has also received funding from the Center of Cultural Innovation and other grants.
In addition to her own choreographic work, Baines dances with several Bay Area dance companies and has worked with several theatre companies, including being a founding member and later Managing Director for Cardboard Box Theatre Project. She occasionally teaches at local schools and studios, most recently serving as an Adjunct Lecturer at Santa Clara University, and her dance scholarship has been presented at the Society of Dance History Scholars and Congress on Research in Dance joint conference twice and as part of the LASER talks series organized by Piero Scaruffi.
Baines holds a MFA in Dance (Choreography & Performance) from Mills College and earned BA and BS degrees from Santa Clara University where she triple majored in Theatre Arts with a Dance Emphasis, Art History, and Psychology.
You can learn more about Lauren and her work as both an artist and a curator at www.laurenbaines.com
The Core Company
Photograph by Robert Schultze
for Something About Chairs
Photograph by Robert Schultze
for Something About Chairs
Claire Calalo is a Bay Area dancer, choreographer and teacher. The founder and Artistic Director of for change dance collective (forchangedance.org), Claire graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in Dance and Biology, and holds an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of California at Irvine. She has cultivated a choreographic method she refers to as “democratic dance-making,” which attempts to explore deeply collaborative practices within the context of professional concert dance. Claire is an Adjunct Lecturer in modern dance at Santa Clara University and the Cultural Arts Program Director at East Oakland Sports Center. Her professional performance credits include works by Angela Demmel, Sue Li Jue, Nina Haft, Nhan Ho, and Lauren Baines, and she has taught and performed in Nicaragua, Belize, and throughout California. Claire also proudly serves as the Project Director for Works in the Works, the longest running low-tech performance series in the Bay Area.
Julia Canavese has been an active member of the Silicon Valley arts scene for over 20 years. Graduating from Santa Clara University with a BA in Theatre Arts with a Dance Emphasis, Julia studied primarily Horton technique, although she also has training in Graham, Cunningham, and Lewitzky, as well as jazz, tap, ballroom, and folk dance. In 2012 and 2016, Julia participated in a two-week dance intensive at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London where she studied a mix of contemporary technique, contact improvisation, choreography, and Flying Low technique. She is honored to dance with Lauren Baines Dance/Theatre, Kusanovich Dance, Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, and High Release Dance Company. In addition to dance performance, Julia is a passionate arts administrator. She works for SVCreates as Communications & Brand Manager, focusing on web content editing for Content Magazine. Volunteer activities include: Steering Committee Member of genARTS Silicon Valley; Department 2nd of Fanime Black & White Ball; and Board Member of PUSH Dance Company. Julia enjoys every opportunity she can to engage in meaningful expression through the arts and is committed to the growth of the arts sector as a whole.
Jessica de Leon is a Bay Area dance artist that is passionate about making art with people who value the process as much as the product. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.A. in Theatre, Dance Emphasis and a B.S. in Political Science and received her Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University, School of Law. Jessica has had the honor of performing works by esteemed choreographers such as Angela Demmel, David Popalisky, Joe Goode, and Rebecca Gilbert and Lauren Baines. She currently dances with ahdanco (Abigail Hosein Dance Company), Lauren Baines Dance /Theatre and is the Executive Director of for change dance collective. Jessica thrives in an environment where collaborators can freely share ideas, inspirations, and opinions so that all participating feel invested and engaged. She feels privileged to dance for and collaborate with her good friend Lauren on this project. Jessica loves teaching dance, watching dance, talking about dance, and finding ways to incorporate dance and art into all aspects of her life and work.
Photograph by Robert Schultze
for Something About Chairs
Collaborators
More info coming soon!